Every avid casino goer has played poker at least once in their life. It’s one of the most popular games both in online and land-based casinos because of the thrilling gameplay focused on skill-building and strategy.
Truly a classic game beloved by many, poker can challenge your wits in ways you never thought possible. There’s no way of knowing how a game turns out even when you play poker online.
Ready to try your luck? Grab the chance to play poker online casino games on a great platform like Live Casino! All you have to do is create an account and top-up your balance to enter one of the online poker tables on the website.
An array of online poker games are waiting for you here. From high roller tables to classic games, there’s a table that’ll fit your playing style. Ready your wagers and wait for your turn on the flop at Live Casino.
All about poker: Getting to know the game better
For the uninitiated, poker can be intimidating to learn. It has varying levels of difficulty depending on the poker variation being played by the table. Get to know more about this game as you scroll through Live Casino.
What is poker?
Poker is a zero-sum game where a player has to wager and fight for their hand. Since each player’s hand is hidden from one another, a series of bluffing and misdirection is done to convince the opponents to fold.
To dive deeper, it’s important to know that poker is a family of card games that applies strategies based on behaviour and playing patterns. The difference between each variation can be small or drastic, but all of these games focus on wagering over which hand is best.
This is where misdirection and bluffing comes into play. You don’t want to reveal your hand to other players because they can use it against you. However, you need to dominate the game by the way you react and wager for the pot.
The goal is simple, whoever remains in the game with the best hand wins. However, rules can vary depending on the variation you play.
A brief history of poker
The complicated game of poker goes back to over a thousand years ago. Many historians believe that its origins can be traced back to a domino card in the 10th century developed by a Chinese emperor.
However, the modern iteration of poker games was from 17th century France’s Poque and Germany’s Pochen. Both of these games were derived from Primero, a Spanish table card game that featured three cards dealt to each player and with bluffing as a key part of the game.
Poker hands to know before playing
Whatever variation of poker you are playing, you need to know by heart the different poker hands and their rankings. These are important because forming the right combination can give you the winning hand.
Below is the list of poker hands from highest to lowest that you’ll encounter while playing poker:
Royal flush – The hand consists of the Ace (A), King (K), Queen (Q), Jack (J) and 10 all of the same suit.
Straight flush – A hand with different cards in the same suit and are also following a sequence.
Four of a kind – A hand with all four cards of the same rank.
Full house – A combination of both a three of a kind and a pair in a single hand.
Flush – A hand with five cards of the same suit.
Straight – A hand with five cards following a sequence but does not belong in the same suit.
Three of a kind – A hand that forms three cards all of the same rank.
Two pair – The hand consists of two different pairs of similar ranking cards.
Pair – The hand has two cards of the same rank
High card – When all of the high ranking hands aren’t made, the highest-ranking card in a hand wins. Ace is the highest-ranking card while 2 is the lowest.
Different poker variations
The key to understanding poker is learning about the different variations of this table game. Rules vary depending on how you play poker. Get to know more about these poker variations below:
Texas Hold’em Poker
In the realm of casino games, Texas Hold’em Poker is considered one of the most popular variations of poker. It’s a community poker game where each player is dealt two ‘pocket’ or ‘hole cards’ before the game begins.
Five community cards will be laid face-down on the table. These will be revealed in stages in between rounds of betting. The player who hasn’t folded and with the best hand wins.
The dealer button
The most important part of the game is the dealer button. This indicates whose turn it is to act on the table. Your actions can either be:
Call – Matching the initial bet put up by the opponents.
Raise – Increasing the opening bet (you can also re-raise the amount your opponent raised).
Fold – Opting out of the game. It’s mostly done if you have a bad hand.
Check – Passing the action to the next player but still keeping your hole cards.
Knowing how the game works
For you to learn how to play poker online casino Texas Hold’em, you first need to understand its betting system. The game starts when the table pre-determines the blinds. These are forced bets that make up the initial amount of the pot that the table will play for.
Small blind – The player left side of the dealer button will post half the minimum table bet.
Big blind – The player two seats to the left of the dealer button will post the total amount that the table requires.
Texas Hold’em is distinct from other poker variations because of how the deal is handled. The game is divided into several rounds namely:
Pre-Flop – The hole cards are dealt and the blinds are wagered.
Flop – Three community cards are dealt on the table to form the Flop and it’s followed by a betting round.
