All the world's most popular online poker games live here, from Texas Hold'em and Omaha to plenty more besides. Whether you already know your way around a felt table or you're still wondering why a flush swaggers about like it owns the place, this guide lays out how the game actually works.
Poker hands
Most hands are decided in one of two ways. Either the player holding the highest ranked hand takes the pot once all cards are revealed at the end of the hand, known as the showdown, or a player makes the last uncalled bet and wins the hand without any cards needing to be shown at all.
Poker Hand Rankings
Not sure whether a flush beats a straight, or how a full house is put together? Here are the standard hand rankings, listed from the strongest hand down to the weakest.
- Royal Flush
- Straight Flush
- Four of a Kind
- Full House
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a Kind
- Two Pair
- One Pair
- High Card
A High Card is the weakest holding possible, so anything above it in that list is an improvement on it.
Getting Started
Poker games usually begin with a forced bet. In Hold'em and Omaha these are the Big Blind and Small Blind, and together they form the starting pot for the hand. That pot is the first thing players are competing for, and it grows as the later rounds of action unfold.
Dealing Cards and Betting Rounds
Once any initial cards have been dealt, players act in turn, with the action moving clockwise around the table.
The Actions Available to You
- Check: Declining the opportunity to open the betting. You can only check when no bet has been made in the current round, and checking passes the action clockwise to the next player in the hand. If every active player checks, they all remain in the hand and the round is complete.
- Bet: Available when no other player has bet during the current round. Once a bet is made, other players must call by matching it to stay in the hand.
- Fold: Forfeiting your cards. A player who folds cannot win or act again during that hand.
- Call: Available once another player has bet in the current round. The calling player matches the highest bet made.
- Raise: Available once another player has bet in the current round. The raising player matches the highest bet and then makes a greater one. Everyone after them must call the raise, or raise again, which is known as a re-raise, to stay in the hand.
Betting Rounds in Texas Hold'em and Omaha
Different poker variants have different betting rounds. Texas Hold'em and Omaha are the two most popular poker games in the world and share an identical structure of four betting rounds: pre-flop, the flop, the turn and the river.
- Pre-flop: Begins as soon as every player has received their hole cards, before any community cards appear.
- The flop: Betting takes place after the first three community cards are dealt.
- The turn: Betting takes place after the fourth community card.
- The river: Betting takes place after the fifth and final community card.
On each round, betting continues until every player has either matched the bets made or folded. Where no bets are made, the round is complete once every player has checked. After that, the next dealing and betting round begins, or the hand is finished.
Making Your Hand in Hold'em
In a Texas Hold'em hand, once all the cards are out, you may use any of your two hole cards along with any of the five community cards to make the best five-card hand available to you. That might mean using both hole cards and three of the shared cards to complete a straight, for example.
The Showdown
When the last bet or raise has been called on the final betting round, the hand goes to a showdown. The remaining active players must show or declare their hands, and the best ranking hand or hands win the pot.
Players often reveal their cards in order rather than all at once. More than one player can share a single pot, and the pot may be divided in different ways depending on the rules of the game and how each hand ranks against the others.
Betting Limits Explained
Betting limits describe how much players may open and raise. Poker games generally fall into one of three types.
No Limit
Each player may bet or raise by any amount up to and including their full stack, meaning the total number of chips they hold at that moment, on any betting round when it is their turn to act.
Pot Limit
Each player may bet or raise by any amount up to and including the size of the total pot at that time.
Fixed Limit
Each player may call, bet or raise, but only by a fixed amount. That amount is set in advance for each betting round.
In the lobby, the Stakes column shows the Small Blind and Big Blind for No Limit and Pot Limit games. For Mixed Games, the Stakes listed refer to the Limit games, and in the Pot Limit and No Limit rounds the blinds are usually half of those used in the Limit rounds.
Table Stakes and the All-In Rule
Every game here is played table stakes, which means only the chips in play at the start of a hand can be used during that hand. No pocket watches, no car keys, no dramatic Hollywood flourishes.
The table stakes rule brings with it the All-In rule. A player cannot be made to forfeit a hand simply because they do not have enough chips to call a bet. A player in that position is declared All-In and remains eligible for the portion of the pot up to the point of their final wager.
Any further action between the other players takes place in a side pot, which the All-In player cannot win. If more than one player goes All-In during the same hand, there can be more than one side pot.
Playing Responsibly
Poker is a game of chance and no hand, no read and no run of cards can be relied upon to go your way. Set your own limits before you sit down, take breaks whenever you like, and treat every session as entertainment rather than anything more. Our responsible gambling tools are always available if you'd like to use them.
Ready to Take a Seat?
Once the hand rankings and the betting rounds feel familiar, the rest comes with time at the tables. The cards will be shuffled and waiting whenever you fancy a look, and there's no rush from us.