Poker Rules
The games
Playtech offers the following poker games:
- Texas Hold'em
- Omaha
- Six Plus Hold'em
All games are played with a single deck of 52 cards. The bets placed by players accumulate into a pot as the game progresses. The best poker hand wins the pot.
The games are quite similar in their basic concept, but each has its unique strategic differences.
Betting structures
There are different so-called betting structures available. Not all of them are available for every game type:
Fixed limit games
In fixed limit (or limit) games you can only only bet or raise by a fixed pre-defined amount. There are two betting amounts:
- Small bet: Usually in the first two betting rounds a smaller bet amount is used.
- Big bet: Used in the later betting rounds.
If you see for example a €1/€2 fixed limit hold'em game, the small bet is €1 and the big bet is €2.
Pot limit games
Pot limit games differ from limit games in terms of the amounts players are allowed to bet and raise:
The minimum raise amount will be equal to the previous bet or raise in the same hand. For example, if the first player bets €10 and the second player wishes to raise, they must raise at least €10 more.
The maximum raise amount is equal to the total pot + total bets by other players in the betting round + the call amount of the player wishing to raise. For example, if the pot is €50, the first player bets €10 and a second player calls €10, the third player can raise up to €80 (€50 in the main pot + €20 from past bets in the round + €10 of the player's own call).
Unlike limit games, the stakes in pot limit games are not changed during the later betting rounds.
No limit games
No limit games are different to limit games because (other than the player's current table balance) there is no maximum bet or raise.
Unlike limit games, the stakes in no limit games are not changed during the later betting rounds.
Rake
The house commissions between 0% and 7.5% of each total pot. We do not charge rake if the hand ended before the flop cards were dealt - "No flop no drop". Please refer to the Playtech website for more information on the rake.
Texas Hold'em
Texas Hold’em is a game with 2-9 (or 10?) players and can be played as no limit, pot limit or fixed limit. It is also a game with community cards, meaning that there will be up to five cards face up on the table that all players can use to make their best possible poker hand. Each player is also dealt two private cards that only they can see, and should combine these with the community cards to make the best possible five card hand.
Please note, that due to the nature of online poker and the fact that the cards are dealt by a certified RNG engine and not by a real person, there’s no risk of false shuffle and therefore no need to "burn cards". To ensure best practices, the cards are shuffled by RNG engine after each hand.
A Texas Hold'em game step-by-step
1. Dealer is determined: When a new round starts, one player is chosen to be the "dealer". He is marked with a special chip in front of him, the so-called "dealer button". The dealer button moves one position clockwise before each game round. This originates from poker in its elementary form when players had to deal the cards themselves. Each round, clockwise around the table, a player had to deal the cards. Later, in brick and mortar casinos this task was taken over by professional dealers who didn't participate in the game. However, as the order of players in each betting round was still based on the old principle, the dealer button was introduced, and since then the game is played "as if" every player is also the dealer from time to time.
2. Blinds are paid: There are two "forced bets" in the game: the blinds. Before any cards are dealt, the player immediately to the left of the dealer has to pay the "Small Blind", the player one seat further to the left has to pay the "Big Blind" which is usually twice the size of the small blind.
3. Players get their pocket cards: Around the table, every player is dealt two cards. These are called the pocket cards or hole cards and can only be used by the individual who holds them.
4. First betting round: Betting begins with the player immediately to the left of the big blind and continues in a clockwise direction around the table. Every player has the option to fold, check, call or raise.
5. Flop is dealt: Now three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. These cards are called "the flop". These are "community" cards and can be used by all the players to make up their final poker hand.
6. Second betting round: A second round of betting follows. This is carried out exactly as the first betting round, but now the first player to act is the first player left of the dealer that is still active (didn't fold before).
7. Turn is dealt: Another community card is dealt face up on the table, this is called “the turn”.
8. Third betting round: A third betting round takes place. Again, it's opened by the first player left of the dealer who is still active.
