Texas Hold'em is the most popular poker variety at the moment. It is a community cards game with 4 betting rounds. Hole cards are dealt facing down and community cards are dealt facing up, available to all players.

To begin with, a theoretical dealer is determined (we say theoretical because in online poker there is no real physical dealer at the tables), this dealer will be given a dealer button. The dealer button will rotate clockwise between the players every time a hand is started and will mark the place where the dealer will deal first and also the position of the blinds. After this is done the first player to the left of the dealer will be the small blind and the second player to the left of the dealer will be the big blind.

Then, the blinds are posted and players get dealt 2 hole cards. A betting round follows. Then a card is burned (the top card of the deck is dismissed, however you will not be able to see this at PowerPoker because there is no real physical dealer but if you were playing live you would witness this) and the flop is dealt. The flop is the first 3 community cards. Another betting round happens.

Another card is burned and the turn (fourth community card dealt) is dealt. Players remaining proceed to another betting round. Then the river (fifth community card dealt) is dealt and the final betting round occurs. After that if there is more than one player in for the pot the showdown happens and players show and rank their hands to decide who wins the pot. In Texas Hold'em players can use as many cards from the board as they need to make a hand.


Omaha is a poker game very similar to Texas Hold'em with the difference that it uses 4 hole cards and that the game itself has other varieties and some other rules.

Omaha Hi

Just as in Hold'em, a theoretical dealer is determined; this dealer will be given a dealer button. The dealer button will rotate clockwise between the players every time a hand is started. After this is done the first player to the left of the dealer will be the small blind and the second player to the left of the dealer will be the big blind.

Then, the blinds are posted and players get dealt 4 hole cards. A betting round follows. Then a card is burned (the top card of the deck is dismissed, however you will not be able to see this at PowerPoker because there is no real physical dealer but if you were playing live you would witness this) and the flop is dealt. The flop is the first 3 community cards. Another betting round happens.

Another card is burned and the turn (fourth community card dealt) is dealt. Players remaining proceed to another betting round. Then the river (fifth community card dealt) is dealt and the final betting round occurs. After that if there is more than one player in for the pot the showdown happens and players show and rank their hands to decide who wins the pot. In Omaha a player can only use 3 cards from the board (never more) from the board with 2 of their pocket cards to make a hand.

Omaha Hi/Lo

For Omaha Hi/Lo the same rules as in Omaha Hi apply (Click here for Omaha rules ' link to Omaha rules(?)), with the exception that this variety of Omaha will give half of the pot to players with low hands. A low hand is defined as a series of 5 distinct cards, all lower than 8 (pairs, three of a kind, flush, etc do not count as low hands.). The best low hand possible would be A, 2, 3, 4, 5.
In Omaha Hi/Lo players must use 2 of their hole cards with 3 of the board to make their hands. At showdown the pot is split between the players with the best low hand and the best high hand.

Stud or 7-card Stud used to be the most popular poker game before Hold'em. This game is very different from Hold'em and Omaha mainly because this is not a community cards game and it is only played under a limit betting structure. In Stud there are no blinds, all players must put in an Ante to get cards.

Stud Hi

Third Street: After the Ante each player is dealt three cards, the first two facing down and the third one, called Third Street, facing up. Then a betting round will open with the player that has the lowest ranked upcard. In Stud during the first betting round players can Fold, Open, Complete the Bet, Call or Raise.

Fold: To dismiss your cards and not participate in the hand.
Open: If you are the player with the lowest upcard in a betting round you can open for the bring-in.
Complete the Bet: If you are the player with the lowest upcard in a betting round you can complete the bet, this means to increase the bet to the lowest limit.
Call: To match the bring-in or previous bet.
Raise: Increase the previous bet.

Fourth Street: After the first betting round the dealer will deal the Fourth Street, another upcard. Then a betting round will follow with the same rules described above but this time players can also check.

Check: to give up your turn to post a bet by not putting any money in the pot.

Fifth Street: Then another upcard, the Fifth Street, will be dealt. A betting round happens and players can also Check here as well.

Sixth Street: The Sixth Street is another upcard dealt to the players, also followed by a betting round where players can also Check.

Seventh Street: The Seventh Street (or river) will be dealt facing down, in the case that there were not enough cards to deal all players a river card then an community card should be dealt. After this the final betting round will follow with the same betting structure as the previous three rounds.

Showdown: After the Seventh Street is dealt and the betting round has ended, players still remaining in the hand will show their 5-card hands and the best hand will win the pot.

Stud Hi/Lo

Stud Hi/Lo is a variance of Stud Hi, the antes and the betting structure are all the same except that in the Fourth Street there is no optional increase in the betting limit. In Stud Hi/Lo the first two betting rounds must be at the lower limit and the last three at the higher limit.

The cards are dealt the same way as in Stud Hi but this time players have to form a high hand using 2 of their pocket cards with 3 of the ones on the board and if they can a qualifying low hand. If a player has the best low hand and another player has the best high hand then the pot is split in half between them. The best possible low hand is A, 2, 3, 4, 5 and the Ace can play high and low (you can use it as low in your low hand and high in your high hand).