Understanding basic online poker rules
Ready to play poker? Excited about the cards that are about to hit the felt? Well, before you sit down to play just anywhere, you need to know that there are all kinds of different poker games to choose from. And they're all a little bit different. The poker you see on TV might not be the same game offered when you go to sit down at a table. Instead of choosing blindly, jus use our quick guide for everything you need to know about the three most popular poker types.
Texas Hold'em
Online poker is a multi-billion dollar industry - and you can thank Texas Hold'em for making that happen. The concept of hole cards and community cards made it possible for the networks to get people excited about watching poker on TV.
No one would have thought broadcasting a card game would be interesting to anyone, but Texas Hold'em got people excited about the game. And today, it's the most popular variation of poker, and the basis of the world's richest poker tournaments.
New to Hold'em? It's easy to play. There are three buttons in Hold'em - the small blind, the big blind, and the dealer button. The small blind must put in a pre-determined bet prior to the cards being dealt. The big blind must put in a bet as well, which is equivalent to twice the small blind. No one else needs to bet anything at this point.
The cards are then dealt around the table, starting with the small blind. Each player receives two cards. This is followed by a round of betting, starting with the player to the left of the big blind. This player must place a bet of the equivalent of the big blind to stay in the hand. They can also choose to raise or fold. Betting continues up until all bets are matched.
After the first round of betting, three community cards are dealt face up on the table. This is followed by another round of betting, the dealing of a fourth community card (called the turn), another round of betting, the dealing of a fifth community card (called the river), and then a final round of betting. The last player left standing with the best hand wins the pot.
Interested? Take a look at the different sites that offer Texas Hold'em games to Canadians.
Omaha
Ever notice that a lot of Canadian online poker sites and live tournaments now seem to offer loads of Omaha games? That's because a lot of Texas Hold'em fans are making the jump to Omaha and discovering how exciting the game truly is.
The reason why everyone's making the switch or mixing up what game they play? It's because Omaha is extremely similar to Texas Hold'em. Both games have five community cards. Both games follow the same betting round structure. Both games feature a small and big blind, and a dealer button. And both feature hole cards.
But in Omaha, each player gets four hole cards instead of just two. But before you think the game is easier to play just because you've got more cards in your hand, think again. In Omaha online poker games and in the live version you need to use exactly two of your hole cards and three community cards - no more, no less.
Stud
As popular as community card games are, sometimes you just can't beat poker games where all cards remain private. Stud games still remain extremely popular among live poker and online poker players.
There aren't any blinds in Stud games. Instead, there are antes. And every player who takes a seat must ante up. With all antes in place, each player is handed two cards, both of which are dealt face down. At online poker sites, these are dealt face-up for you to see, but they remain private so no one else can see what you're holding.
Next, each player receives two cards, this time dealt face-up. The player with the lowest card gets to bet first. This is followed by a fourth face-up card, and then another round of betting that commences with the player holding the highest ranked exposed cards. A fifth card then hits the table, also face-up and also followed by another round of betting. One more card is dealt face-up, then another round of betting ensues, and finally a river card is dealt face down.
Sound exhausting? We're not done yet. One more round of betting takes place, and then the player with the best hand remaining wins.
Finding these poker games is easy
Remember, a lot of Canadian land-based casino will host Texas Hold'em games, but Omaha and Stud games might only be available if there's enough demand. If you're into playing games other than Hold'em, your best is a Canadian online poker site.
Because the poker room is virtual and there are an endless number of tables, the poker websites are free to host as many tables as they choose. When you sign up to play at an online poker site, make sure it has the type of game you want to play in both cash game and tournament varieties.
