How a poker hand is played
The progression of a Poker hand is a sequence of card dealing and betting rounds. To learn how to play Poker, it's essential to understand how a hand unfolds. A hand can be broken down into 4 phases of card dealing and betting: the preflop, flop, turn, and river.
What is a blind in Poker?
In Poker, blinds are mandatory bets that certain players must pay to participate in the hand. Blinds are paid by players in rotation. There's the small blind and the big blind, which is the minimum mandatory bet required to participate in the hand.
How does a betting round work in Poker?
During a betting round, players take turns deciding whether to check (if no bet is required), call the current bet if necessary, or raise (bet more). The betting round ends when all players who haven't folded have matched the same bet to move to the next phase. If all players fold except one, that player wins the hand.
| Type | Situation | Consequence | Other players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Check | When you don't need to pay to see the next card | The pot doesn't increase | Other players can check or raise |
| Call | When you need to pay to see the next card | The pot increases and you put more chips at risk | Other players can fold, call or raise |
| Raise | Always possible | The pot increases and you put more chips at risk | Other players can fold, call or raise |
| Fold | When you don't want to put more chips in and you cannot check | You lose the hand | - |
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How does the preflop work in NLHE Poker?
During this phase, each player receives two private hole cards face down and a betting round begins.
One player is designated as the "Button". They will be responsible for dealing the cards if there is no dealer. The player to the left of the Button must pay the small blind, and the player to the left of the small blind must pay the big blind.
How does the flop work in NLHE Poker?
The dealer burns a card and deals 3 community cards visible to all players. Players can combine these new cards with their hole cards to determine the strength of their hand. With this new information available, the relative strength of each player's hand may have changed. A new betting round begins.
How does the turn work in NLHE Poker?
The dealer burns a card and deals 1 more community card visible to all. There are now 4 community cards on the board. A new betting round begins.
How does the river work in NLHE Poker?
The dealer burns a card and deals 1 final community card visible to all. There are now all 5 final community cards on the board. A new betting round begins. At the end of this betting round, the remaining players show their cards and the player with the best hand according to the poker hand rankings (which you can find on Poker Toolkit) wins the pot.
How does the button move before a new hand?
When the hand ends, the button moves to the player who was in the small blind position. There are variants (like Win the Button on Winamax) where the button goes to the player who won the previous hand.
Are there differences between online poker and live casino poker?
The rules and hand progression are the same for both online poker and live casino poker. However, there can be minor variations such as the Ante being charged to the Big Blind for convenience.
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