Welcome to Texas Hold 'em!
This is Student.com's first true live multiplayer game, and we're really excited about it! For those of you who haven't played Texas Hold 'em Poker before, it might look a little confusing (or intimidating!). But don't fear -- we'll explain in detail all the rules.
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First it's important to familiarize yourself with the playing screen. There are several controls that you should get used to in order to understand fully what's going on in the game. Here is a diagram of the board:
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There are a total of six seats. Any user can take an open seat at any time. If you sit during a game, you will enter the game AFTER that round has finished. After each game there is a 30 second countdown (10 seconds if all seats are filled) until the next game starts. Once the game starts, you cannot get up. If you disconnect in the middle of a game, you will automatically fold at the end of your next turn unless you reconnect.
There are several different seat statuses that you should get used to. These indicators let you know what's happening in the game, who's playing and who's not, and what seats are available to you and to others.
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Closed Empty Seat
This means that this seat is empty and you may not sit in it. This is what empty seats will appear as when you are playing a game. |
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Open Emtpy Seat
This means that this seat is empty and you can sit in it. This is what empty seats will appear as when you are not playing a game. |
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Your Seat Post-game
This is what your seat will look like after a game has finished. You will be given about 30 seconds to get up before the next game starts. |
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Your Seat - Waiting for Next Game
This is what your seat will look like if you sit in the middle of a game. You will join the game after the current game finishes. You can get up at any time if you decide that you do not want to join this game. |
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Filled Seat - Waiting
When you are waiting for the dealer or for other players in the middle of a game, your seat indicator will look like this. You must wait patiently for other players to think and make their bets. |
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Filled Seat - Waiting for Next Game
When a user joins in the middle of a game, the seat he takes will look like this. Even though he is seated, he is not playing the game, and does not bet. He's simply holding the seat until the next game. |
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Filled Seat - Betting
This is what the seat will look like when you or another player is making the bet. Only one seat will be betting at any point in the game. |
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Filled Seat - All in
If you or another play goes "all in" (bets all their chips), the seat will look like this. Players who have gone all in cannot bet any more, and their betting turn is skipped until the rest of the game has finished. |
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Filled Seat - Folded
Players who have folded will show a seat indicator like this. Players who have folded do not bet any further in the current game, and they do not win under any circumstances. Players who fold do not reveal their cards at the end of the game. |
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Filled Seat - Winner
If a player wins the round, the seat will look like this. A flashing "W" will appear in the corner of their seat, and the amount they won (which is the amount they win minus the amount they bet, so this amount is the net profit) will be displayed in the middle of their seat. |
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Filled Seat - Disconnected
If a user disconnects in the middle of a game while he/she is playing, their seat will look like this. If the player disconnects and is not folded, i.e. the player is still in the game, one of two things will happen when it becomes his/her turn: if there is no bet (a bet of zero), then the player will check at the end of his 60 second turn. If there is a bet on the table (1 chip or more), the player will automatically fold at then end of his 60 second turn. If the player has gone all in, he still has a hand in the game, and still has a chance of winning, even though he has disconnected. Disconnected players are automatically booted from their seat if they fail to reconnect by the end of the game. |
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There are many types of hold 'em, and even more types of poker out there. We decided on the No Limit version of Texas Hold 'em. This version allows the greatest flexibility when dealing with users with a large difference in chips. This means that users with a low amount of chips can still play with users who have high amounts of chips without changing the rules.
Basic Game Play
- The game starts with every player receiving two cards face down. Your cards will be displayed to you, but no one else except you can see them.
- Two players then make blind bets. Blind bets are forced bets that are made at the beginning of each round. There is a small blind, and a large blind. The small blind is half of the large blind. The large blind amount is set at 10% of the player who has the lowest chips at the table. So, if the lowest player has 5,000 chips, then the small blind is 25 chips and the large blind is 50 chips. Every player must match the large blind bet if they wish to remain in the game. Why are these bets made? Well, force bets are made to ensure that the game is worth playing. If nobody bets, you could have a game where the final pot size is zero, and the winner will win nothing at all.
- After everyone makes the blind bet, the "flop" is dealt. The flop is three cards dealt face up in the center of the table. These three cards are the first three out of the five total cards that you can use to create your poker hand. After the flop, there is another round of betting. Once everyone has matched the high bet, folded, or gone all in, the next card is dealt (called "fourth street"). After this there is an additional round of betting. After this round, the final card is dealt (called "the river"), and there is a final betting round.
- After the final betting round, the players who have no folded reveal their cards. Whoever has the highest hand will win the main pot.
