Rules of Texas Hold'em

Overview

Texas Hold'em is the most popular variant of poker games. As in most variants of poker, the objective of Texas Hold'em is to win the pot, where a pot is the sum of money bet by oneself and other players in a hand. The pot is won by the player who is able to form the best five-card poker hand, using any combination of two Hole cards and Five Community cards.

 

 

Rules

Basic Rules

Texas Hold'em can be played with as little as two players and up to a maximum of ten players. A 52 card deck without jokers is used. Each player receives two cards, face down, known as hole cards. The dealer then hands out five community cards face up. Players can use any five cards to form the combination. The best five-card combination wins the pot.

 

Game Types

Limit poker

In Limit Poker the maximum raise is agreed in advance. For example, in a 1/2 Limit game, both bet and raise must be equal to 1. In the last two rounds bet and raise must be equal to 2.

 

Pot Limit

In a game with Pot Limit the maximum value of bet or raise must not exceed the current total amount in the pot. For example: if the total amount in the pot is 10, the first player to act in the betting round bets 10, the second player could bet a total of 30 - 10 for his portion of the call and raise by 20, the total amount of money in the pot when the action reaches him, including his call. There is no cap to the number of raises in Pot Limit poker games.

 

No Limit

In the No Limit game there is no bet limit. All players can make any bet in any betting round. The minimum bet is equal to the big blind.

 

Game Stages

The game is divided into four rounds of betting. The initial pot is formed of small blinds. The first player who sits at the table becomes the dealer. The game starts from the position next to the dealer button, a round disk marks the dealer. If players take place at the table simultaneously, as in tournaments for example, each player receives one card face up, and the player who receives the highest card becomes the dealer. The dealer button moves clockwise from player to player with each hand.

 

Blinds

Before a game starts, the two players to the left of the dealer make blind bets, so-called because they are made before the players have seen any cards. This is called 'posting the blinds'. The blinds ensure that there is some money in the pot to play for at the very start of the game. The player to the left of the dealer posts the small blind. The second player to the left of the dealer posts the big blind which is exactly twice the small blind. If a player does not have enough chips to make a blind bet, he stakes everything he has at once (see the All-In section). If there are only two players in the game, the small blind and the big blind still have to be posted. In that case the dealer posts the big blind, and so the first round begins.

 

Pre-Flop

Each player receives two cards face down. Each player can see only see his own cards. The player to the left of the player who posted the big blind begins a round of betting. This player can:

• Call - match the amount bet in the big blind,
• Raise - increase the amount bet,
• Fold - surrender his cards and stake in the game.

 

The same actions may be made by each player when it is his turn to bet. When the betting returns to the player who made the big blind, that player can decide not to raise, i.e. to make a check, if no other player raises. However, if an opponent has raised, the player has three options: he can call, raise or fold. When all bets are equal, the initial pot is formed and the game turns to the next round (Flop).

 

Flop

Three cards are dealt face up. This is called the Flop. Anyone may use these three cards, we call them Community cards. The player who posted the Small Blind begins this betting round. When all bets get equal, the game goes to the next round (Turn).

 

Turn

A fourth Community Card is dealt face up on the table. The third round of betting begins.

 

River

The fifth and final Community Card is dealt, and the final betting round begins.

 

Showdown

When all bets are of equal value, it is possible to show the cards. The last player to bet or raise during the final betting round shows his cards first. If during the last betting round all the remaining players check (nobody bets), the first player to the dealer's left, who did not fold is to show his cards first. The other players reveal their cards moving clockwise around the table. If the player's current hand is weaker than the winning hand shown, he has the option to show or muck his cards. The best five-card hand takes the pot. If two players share an identical hand, the pot is split. Each player may claim the part of the pot in forming of which he took part. Please see the "All-In" section.

 

Game-specific

Missed Blinds Policy

To prevent players from entering games in a late position hence avoiding placing blinds, each player will have to post an initial fee, equal to the big blind, or can sit out and wait until the big blind reaches his position. The player can choose to:

Player can choose to:

• post Big Blind or
• wait for Big Blind.

If the player chooses to wait for the big blind he will be sitting out and will not be able to join the action until the big blind comes around to his position. If the player was at the table and then sat out for a while thus missing his big blind, he shall also have to miss the small blind and the dealer's button. If the player misses the small and the big blind, he will be required to post an amount equal to the big blind plus a 'dead' bet equal to the small blind.

 

All-In

If the player finishes his chips he is not required to fold. The player can go All-In and bet all his chips. In this case the pot is divided into the Main pot and the Side pot. All subsequent bets are included in the Side pot. If the player who goes All-In does not win, the winner receives all of the chips (both the Main and Side pot). If the player who goes All-In wins, he receives the Main pot, but the Side pot is passed to the player having the second highest ranking Poker hand. If several players go All-In, several Side pots are created. If the player who accepted all of the All-In bets does not go All-In himself, and has the highest ranking hand when cards were revealed, he shall take the Main pot as well as the all Side pots. If the player who went All-In has the highest ranking hand, he takes the pot or all pots which were created until he went All-In. All All-In players having highest ranking hand can only take the pot (or pots) in forming of which they took part.

