Poker Rules

The rules of poker vary according to the many different variations of the game. Although there are many variations of poker games, they all have one poker rule in common: in every game of poker, players wager on the strength of the cards they hold.

In standard poker rules, players bet their money into a communal "pot" consisting of all participating players' combined wagers.

In a typical game of poker, these wagers (pot) are awarded to the player who either holds the highest ranking hand or makes a wager which goes unmatched by his or her opponents.

Every poker game begins with some forced wager over which players compete. In Seven Card Stud, the rules of poker prompt two forced wagers: an ante and a bring-in. In Texas Hold'em and Omaha poker games, the forced wagers are a small blind and a big blind. Once the initial forced bets are made, the first round of cards is dealt and on the following betting rounds, the players will have the following five choices:

CHECK - If there is no wager on the current betting round, a player may check. The act of checking passes the action to the next player immediately clockwise from him or her. A check does not forfeit interest in the pot, only the current right to bet. If all players check during a round of betting, the round is considered complete.

BET - If there is no wager on the current betting round, a player may bet. If a player bets, the player immediately clockwise from him or her (and any subsequent players) may fold, raise, or call.

FOLD - The act of folding forfeits all interest in the pot. A player who folds is not required or allowed to wager any further money for the current game.

CALL - If there has been a wager on the current betting round, a player may call. The act of calling requires the player to match the current bet made by his or her opponent(s).

RAISE - If there has been a wager on the current betting round, a player may raise. The act of raising requires the player to match the current bet, and make a greater one. All subsequent players are required to call the raise or raise again ("re-raise") to maintain interest in the pot.

In a typical game of poker, depending on the position of the table and, in some cases, the value of the exposed cards, the player will have anywhere from one to four choices at a time. In a majority of the cases, each choice is represented in the PokerWorld card room software by what we call "action buttons."

To speed up the poker game and make it more exciting, the player will, when appropriate, have a choice of using advance action (pre-action) buttons. These buttons appear before a player's turn when he/she can make a decision in advance. Once a player makes the desired selection with an advance action button, the decision is carried out by the software automatically once play progresses to that player.

With standard rules of poker, betting continues on each round until every person has placed the same amount of money on that round with the exception of "all-in."

After the final betting round is completed, the "showdown" occurs. This is when the winner of the pot is determined, as players either show or muck their hands one-by-one. It may be the case that there is no showdown.

If a player bets or raises, and no active players choose to call the player's bet (in other words, all players fold) then there is no showdown. In this case, the player doing the betting or raising wins the full amount of the pot.