BETPOKER.CO.ZA

About Poker

Poker is a family of card games that share betting Poker and usually (but not always) hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown (in some games, the pot is split between the high and low hands), limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.


In most modern poker games, the first round of betting begins with some form of forced bet by one of the players. In standard poker, each player is betting that the hand he has will be the highest ranked. The action then proceeds clockwise around the table and each player in turn must either match the maximum previous bet or fold, losing the amount bet so far and all further interest in the hand. A player who matches a bet may also "raise," or increase the bet. The betting round ends when all players have either matched the last bet or folded. If all but one player fold on any round, then the remaining player collects the pot and may choose to show or conceal their hand. If more than one player remains in contention after the final betting round, the hands are revealed and the player with the winning hand takes the pot. With the exception of initial forced bets, money is only placed into the pot voluntarily by a player who, at least in theory, rationally believes the bet has positive expected value. Thus, while the outcome of any particular hand significantly involves chance, the long-run expectations of the players are determined by their actions chosen on the basis of probability, psychology and game theory.


Poker has gained in popularity since the beginning of the 20th Century, and has gone from being primarily a recreational activity confined to small groups of mostly male enthusiasts, to a widely popular spectator activity with international audiences and multi-million dollar tournament prizes, with women being a constantly growing part of that audience.   


Do's & Don's of Poker

CONDUCT

  1. No cheating.
  2. No swearing.
  3. No abuse.
  4. No defacing of property.
  5. No drugs.
  6. No weapons.
  7. No excessive noise.

ETIQUETTE

  1. No acting out of turn.
  2. No checking a hand when third player is all-in.
  3. No reading of another player's hand before it has been placed face-up on the table.
  4. Not to reveal a live hand in a multi-handed pot before the betting is complete.
  5. No messing with the chips.
  6. Not to mess with the already discarded cards.
  7. No stacking chips in a way that interferes with dealing or viewing of cards.
  8. No unnecessarily stalling the action of the game.
  9. No unnecessary statements or actions that unfairly influence course of play.

THE BUY IN

  1. Before entering a game a full buy-in must be made for that particular game. A full buy-in at limit poker is ten times the maximum bet for the game being played.
  2. A player that has been forced to move from a broken game has to move game to game of the same limit and may continue to play for the same amount of money, even if it's less than the minimum buy-in. When switching games one must have the right buy-in size for each new game.
  3. You are allowed to make one short buy-in per game. Adding to your stack is not considered a buy-in and can be done in any amount between hands.

MISDEALS

  1. The dealer has exposed two or more cards.
  2. The first or second card of the hand has been dealt face-up or shown in error by the dealer.
  3. An incorrect number of cards have been dealt to player.
  4. Any card that has been dealt out of sequence.
  5. Two or more boxed cards are found.
  6. Two or more extra cars have been dealt in the starting hands of the game.
  7. When a player has been dealt out that is entitle to a hand. This player has to be present at the table or have a posted blind or ante.
  8. The first card that is dealt to the wrong position.
  9. Cards that have been dealt to an empty seat or a player that is not entitled to a hand.

DEAD HANDS

  1. When you announce that you are folding or facing a bet or a raise.
  2. In stud games, when facing a bet and pick your face-up cards off the table or turn your face-up cards face-down or mix your up-cards and down-cards together.
  3. When you throw your hand away in a forward motion causing other players to act behind you.
  4. When you act on a hand with a joker as a hole card in a game not using a joker.

BETTING AND RAISING

  1. Check-raise is permitted in all games except in some forms of lowball.
  2. In limit poker when a pot involves three or more players who are not all-in then a game with three or more betting rounds allows a maximum of a bet and three raises or a game with two betting rounds allows a maximum of a bet and four raises.
  3. In no-limit and pot-limit, unlimited raising is allowed.
  4. Unlimited raising is allowed in heads-up play. This applies when an action becomes heads-up before the raising has been capped. Once raising is capped on the betting round another fold that leaves two players heads-up may uncap it.
  5. In limit play, all-in bets or less than half a bet does no reopen the betting for any player who already acted and is in the pot for all previous bets. A player that faces less than half a bet may fold, call or complete the wager.
  6. Any bet must be the size of the previous bet or raise in that round unless a player is going all-in.
  7. The smallest chip that is wagered in a game is used in the antes, rake, collection or blinds.
  8. A verbal statement shows your action and is binding.
  9. Rapping the table with your hand is a pass.
  10. Acting out of turn is no allowed and a player who checks out of turn may not bet or raise on the next turn to act.
  11. In order to retain the right to act a player gas to stop the action by calling 'time'. Failure to do so before three or more players have acted behind you may cause you to loose the right to act. You may forfeit your right to act when the player in front of you has not acted and only if you fail to act when it is your turn. Should you wait for someone's turn to come before you and three or more player's act behind you, this does not stop your right to act.
  12. When you make a forward motion in limit poker with chips and cause another player to act then you may be forced to complete your action.
  13. A player who bets and calls by releasing chips into the pot is bound by that action. Should you be unaware that the pot has been raised you have the right to withdraw that money and reconsider your action provided that no one else has acted after you.
  14. String raises are not permitted.
  15. All wagers and calls of an improper low amount have to be brought up to proper size.
  16. If you have a single chip in the pot that is larger than the bet but did not announce a raise then you are assumed to have only called.

THE SHOWDOWN

  1. A player must show all cards in the hand face-up on the table to win any part of the winnings.
  2. Cards read for themselves and the dealer assists in reading them but it is the player's responsibility for holding onto their cards until the winner is declared.
  3. Any floor person, player or dealer who sees an incorrect amount of chips placed into the pot is obliged to point out the error.
  4. The dealer will kill loosing hands before the pot is awarded.
  5. Any player may request to see any hand that has been called. If a player other than the winner asks to see a hand that has been folded, that hand is dead. If the winner asks to see a losing player's hand then both hands are live and best hand wins all.
  6. Should you show your cards to another player during or after a deal any other player at the table also has the right to see those exposed cards.
  7. On the final betting round and everyone is all-in, the player who acts first is the first to show the hand. If there is betting on the final round then the last player has to take action by a bet or rise in the first to show the hand.

TIES

  1. The ranking of suits from highest to lowest in spades, hearts, clubs and Diamonds. Suits never break a tie for winning a pot and only used to break a tie between cards of the same rank.
  2. Dealing cards to each player is used to determine things like who moves to another table or seating order. When the cards are dealt the order is clockwise starting with the first player on the dealer's left hand side.
  3. An odd chip will be broken down to the smallest unit used in the game. No player may receive more than one odd chip.