Poker ♥♠

How to play

A game is a session of many hands. Everyone buys in for the same stack of chips; a player who runs out may rebuy for the same amount (as often as the table allows) or sit out and watch. The standings show each player's chips against what they have bought in.

Hand rankings, best first

The games

• Texas Hold'em. Two cards each, face down, then five shared cards: the flop (three), the turn and the river, with a betting round before the flop and after each. Make the best five cards from your two and the board's five.
• Omaha. As Hold'em, but four cards each, and your hand must use exactly two of them with exactly three from the board.
• Omaha Hi-Lo. Omaha where the pot is split between the best high hand and the best low (see below). Each half may use a different pair of your cards.
• Seven-Card Stud. No shared cards. You get two down and one up, then three more up cards and a last one down, with a betting round after each. Everyone antes; the lowest up card on third street must bring in for a small amount (or complete to a full bet), and from then on the best hand showing bets first. Best five of your seven.
• Stud Hi-Lo. Seven-Card Stud with the pot split high and low.
• Razz. Seven-Card Stud for the lowest hand only. The highest up card brings in, and the lowest hand showing acts first.
• Five-Card Stud. One down and one up, then three more up cards, a betting round after each.
• Five-Card Draw. Five cards each, face down. Bet, then each player may throw away any number of cards and draw replacements. Bet again, and show down.
• Mixed (H.O.R.S.E.). Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Stud and Stud Hi-Lo in turn, changing every time the deal goes round the table.

Low hands

Lows count aces as low and ignore straights and flushes, so the best low is A 2 3 4 5. Compare lows from the highest card down: 7 5 4 3 2 beats 8 4 3 2 A. In the hi-lo games a low must be five different ranks of eight or lower (eight or better); if nobody has one, the high hand takes the whole pot. In Razz any five cards play, pairs counting against you.

Betting

• Blinds (Hold'em, Omaha, Draw): the two players to the dealer's left post a small and a big blind before the cards. Antes (the Stud games): everyone puts in a small amount.
• No-limit: bet or raise any amount up to your whole stack. A raise must be at least the size of the last bet or raise.
• Pot-limit: as no-limit, but a raise can be at most the size of the pot after your call.
• Fixed-limit: bets and raises come in one size: the small bet (the big blind) early, the big bet (twice that) on the later streets. A betting round allows a bet and three raises.
• A player who cannot match a bet may go all in; the chips they cannot cover go into a side pot they cannot win.

Controls

The buttons at the bottom act for you; the slider sets a bet or raise size, with shortcuts for the minimum, half the pot, the pot and all in. Keyboard: F folds, C checks or calls, R bets or raises, Enter confirms. In Draw, tap the cards you want to throw away.