Turn – The fourth community card is dealt and another round of betting commences.
River – The fifth community card is dealt followed by another series of betting. When two players are left on the River, a showdown commences where the remaining players show their cards.
Omaha Hi-Lo
Omaha Hi-Lo is also called Eight or Better or Omaha/8. The game can be confusing at first since its mechanics offer a change of pace from that of Texas Hold’em. Moreover, its main difference lies with how hands are formed.
Instead of forming a combination, you’ll have to form two hands with the hole cards and community cards. Your goal in this game is to form both the highest and lowest hand on the table to win.
Dealing the hand
Each player will receive four cards in total for the hand. These cards are dealt one at a time counter-clockwise until all the hole cards are completed.
Similar to how Texas Hold’em starts, there will be two players that’ll act as small and big blinds. The pre-flop round starts when the initial pot is made with the forced blind bets.
After that, three community cards will be dealt on the table face-up signifying the beginning of the Flop. After a round of betting, the Flop will be followed by the Turn and River wherein the dealer puts down the fourth and fifth community cards respectively.
How to make a hand in Omaha Hi-Lo
Hidden contentFor a low or high hand to qualify, you need to use exactly two cards from your hand and three of the community cards to form a combination. You can use the same cards on your four-card hand or create a different set altogether when forming the combinations as long as you follow the aforementioned rule.
Just like in any other poker variation, you need to know the traditional hand rankings to identify the high hand. It can get a bit confusing when talking about the low hand.
The rule of thumb for Omaha Hi-Lo is that the low hand should consist of cards that are ranked eight or lower. Your Ace can also act as the highest-ranking or the lowest-ranking depending on how you form the combinations.
It’s possible that no low hand forms within the game. When this happens, the pot is awarded to the player with the best high hand. The pot can also be split when a tie occurs.
7 Card Stud
Before Texas Hold’em rose to fame in the early 2000s, 7 Card Stud dominated the poker scene. This variation is strategic and challenging because partial information about the player’s hand dictates how the game goes.
Unlike other poker variations, there’s no dealer button on this game. The play begins once every player wagered an ante depending on the table limit set by the online casino.
Dealing the cards in 7 Card Stud
Once the ante is posted by each player, the presenter will deal the cards. You’ll receive three cards wherein the first two, known as the hole cards, are dealt face down while the third card, called the door card, is dealt face up.
Since there’s no dealer button on 7 Card Stud, the game starts when a player wagers for the bring-in bet. This is determined by whoever has the lowest ranking door card. The remaining players can then act whether they want to call, raise or fold.
How the rounds play
After the bring-in bet round, each of the remaining players is dealt the 4th street card. The player receives the fourth face-up card and whoever has the highest-ranking cards will act first on the succeeding round. This process continues until the 6th street followed by rounds of betting.
The 7th street is dealt face down on the final round. After the final betting round, the remaining players will have a showdown wherein they show the five face-down cards. Whoever has the best hand according to the traditional list of winning poker hands.
Running out of cards in a deck
A deck can run out of cards during the whole 7 Card Stud game. When this happens, the final card is dealt face-up on the poker table and acts as the community card that can be used by all players.
Play poker online casino: Games to play at Live Casino
Now that you know the popular poker variations, it’s time to try your hand with one of Live Casino’s best games. Don’t know where to start? Here are some of the most popular games in the platform’s catalogue:
Turbo Poker by Wazdan
Win up to 1,000x your bet at an RTP of 95.94% when you play Wazdan’s Turbo Poker. It’s easy to play since all you have to do is shuffle the deck and five cards will be dealt to you. To win, you only have to form the highest-ranking poker hand possible.
What are you waiting for? Press the play button and draw five cards. If you’re lucky you might land a royal flush and win a massive cash prize at Live Casino!
Texas Hold’em Poker High Roller by OneTouch
Play against the house when you play Texas Hold’em Poker High Roller at Live Casino. Developed by OneTouch, this thrilling game gives you a chance to play one-on-one with the dealer with an RTP of 99.11%.
Make an ante wager and play until you reach the river for bigger chances of winning the money pot. Whoever has the best hand wins the game in this exciting online casino poker game.
Get your lucky Aces when you play poker at Live Casino
Ready to try your luck with the array of poker games available at Live Casino? Now’s your chance to win massive payouts when you play poker online casino games on the best casino platform in the digital sphere.
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