Game rules Texas Hold'em

Poker is a card game with several variations. This one, in particular, is the Texas Hold'em Poker ? the Poker version that has become more and more popular over the last years. Here at GameVelvet it is a betting game in which virtual credits with no monetary value are contested for sheer entertainment, that is, no credit may be converted into money.

Important: It is forbidden to make money bets as well as money transactions among GameVelvet Users!

In order to join the match, the User must have credits in his/her account that are equal to or higher than the table buy-in. A minimum of 2 and a maximum of 8 players are allowed in the game. A 52-card deck without jokers is used in this game.

How to play:

The Texas Hold'em Poker Game is made up of several matches. The players may join or leave them at any time. However, they need to wait for a match to start for them to join it. After the cards are dealt, the match goes on in a set number of rounds. The betting takes place throughout the rounds based on each players' assessment on his/her chances of winning the match by having the best 5-card combination among the players who stay until the end of the match. The player must take into account the 2 cards in his/her hand as well as the 5 community cards laid down by the dealer until the end of the match. Two, one or no card in the player's hand may be part of the combination. The rounds are as follows:

• First Betting Round.
• Flop.
• Turn.
• River.
• Showdown.

The Dealer

The first table dealer is randomly chosen by the computer and thereafter the turn to deal the cards is that of the player on his/her left after each hand. Since the shuffling and dealing are automated, the dealer, in practical terms, is just there to show who will pay the Small Blind, the Big Blind and who will be the first to play, namely, whoever is on the left of the Big Blind.

Small Blind and Big Blind

They work as the antes in classic Poker. They are a sort of fee which all players have to pay in order to stay at the table. However, only one player is supposed to pay the Small Blind and another player, the Big Blind in each match. The Small Blind is worth half of the Big Blind and must be paid by the player on the left of the dealer. The Big Blind is paid by the player on the left of the player who has already paid the Small Blind. The betting starts with the player on the left of whoever has paid the Big Blind. Since the dealer is always the player on the left of the previous dealer, the player who pays the Blinds is always someone to the left throughout the matches.

The Betting Value

At Limit Hold'em, the amount played is the same as in the Big Blind in the first and second rounds and twice as much in the third and fourth rounds. It may be raised a maximum of four times during the same round. The same goes to No-Limit Hold'em. However, the amount in the first two rounds is at least the same amount played at the Limit Hold'em tables although it can be higher.

Betting Rounds

When opening the rounds of betting the player can choose one of the following options:

• Placing Bets
• FOLD means dropping out to avoid losing any further.
• CHECK means passing the turn to bet without having to fold.
This option is only available to the player of the ongoing turn provided that there hasn't been any bets in the round, that is, if the player is the first to place a bet or if the previous players have also chosen to check.

From the second player on, the options are as follows:

• CALL means matching the current bet made by the previous player.
• RAISE means raising the bet. It consists not only of matching the bet but also placing some extra amount on the table. This makes the other players either match your bet (call) or drop out (fold).
• FOLD

The round is over when all seated players have matched the bet, that is, when everyone has bet the same amount.

Dealing the Cards

The cards are dealt clockwise one by one until all players have two cards in their hands. The cards are visible to the player only.

First Betting Round

At this point it's up to the player to assess the best possible card combination using the 2 cards he/she has in his/her hand bearing in mind that 5 community cards will be laid down on the table. Whoever is on the left of the player who has paid the Big Blind, opens the Betting Round.

Flop

Three community cards are laid down. Thereafter, the Second Betting Round takes place.

Turn

The fourth community card is laid down. Thereafter, the Third Betting Round takes place.

River

The fifth community card is laid down. Thereafter, the Fourth Betting Round takes place.

Showdown

After the River, the player who hasn't folded, shows his/her hand and whoever has the best combination wins the match and all the bet amount. Exceptions take place if all players, but one, fold. In this case whoever remains at the table wins the total amount of bets but doesn't show his/her cards. In the case of a tie, the amount is evenly shared among the winners.

All-In

Kicker

The Kicker is used as a tie-breaker when there are two similar hands. It is the higher card which isn't part of the hand. Hands that may have a Kicker are: One Pair, Two Pairs, Three of a Kind and Four of a Kind. The other ones don't have a Kicker, the tie-break is then done with the cards that make up the hand.

Poker Hand Rankings ? Weakest to Strongest:

Important:In the Texas Hold' em game, the card combinations are made by using the 2 cards in the player's hand plus the 5 community cards on the table. In other words, from 7 available cards only 5 are used to make a hand.

High Card The hand with the highest card(s) wins. This hand is worth its highest ranking card when used as a tie-breaker followed by the second highest card and so on. Thus K, J, 9, 8, 7 outranks Q, J, 10, 9, 7.
One Pair It consists of 2 cards of the same number or face value. If 2 players have the same pair, the highest outside card(s) win(s).
Two Pairs If 2 players have 2 pairs, the hand with the highest pair wins. If they have the same high pair, whoever has the second highest pair wins. If they have the same 2 pairs, whoever has the highest fifth card (Kicker) wins.
Three of a Kind It consists of 3 cards of the same number or face value. Also known as Trips.
Straight It consists of 5 cards in sequence. Cards can be in any suit. An Ace can be used in the highest straight (10, J, Q, K, A) and the lowest straight (A, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Flush It consists of 5 cards of the same suit. If there's more than 1 flush, the hand with the highest card(s) wins.
Full House It consists of 3 cards of 1 number or face value and 2 cards of another number or face value. If more than 1 player has a Full House, the Full House with the highest ranking three of a kind (Trips) wins.
Four of a Kind It consists of 4 cards of the same number or face value (Quads).
Straight Flush It consists of 5 cards in sequence all in the same suit. The highest card here is the King.
Royal Straight Flush It is the best and the hardest hand you can get. It consists of 5 cards of the same suit all in numerical sequence (10, J, Q, K, A).

Credits and Reloads

Enjoy the thrill of winning or losing through your bets in the Poker game. However, in the GameVelvet Poker games you can only play with virtual money (credits) which have no monetary value. By providing credits and a credit reload policy which value the points you earn, we're able to limit the access to those credits. When you first seat at a Poker table, you have an account activated by 1,000 credits if you're a Game & Hearts User, and by 500 credits if you're using your 20-Hour Pass. Should you lose those credits in a game, you can always reload them by clicking on the button on the Poker screen. To have your credits reloaded, you must have less than 50 credits in your Account. In this case, 150 credits will be added 2 hours after your request. You're only allowed to have your credits reloaded up to twice a day. So, we advise you to treasure your credits.

Safety Policy and Fair Play

In the interest of avoiding losses of credits due to dump crashes, and in order to deter illegal transactions as well as transactions that don't comply to our Terms of Services, the player is not allowed to receive from other players any amount higher than that which he/she himself/herself has covered. All players who have bet an amount which hasn't been covered, will have that difference refunded even if he/she leaves the game.

For instance:

Player A and B each posts an ante worth 10 credits;
- Player A bets 500 credits;
- Player B raises the bet to 10,000 credits;
- Player B leaves the table or loses connection.