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POKER GAMES & RULES |  |
Red Cherry Poker offers the most popular forms of poker. Check out the complete rules of poker to get all the details on how each game is played.
- Texas Hold'em is the easiest form of poker. The rules are simple and it provides you with good insight into the basics of poker. Learn more
- Omaha High is similar to Texas Hold'em, but you should have some experience in poker strategy. Learn more.
- Omaha Hi/Lo is like Omaha but with a really cool twist. Learn more.
- Seven Card Stud has the least in common with Texas Hold'em or Omaha. Requires the most concentration and awareness. Learn more.
TEXAS HOLD'EM
Texas Hold'em is the easiest poker game to play at Red Cherry Poker. In the course of this game, 2 secret cards are dealt to each player and 5 community cards are dealt in the centre of the table, visible for every player.
Rules and game course
When a table opens, first of all the dealer button will be allotted. Cards will be dealt in the following way: The player to the left to the dealer button receives the first card, then dealing proceeds clockwise around the table until every player has received two secret (or "hole") cards. Secret means that only the player can see his/her own cards. Before cards are dealt, the two players to the left of the dealer button post their blinds. After dealing the cards the first betting round starts at the first player left to the blinds. The player has three options:- Fold - that means quit this hand
- Call - that means, match the bet amount - in this case the blind
- Raise - that means, increase the betting amount required to stay in the game
After this first betting round is finished, then comes
The Flop
Three cards will be dealt visually as community (or common) cards in the centre of the table, valid for every player. This means that every player may combine his two Hole cards with those in the middle of the table. The second betting round starts with the first player to the left of the dealer button. There are two options:
- Check - he opts not to bet and action moves to the next player
- Bet - he puts chips in the pot. If a player bets, the 3 above-named options (Fold, Call, Raise) are possible.
The Turn
A fourth card is dealt face up as a community card in the centre of the table. The third betting round follows in the same way as the second. After the third betting round is finished comes
The River
A fifth card is dealt as community card. Afterwards there comes the fourth and final betting round, equal to the rules of the previous. For all players who have called, there then comes
The Showdown
The Hole (or secret) cards of all players will be opened and the highest hand wins the pot.
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OMAHA HIGH
Omaha High is played with four hole cards for every player and five community cards in the centre. Just as in Hold'em games, this is a game of position strategy and mathematical odds. However, Omaha is significantly less calculable than Texas Hold'em, because there are many more cards in the game. This also means that, here, the role of psychological strategy is considerably more important than in Texas Hold'em. Omaha High is offered as a limit and as a pot limit game.
Rules and game course
The process of this game is similar to Texas Hold'em. The four hole cards are dealt. The first betting round starts with the first player to the left of the blind. The hand continues with the Flop, betting round, Turn, betting round, River, betting round and the Showdown.In Omaha Hi, the winning hand is determined in the following way:
Each player combines three common cards on the board with two of the four hole cards. This is an important difference to Texas Hold'em wherein, theoretically, the whole board can be the winning hand. So once again, in Omaha you always need "two hidden cards and three from the table's centre."
If you are playing pot limit games, please be aware that there is no restriction on the number of raises (different than limit games, where only three raises are possible).
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OMAHA HI/LO
Poker is normally played with the highest-ranked hand winning in the showdown. But there are also some versions of poker games wherein the pot is split in the showdown. The player with the highest hand (High) wins one half, the player with the lowest hand (Low) wins the other. This form of poker is played as Seven Card Stud High-Low Poker and Omaha High-Low Poker. The highest hand is determined, as usual, according to the ranking of the hands, starting with the Royal Flush as the highest combination.
For the determination of the low there is an important restriction: A low is only accepted when a player has five cards lower than the nine, whereby the ace is counted as one for the low. (But the ace is still the highest card for the high; it holds a dual position). A straight with eight high or lower can so be the high, just a straight, or the low, namely eight high. This is an important difference to plain low games, where straights are not accepted as low. If no player has five cards lower than nine in the showdown, then there is no low and the high wins the whole pot.
Betting rounds in Omaha Hi/Lo are the same as in Omaha Hi, in Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo they are the same as in Seven Card Stud. The only difference is in the showdown. Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo and Omaha Hi/Lo are mostly played as limit games, but they can also be pot limit games.
A few important tips:
1. If there are not at least three cards eight or lower on the board in Omaha Hi/Lo, a low is not possible.
2. In Omaha, you can use the same hole cards for the high and the low.
3. If the amount of the pot is uneven, the high hand gets the extra chip every time.
Here are two examples of how the ranking of the Low works:
A player has A-2-3-4-9: This is not a low
One player has A-2-3-4-8, another has 3-4-5-6-7: The second player wins, because his 7 is lower than the 8.
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7 CARD STUD
This poker game is played with three cards face down and four cards face up for each player.
Rules and game course
Before the first cards are dealt, every player has to bring the ante. Then, every player gets two cards face down and one face up, whereby the first player to the left of the dealer gets the first card, continuing clockwise around the table.After the first three cards have been dealt, the first betting round starts when the player with the lowest card showing brings the forced bet. As the name suggests, this amount must be paid into the pot. The betting then goes around clockwise, with three options for all players: fold, call or raise. The first raise in Seven Card Stud is called "complete," because the forced bet is increased to the minimum limit of the particular limit game. In limit games there are three more raises (raise, re-raise, capped).
After the first betting round, each player gets a second card face up (the fourth card). This card is also called "Fourth Street". From now on until the final betting round, every action starts with the player with the highest cards showing. The options are: check or bet. Once a player has bet, the three usual options - "fold, call or raise" - apply. Note: If any player shows a pair, the higher limit applies.
After the second round of betting is over, "Fifth Street" is dealt. Every player gets the third card face up (the fifth card).
The third betting round follows according to the same rules of the second. The only difference: From the third betting round on, the respectively higher limit of limit games is in effect. After this betting round, every player gets the fourth card face up (the sixth card).
The fourth betting round follows. Finally, every player gets the seventh card, but this one is face down (so it is the third face down card). The last betting round starts, followed by the showdown. The cards of all players still in this hand are shown and the best hand wins the pot.
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