The first thing that you need to understand is how the betting system works. The first mandatory bet in all poker games are the blinds and antes. In some games there is an ante which is a payment that all players in the table must make before they receive their hole cards. So if the ante is of 25 chips then all players must put 25 chips into the pot before they see any cards.

The blinds are also mandatory bets demanded from the first two players to the left of the player holding the dealer button. There is a small blind and a big blind so the first player to the left of the dealer button will be the small blind and will pay only half of what the big blind (second player to the left) will pay. After the blinds and/or Antes are posted a betting round will begin with the player to the immediate left of the big blind.


You, as a poker player, have 6 options to choose from in a betting round: Fold, Bet, Call, Raise, Check and All-in. It may seem like a very simple step, but is in fact the most vital part of the game.

Fold
If you choose to Fold then that means that you would be dismissing your cards and will not participate in that hand.

Bet
If you are the player starting the betting round you may choose to Bet and all the other players will have to Fold, Raise or Call.

Call
If you choose to Call then this means that you will match the bet made by the last player that put money/chips in the pot. This will grant you the chance to keep participating in the hand.

Raise
If you choose to Raise then you have to match the current bet and increase it.

Check
In the first round of betting you can only choose to Check if you are the big blind and no one has raised your bet. On the following betting rounds you can choose to Check if no one has made a bet before you, hence, the player before you checked as well or if you are the starter of the betting round. To Check basically means to give up your turn to post a bet.

All-in
If you choose to go All-in in a poker hand, this means that you will put all of your money/chips into the pot in one single hand.

In poker, players use hands in order to determine who the winner is. Below, we will give you a list so that you know how poker hands are made and which one is a better hand than the other. It is important to know that in poker the suit does not matter; a royal flush of spades and a royal flush of diamonds are equally good hands.

1) Royal Flush. The best hand in poker is the Royal Flush; this hand beats any other hand. It is made with 5 consecutive cards that end up in Ace High (10, J, Q, K, A) and all the cards are of the same suit.

2) Straight Flush. The next hand is a Straight Flush. It is made by 5 cards in consecutive order of a lower rank than in the Royal Flush in which all the cards are of the same suit.

3) Four of a Kind. After this hand is the Four of a Kind. This hand is made by four cards of the same rank. For example, 4 Aces.

4) Full House. The Full House is a hand made by three cards of the same rank with two other cards of the same rank as well. For example, Aces full of Kings.

5) Flush. A Flush is a hand that is made by 5 cards of the same suit. It differs from a royal flush and a straight flush because this hand does not need its cards to be in consecutive order.

6) Straight. A straight is made by 5 cards in consecutive order. The cards must not be of the same suit; otherwise it would be a straight or royal flush.

7) Three of a Kind. A Three of a Kind is made by three cards of the same rank.

8) Two Pairs. Two pairs is a hand made by two different sets of cards of the same rank.

9) One Pair. This hand is made by any two cards of the same rank.

10) High Card. This hand happens when none of the players has a hand so the winner is decided by the highest hole card. Ace is the highest possible card.

At Power Poker you will find poker games under the categories of 'Limit', 'No Limit' and 'Pot Limit'. These are three types of games made different by their betting structure.

Limit: In limit games players can only bet a pre-determined amount every round. In Hold'em and Omaha, the maximum bet during the first two rounds will be equal to the big blind and will double up in the following rounds.

No-Limit: In no-limit games players can bet as much as they want to as long as the amount is equal or greater than the big blind.

Pot-Limit: In pot-limit games the maximum that players can bet is the size of the pot. In other words, if the pot is 1,400 chips a player cannot exceed this amount when betting.