 

 

Table Stakes

The buy-in is the amount of money required by player to sit down in a particular poker game. All real money games at have a minimum buy-in required before a player may join a table.

 

Minimum and maximum buy-ins

Limit poker

The minimum buy-in requirement for Limit Poker is 10 times equal Big Blind. There is no maximum buy-in.

Example: In a 1/2 limit game, the big blind value is 1, so the minimum buy-in is equivalent to 1x10, or 10.

Pot and No-Limit poker

Pot-Limit and No-Limit games have a minimum and maximum buy-in.

The minimum is usually 20 times the small blind and the maximum is usually 100 times the big blind.

In a 1/2 No Limit or Pot Limit game, the small blind is 1 and the big blind is 2, the minimum buy-in would be 20 and the maximum buy-in would be 200.

Table Stakes

All games and tournaments comply with the following table stakes protocols:

No chips can be added to a player's stack during a hand.

Players can add to their stack between hands only. While some tournaments offer re-buys and add-ons, these can only be made after a hand is over and before the next hand starts. However, players can add chips or re-buy and add-on during the hand if they are not involved in that hand.

Players can not take out chips from the table.

Player cannot take out any chips from the table during play until he leaves the game. This rule applies regardless of how many chips player has brought to the table. The table stakes protocols are designed to protect the game.

Otherwise, if player is allowed to put a few chips into his pocket every time he or she is ahead, then the number of chips available for play will be reduced and the action at the table will suffer.

 

 

Disconnection Policy

Disconnection Protection

Disconnection protection is a tool that protects our players if their Internet connection is lost while they are involved in game.

1. If a player becomes disconnected from our server in the middle of a Poker hand, we protect his bet considering him All-In for the amount of money he currently has in the pot. This protects the player's money in the current hand while allowing other players to continue betting.
   
   
2. Disconnection protection is not to be used for any other purpose besides a genuine disconnection. Misuse of this policy may result in loss of the disconnection protection privilege, tournament disqualification or expulsion from the website.
   
   
3. Our software is designed to detect if a player is having a genuine disconnection before applying the disconnection protection for him. Players who try to take advantage of disconnection protection by deliberately getting 'timed out' will be considered to have folded.
   
   
4. All players must accept the risk of disconnection. Disconnections can and do occur. In the event of a disconnection, it is necessary tot log back on and continue playing as quickly as possible. AKPokerClub is not responsible for any disconnection which happens to the player.
   
   
5. If a player is disconnected during a hand and disconnection protection is available, he will be able to play for the part of the pot he has brought money in. The player can win whatever was in the pot at the time of the disconnection.
   
   
6. AKPokerClub reserves the right to change its policy and make final decisions on all matters herein at its own discretion. AKPokerClub shall publish information regarding any policy changes and relevant decisions on its website.

Real money game disconnect protection

Disconnection protection resets are allowed for a maximum of three times in a seven-day period of live game play. Before accepting the player's reset request, AKPokerClub will check whether the player has used up his quota of resets. We will not reset the protection if the player has used his quota. Each player is limited to eight disconnection protections (three resets) within a seven-day period of live game play.

 

Sit and Go Multi-table tournament game disconnect protection

Disconnection protection is not available in any Sit & Go, Single-Table or Multi-Table tournament.

 

 

Game cancellation policy

Real money games

Players shall be refunded the exact amount of money they had at the time of cancellation.

 

Play money games

Players shall be refunded the exact amount of money they had at the time of cancellation.

 

Sit and Go Single-Table Tournaments

If a tournament is cancelled due to technical reasons, any players who were eliminated before cancellation will lose their buy-in. Remaining players will have their buy-in refunded. The buy-in monies from the players who have already been eliminated shall be evenly divided between the remaining players, depending on the chips standing at the time of cancellation.

 

Sit and Go Multi-Table & Multi-Table tournaments

If a tournament is cancelled due to technical reasons, any players who were eliminated before cancellation will lose their buy-in. Remaining players shall be refunded:

1. The prize money that would have been awarded to the next eliminated player from the tournament shall instead be awarded to all players remaining at the time of cancellation.


2. 50% of the remaining prize pool left after distribution according to point 1, shall be equally distributed between all remaining players whereas the other 50% will be distributed on a percentage basis according to chip count at the time of cancellation.


3. The player's buy-in as well.

 

Standard combinations ranked from best to worst

Royal Flush
		A straight from a ten to an ace and all five cards of the same suit. In poker suit does not matter and pots are split between equally strong hands.
Straight Flush
		Any straight with all five cards of the same suit.
Four of a Kind
		Any four cards of the same rank.
Full House
		Any three cards of the same rank together with any two cards of the same rank.
Flush
		Any five cards of the same suit which are not consecutive.
Straight
		Any five consecutive cards of different suits. The ace count as either a high or a low card.
Three of a Kind
		Any three cards of the same rank.
Two Pair
		Any two cards of the same rank together with another two cards of the same rank.
One Pair
		Any two cards of the same rank.
High Card
		Any hand that does not make up any of the above mentioned hands.

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