Poker Joint Your Online Poker Community

Poker is the name given to a number of card games where players wager on the strength of the cards they hold. Poker involves a communal "pot" consisting of the players' wagers which is awarded to the player who either holds the highest ranking hand or makes a wager which goes unmatched by his or her opponents.

Our Seven Card Stud and Omaha games are played in both "high-only" and "high-low split" form. In these high-low games, the best five-card poker hand for high wins half the pot, and the best qualifying five-card hand for low wins the other half. Our Texas Hold'em games are always played high-only. For a detailed breakdown of poker hand rankings, visit our hand ranks page.

All poker games begin with some forced wager over which players compete. In Seven Card Stud, there are two forced wagers, an ante and a bring-in. In Texas Hold'em and Omaha, the forced wagers are a small blind and a big blind. In any poker game, players strategically wager using a number of actions available to them. The actions are as follows:

CHECK - If there is no wager on the current betting round, a player may check. The act of checking passes the action to the next player immediately clockwise from him or her. A check does not forfeit interest in the pot, only the current right to bet. If all players check during a round of betting, the round is considered complete.
BET - If there is no wager on the current betting round, a player may bet. If a player bets, the player immediately clockwise from him or her (and any subsequent players) may fold, raise, or call.
FOLD - The act of folding forfeits all interest in the pot. A player who folds is not required or allowed to wager any further money for the current game.
CALL - If there has been a wager on the current betting round, a player may call. The act of calling requires the player to match the current bet made by the player's opponents.
RAISE - If there has been a wager on the current betting round, a player may raise. The act of raising requires the player to match the current bet, and make a greater one. All subsequent players are required to call the raise or raise again ("re-raise") to maintain interest in the pot.

On each betting round, betting continues until the person immediately counterclockwise the last bettor or raiser acts. When this person acts, the next round begins, or the hand is complete.

When the last bet or raise on the final betting round is called, the "showdown" occurs. This is when it is determined who wins the pot, as players show their hands one-by-one. It may be the case that there is no showdown. This occurs when a player bets or raises, and no active players choose to call the player_s bet (in other words, all players fold). In this case, the player doing the betting or raising wins the full amount of the pot.

Table Stakes and All-In

Poker is typically played "table stakes", meaning only the chips in play at the beginning of each hand may be used throughout the hand. The table stakes rule has an application called the "All-In" rule, which states that a player cannot be forced to forfeit a hand because the player does not have enough chips to call a bet. A player who does not have enough chips to call a bet is declared All-In. The player is eligible for the portion of the pot to the point of his final wager. All further action involving other players takes place in a "side pot", which is ineligible to the All-In player.

There are three types of limits that are applied to the bets and raises in a game:

Fixed Limit - The bet and raise amounts are fixed for each round in a game.
No Limit - There is no limit to the size of a bet or raise other than the amount of chips you have at the table.
Pot Limit - The maximum size of the bet is limited to the current pot at the table.

Fixed Limit Betting

In fixed limit games, there is a specific limit to the amount of each bet or raise in each round. These games will be identified in the lobby game listing with a pair of bet limits, referred to as the low and high limit. For example, a $4/$8 game would have $4.00 as the lower wager limit and $8.00 as the higher wager limit.

Every wager in a specific round in the game must be at the limit amount set for that round. For example, in Hold'em, the first two betting rounds are always at the low limit and the last two betting rounds are always at the high limit. Thus an initial bet in a round 1 or round 2 at a $4/$8 table must be $4. One can only raise $4.

In addition, in each round there may only be one bet, one raise and two re-raises. So at our $4/$8 Hold'em table, in rounds 1 and 2 the maximum any single player can wager in that round is $16 - a $4 bet, a $4 raise and two $4 re-raises.

No Limit Poker

The no limit games have the exact same rules as the fixed limit games, except in betting.

Minimum Permitted Bet

All bets must be at least the size of the big blind.

Minimum Permitted Raise

All raises must be at least the size of the largest bet or raise in the same round. For example if the first player bets $5, then a player who raises must raise at least $5, for a total wager of $10. If the first player to raise actually raised $10 for a total wager of $15, then the next player must raise $10, for a total wager of $25 ($5 original bet, $10 to match the first raise, and a $10 raise.)

Maximum Permitted Bet or Raise

The maximum permitted bet or raise is all the chips you have at the table.

Maximum Number of Raises

Unlike fixed limit games, there is no limit to the number of raises in a round in no limit games.

Wager Slider

In no limit games, there will be a bet slider displayed on the table when it is your turn to bet. The minimum and maximum amounts you are permitted to bet or raise are automatically calculated and the slider is constrained so that you must bet at least the minimum amount and no more than the maximum amount. The slider also has an input box in which you may type in an amount different that the normal incremental amounts supported by the slider action.

The only exception to the minimum permitted bet or raise will be if you have insufficient chips to make the normal minimum wager. In that case you will be permitted to go "All-In" with less than the minimum amount required.

Note: In the game options you may decide what amount is displayed in the slider and associated action buttons. This amount will be either the additional amount you are wagering in the round or the total amount you are wagering in the round.

Maximum Bring-In

In order to make these games fairer to all players, when a player sits down at a no limit table, there are lower and upper limits to the number of chips that the player may bring to the table. This avoids a player having to compete with another player with a very large amount of chips.

Pot Limit Poker

The pot limit games have the exact same rules as the fixed limit games, except in betting.

Minimum Permitted Bet

All bets must be at least the size of the big blind.

Minimum Permitted Raise

Maximum Permitted Bet or Raise

The maximum permitted bet or raise is the size of the pot. The size of the pot is defined as:

The total of the pot in the middle of the table
PLUS all bets on the table
PLUS the amount the active player must first call before raising.

Maximum Number of Raises

Unlike fixed limit games, there is no limit to the number of raises in a round in pot limit games.

Wager Slider

In pot limit games, there will be a bet slider displayed on the table when it is your turn to bet. The minimum and maximum amounts you are permitted to bet or raise are automatically calculated and the slider is constrained so that you must bet at least the minimum amount and no more than the maximum amount. The slider also has an input box in which you may type in an amount different that the normal incremental amounts supported by the slider action.

The only exception to the minimum permitted bet or raise will be if you have insufficient chips to make the normal minimum bet. In that case you will be permitted to go "All-In" with less than the minimum amount required.

Maximum Bring-In

In order to make these games fairer to all players, when a player sits down at a pot limit table, there are lower and upper limits to the number of chips that the player may bring to the table. This avoids a player having to compete with another player with a very large amount of chips.