The dealer with the button in front of him deals two-cards face down to every player, starting from the small blind and dealing clockwise. These two-cards are the player’s pocket or hole cards. Texas hold’em is a closed poker game. These cards are not revealed until the showdown and sometimes you may possibly not reveal them at all if others players fold.

The game is usually played with a 52-deck with no jokers inside and the rankings of the player hands are shown below.

The hand begins with a “pre-flop” betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the player to the left of the dealer, if no blinds are used) and continuing clockwise. A round of betting continues until every player has folded, put in all of their chips, or matched the amount put in by all other active players. Note that the blinds are considered “live” in the pre-flop betting round, meaning that they contribute to the amount that the blind player must contribute, and that, if all players call around to the player in the big blind position, that player may either check or raise.

After the pre-flop betting round, the dealer deals a flop, three face-up community cards. The flop is followed by a second betting round. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player to the dealer’s left and continue clockwise.

After the flop betting round ends, a single community card (called the turn or fourth street) is dealt, followed by a third betting round. A final single community card (called the river or fifth street) is then dealt, followed by a fourth betting round and the showdown, if necessary.

If a player bets and all other players fold, then the remaining player is awarded the pot and is not required to show his hole cards. If two or more players remain after the final betting round, a showdown occurs. On the showdown, each player plays the best poker hand they can make from the seven cards comprising his two hole cards and the five community cards. A player may use both of his own two hole cards, only one, or none at all, to form his final five-card hand. If the five community cards form the player’s best hand, then the player is said to be playing the board and can only hope to split the pot, since each other player can also use the same five cards to construct the same hand.

If the best hand is shared by more than one player, then the pot is split equally among them, with any extra chips going to the first players after the button in clockwise order. It is common for players to have closely-valued, but not identically ranked hands. Nevertheless, one must be careful in determining the best hand; if the hand involves fewer than five cards, (such as two pair or three of a kind), then kickers are used to settle ties. The card’s numerical rank is of sole importance; suit values are irrelevant in Hold’em. The last player to bet is the first player to show their hand.

There are four rounds of betting, giving players the chance to stay in the game or fold. At a live table, the dealer is the starting point for play, however as there is no dealer in online poker, the dealer button represents the starting point. The player to the left of the dealer starts play and it continues clockwise around the table.

Winning Omaha poker is a simple concept; the player with the best hand takes the pot. Ties are possible in Omaha, so in the case of more than one player having a winning hand, the pot will be split equally among the players. Should there be an odd number of chips, the extra chip is given to the player closest to the left of the dealer.

Betting Blinds

When playing Omaha poker, before any cards are dealt, the blinds must be placed. The “small blind” is put in by the player to the immediate left of the dealer, and the “big blind” is placed by the person to the left of the “small blind.” The blinds are the starter money in the pot, guaranteeing a win should everyone else at the table fold in the first round of betting.

Pre-Flop

Once the blinds have been placed, the players will receive their hole cards. In this round, four cards are dealt, face down, to each player. Once they have analyzed their cards, betting begins with the player “under the gun”, which is the person to the left of the big blind. This player has three choices for play:

• Call – bet the same as the big blind
• Raise – increase the bet to an amount larger than the big blind
• Fold – walk away from the hand

Betting continues around the table, in a clockwise motion. Once the player who put up the big blind is reached, they have an additional choice, if no one has raised the bet. The big blind can check, as their bet was the initial bet for this round. If there as already been a raise, they can choose to re-raise, call, or fold.

The Flop

Next, the dealer will place the first three community cards on the table, face up. This deal is called the “flop.” Once these cards have been shown, another round of betting will commence, with the chance to call, raise, or fold.

The Turn

This round, the dealer adds a fourth card to the community cards and players will again have the chance at a round of betting. The field at the table usually begins to shrink at this point in the hand.

The River

The dealer will now deal the fifth and final community card. From here, the final round of betting will begin and players have their last chance to call, raise, or fold.

The Showdown

After the final round of betting, those left standing that have not folded will have their showdown. Their hole cards will be revealed and the best hand will be decided. The player with the highest-ranking poker hand takes the pot, unless there is a tie. If only one player remains at the table when the showdown round is reached, the pot is theirs regardless of their hand

Omaha is one of the most common forms of poker online and is available at all poker sites. For beginners we suggest you check out Sportsbook Poker or Carbon Poker where the level of competition is significantly softer than some of the other online rooms for this particular game.