The Betting Console
The key to winning at Texas Hold 'em lies in the betting strategy, and there are several options of what you can do when it's your turn to bet. We've listed all these options below:
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Not Playing
If you are not playing a game, your betting console will look like this. This is how you can navigate rooms. |
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Waiting
When waiting for a game to start, your console will display this message. You can change the back of the playing cards by clicking the button. |
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Start Bet
If the bet starts with you, you can either "check" (make a bet of zero) or you can bet any amount up to your chip total. You can also opt to go all in (bet all your chips) or fold (drop out of the game) at this point as well. |
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Call Bet
When the bet comes to you, you will be asked to "call" the bet, or match it. You may simply match the bet by clicking "Call Bet." You have the option to raise here -- which means that you can increase the current bet by any amount you wish (some versions of hold 'em style poker have rules on raising amounts -- our version allows any raise increment). You also have the option of going all in or folding at this point. |
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Call Bet - No Raise
If there have been three raises in this betting round alone, the Raise Limit has been reached, which means that no one may raise any further -- all players at this point must either call the bet or fold (you can't go all in either, unless the bet amount is equal to your chip amount; going all in would be considered a raise if it were more than the current bet). |
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Forced All In
If the current bet is more than all the chips you have, you must either go all in (bet all your chips) or fold (drop out of the game and forfeit the chips you have already bet). |
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All In Confirmation
If you choose to go all in, you must confirm your decision. |
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Fold Confirmation
If you choose to fold, you must confirm your decision. |
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Raise Screen
When you raise, you must specific the amount you want to raise by (the total bet will be displayed as well). |
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Waiting - All In
If you go all in, you are taken out of the betting for that round. Your turn will be skipped until the end of the last betting round. NOTE: if all but one player goes all in, the current betting round is considered the last betting round, and the game will end after the last person goes all in. |
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Waiting - Folded
If you fold, you are out of the game and you must wait for the round to end. Your cards are NOT shown to the other players if you fold. |
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Switching Rooms Message
If you switch rooms, this indicator will appear. If you do not switch within 10 seconds or so, it means that there was a connection error, and you should close the window and open a fresh one from the casino front page. |
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When the game is over, the player who has the highest poker hand will win the game. Here is a list of various poker hands and some general rules for determining your highest poker hand. The computer knows the best combination of cards, so it will choose your best poker hand for you.
- The best hand is determined by taking the best combination of five cards between your two hole cards and the five community cards. If your best hand is the five community cards, then that is your hand and your two hole cards are ignored. If everyone's best hand is the five community cards, then everyone is a winner, and the pot is divided equally between everyone (in other words, everyone gets their chips back).
- If two people have an equal hand, they will split the pot between them.
- If someone goes all in, we have a situation called split winnings. When there are split winnings, there is the possibility of more than one person winning chips from the pot with different hands. Here's how it works:
- Let's say that six people are playing. Players 1-4 each contribute 500 chips to the pot.
- Let's say that player 5 only has 400 chips. He thinks he's got the best hand, so he goes all in.
- Let's say that player 6 only has 200 chips. He also thinks he's got the best hand, so he goes all in.
- Now let's fast forward to the end of the game. Because you can only win the amount you contribute to the pot from each player, players 5 and 6 are not eligible for the entire pot. Player 5 is 100 chips short, and player 6 is 300 chips short. In this instance, players 1-4 are eligible to win 2,600 chips (500 x 4 plus 400 plus 200), player 5 is eligible to win 2,200 chips (400 x 4 plus 400 plus 200), and player 6 is only eligible to win 1,200 chips (200 x 6).
- Let's say that player 1 has the best hand out of all six players. In this situation, he will win the entire pot because he is eligible to win the whole thing.
- Now, let's go back and say that player 5 has the best hand out of all six players. In this situation, player 5 will win 2,200 chips, the amount he is eligible for. But now we have 400 chips left over that player 5 was NOT eligible for. These chips are given to the players eligible with the next best hand. So, whoever has the best hand between players 1-4 will win the remaining 400 chips.
- Now, let's go back and say that player 6 has the best hand out of all six players. In this situation, player 6 will win 1,200 chips, the amount he is eligible for. Now there are 1,400 chips leftover for five players to win. Let's say that player 5 has the next best hand. He has been beaten by player 6, and 200 of his 400 chips have already been lost to player 6. He is now only eligible to win 200 chips from each player out of the pot. In this situation, player 5 would then win 200 x 5, or 1,000 chips. We now have 400 chips remaining between players 1-4. Again, we see who has the best hand, and that player will now win the remainder of the pot. In this example, there are three different winners. Player 6 could have the best possible hand, but because he didn't contribute the maximum amount, he cannot win the whole pot, regardless of how much better his hand is than the other players who have contributed the full amount.
- There are 8 main types of poker hands (listed in order from worst to best):
- High Card: this is not really a poker hand, but if no one has any poker hand, the winner is the player who holds the highest card.
- Pair: two alike cards (i.e. two jacks and nothing else)
- Two Pair: two sets of two alike cards (i.e. two jacks and two queens)
- Three-of-a-kind: three alike cards (i.e. three jacks and nothing else)
- Straight: five cards of any suit in numerical order (i.e. five six seven eight nine). Aces count as high AND low. This means that the hand ace two three four five and the hand ten jack queen king ace are both valid straights. There are no wrap-arounds (i.e. queen king ace two three). Hand strength is determined by the highest card in the straight.
- Flush: five cards of the same suit, any order (i.e. two six eight jack queen of hearts). Hand strength is determined by the highest card in the flush.
- Full House: three-of-a-kind and a pair (i.e. three jacks AND two queens). In a full house, the strength of the hand is determined by the three-of-a-kind card value. So a full house of three fours and two threes will beat a full house of three twos and two aces -- even though two aces beats two threes, the three-of-a-kind part of the full house determines the hand.
- Four-of-a-kind: four alike cards (i.e. four jacks)
- Straight Flush: a straight that is also a flush, so five cards of the same suit in perfect numerical order (i.e. five six seven eight nine of spades). Very difficult to get!
- Royal Flush: The royal flush is a straight flush with the highest card being an ace. Some people don't consider the royal flush a separate hand because it's simply a straight flush. This is best possible hand you can get, and it is unbeatable.
- Some miscellaneous (yet important) rules:
- Suit does NOT count for the hand. A flush with hearts and a flush with spades is considered the same hand if the high card is the same.
- Aces are always considered high unless they can be used in a low straight.
- The blind bets are determined at random.
- The betting order is always clockwise.
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