9. River is dealt: A last community card is dealt, called "the river".
10. Last betting round: This final betting round is carried out exactly as the third.
11. Showdown: If there are two or more players who haven’t folded their cards by the end of the final betting round, the winner is determined by a showdown. Each player builds the best five card poker hand out of his own two pocket cards and the five community cards. Whoever holds the best combination wins.
Start again: After a hand is completed and the pot taken by the winner, the dealer button is moved one player to the left, and the next hand begins.
Betting actions
Fold: If you don't like your cards, you can fold. If you have posted a blind, made a bet or raised a bet, you will lose that money, but you will not lose any more. After folding, you are out of the game until the next hand begins.
Check: If nobody has made a bet (the blinds count as a bet so before the flop only the big blind can check) you can check and pass the action to the next player.
Call: If there has already been a bet or raise in front of you, you can call the bet (or raise it) to stay in the hand. To make a call, you pay the exact amount your opponent has bet.
Bet / Raise / Re-Raise: If you think your hand is good enough, you can make a bet. If another player has already made a bet, you can raise it.
How often can you raise?
In fixed limit games, the bet amounts are fixed by the table stakes. For example, in a $5/$10 table, bets are $5 in the first two rounds and $10 in the last two.
Also, in fixed limit games there can be one bet and three raises in each round (bet, raise, re-raise, re-raise). After three raises the betting round is capped and the next card is dealt (or, if it is the final betting round, the best hand is determined). In pot limit and no limit games the betting is not capped.
All-in
Whenever you bet or raise all your remaining chips, you are "all-in". No matter what other players are doing, you cannot be forced to fold your hand. Unlike poker in western movies, you will see a showdown without having to bet your house only to stay in the hand. Online you will play table stakes, so you’ll never have to bet more than your table balance in one hand to get to showdown.
When you are all-in, you call all your chips and the pot is divided into the main pot and side pot. All subsequent chips are hereafter added to the side pot.
When the round is over and the "all-in" player does not have a winning hand, both the side pot and the main pot go to the winning hand, as usual.
When the round is over and the "all-in" player has a winning hand, the main pot goes to the "all-in" player, and the side pot goes to the next best hand.
When several players go all-in, multiple side pots are created. The pots are divided according to hand and order in which the players went all-in. The strongest hand wins the pot that was collected until he/she went all-in. The next strongest hand gets the pot that was collected from there to the point when he/she went all-in, etc.
The betting round continues until all players have folded or called the third raise, or until a bet has been called by all players (except the one who placed the bet) with no raise taking place.
Omaha poker
Omaha poker follows the same rules as Texas Hold'em poker, but with two exceptions:
- You get four pocket cards instead of two.
- To build your final poker hand, you have to use exactly two of your pocket cards and three of the community cards. Be careful and remember this rule. For example, if you get dealt four aces as your pocket cards, you don't have four of a kind. You only have a pair of aces because you have to use exactly two of your pocket cards.
The principle of the game is the same, but the two differences in the rules demand a very different strategy for playing Omaha Poker. Also, Omaha Poker is usually paid in the pot limit betting structure.
Six Plus Hold’em
Six Plus Hold’em is a variant of Texas Hold‘em that uses a reduced deck. Instead of the standard 52 card deck, all cards with the values of 2,3,4,5 ( 4 deuces, 4 treys, 4 fours and 4 fives) are removed from the deck, resulting in a 36 card deck, where the lowest card is 6 and the highest A. Six Plus Hold’em follows the same game logic and betting structure as the classic Texas Hold’em. The only exception comes in the hand strength. The aces can still be used for the high straight (AKQJT) as well as for the low straight (also called the wheel). This means that in Six Plus Hold’em, the hand A6789 is equivalent to the A2345 hand in classic Texas Hold’em, which is the weakest straight in both game types.
Six Plus Hold’em has a slightly different hand ranking from the classic Texas Hold’em:
- Royal Flush
- Straight flush
- Four of a kind
- Flush
- Full house
- Three of a kind
- Straight
- Two pair
- One pair
- High card
The two major differences are that Three of a kind now beats a Straight, and Flush beats a Full house. This is implemented to make up for the changed probabilities of hitting, due to the reduced deck as compared to classic Hold’em game with 52 cards.