How to play Texas Hold'em and Omaha

Both games use the same table, the same blinds and the same four betting rounds. Learn Hold'em first; Omaha changes two things, and they are explained below.

The table and the blinds

A marker called the dealer button moves one seat to the left after every hand, so everyone takes turns acting last. The two players to the left of the button post forced bets before any cards are dealt: the small blind and the big blind (usually twice the small blind). Some tables and most tournaments also use an ante, a small forced bet that adds chips to the pot before the hand. On PokerClub the software moves the button, posts the blinds and counts every pot for you.

With only two players (heads-up), the button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop, then last on every later round.

Texas Hold'em, step by step

Each player gets two private hole cards. Five shared community cards are dealt face up in the middle over three rounds. You make the best five-card hand you can from your two hole cards and the five on the board, using both, one or even none of your own cards.

1. Pre-flop

After the hole cards are dealt, the player to the left of the big blind acts first. Everyone in turn can fold (give up the hand), call (match the big blind or the latest bet) or raise. The big blind acts last and may check if nobody raised.

2. The flop

Three community cards are dealt at once. From now on the first player still in the hand to the left of the button acts first. If nobody has bet yet you can check (pass without betting) or bet; once someone bets, the others fold, call or raise.

3. The turn

A fourth community card, followed by another betting round.

4. The river

The fifth and final community card, followed by the last betting round.

Showdown

If two or more players are left after the river, the hands are revealed and the best five-card hand wins the pot. The last player who bet or raised on the river shows first; if everyone checked, the first player to the left of the button shows first. Identical hands split the pot. If everyone else folds at any point, the last player standing wins without showing.

All-in and side pots

You can never be forced out of a hand for lack of chips. If you call with less than the full bet you are all-in: you can win only as much from each opponent as you put in, and the extra chips the others bet go into a separate side pot that only they can win. PokerClub builds and awards side pots automatically.

No-limit betting

Texas Hold'em on PokerClub is played no-limit: you may bet any amount from the big blind up to every chip in front of you. A raise must be at least as large as the previous bet or raise in that round. For example, if the blinds are 25/50 and a player raises to 150 (a raise of 100), the next raise must be to at least 250.

Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)

Omaha plays exactly like Hold'em, with the same blinds, button and four betting rounds. Two things are different:

• Four hole cards, use exactly two. Each player gets four hole cards, and your final hand must use exactly two of them together with exactly three community cards. You cannot play the board, and you cannot use three or four of your own cards.
• Pot-limit betting. The largest bet or raise you can make is the size of the pot. When you raise, the maximum is calculated as if you had called first: add the amount you need to call to the pot, then raise by that total.

A pot-limit example: blinds are 25/50 and you are first to act before the flop. The pot holds 75. To call you need 50, which would make the pot 125, so you may raise by up to 125, to a total of 175. PokerClub shows the maximum on the bet slider, so you never have to do this math at the table.

The most common beginner mistake in Omaha is misreading the board. If four hearts are on the board and you hold only one heart, you do not have a flush, because you must use two of your hole cards. Likewise, a board of A♠ A♥ A♦ K♣ K♠ does not give everyone a full house: you still have to use two cards from your hand. For pot-sized bets worked out step by step and which starting hands to play, read Pot-Limit Omaha for beginners.

Poker hand rankings

The same rankings apply in Hold'em and Omaha, from strongest to weakest. Suits never rank above each other. An ace can be high (10-J-Q-K-A) or low (A-2-3-4-5, called the wheel) in a straight, but a straight cannot wrap around (Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight).

Ties and kickers. When two players have the same kind of hand, the higher ranks win: a pair of kings beats a pair of queens. If the pairs are equal, the highest remaining card (the kicker) decides, then the next one, and so on. Only five cards ever count, so if both players' best five cards are identical, the pot is split. The hand rankings guide covers every tie-breaker and the odds of each hand.

Tournaments: Sit & Go and multi-table

In a cash game you can sit down and leave whenever you like. In a tournament everyone starts with the same stack, the blinds rise on a clock, and you play until one player holds every chip. A Sit & Go (SNG) starts as soon as its seats are full; a multi-table tournament (MTT) starts at a scheduled time and moves players between tables as others bust out.

Depending on the settings the organiser chooses, a PokerClub tournament can allow rebuys (buy another starting stack after busting during the early levels), an add-on (one extra stack for everyone at the end of the rebuy period) and late registration (join after the start). Every tournament uses virtual chips. Planning one for your group? See how to run a home poker tournament.

Pineapple OFC: a different kind of poker

PokerClub also runs Pineapple Open-Face Chinese poker for two or three players. There is no betting: each player sets 13 cards face up in three rows, the bottom row strongest and the top row weakest, and scores points row by row, with royalties for big hands and Fantasyland for queens or better on top. The full rules, scoring and royalty tables are in how to play Pineapple OFC. For the classic 13-card game, see Chinese Poker rules; for Hold'em with the 2s to 5s removed, see Short Deck poker.

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