Poker rounds or who's turn is it:
Betting during a hand follows a prescribed order. One player will be
designated to act first. The action moves clockwise around the table. When the
action gets to you, you will have a few betting options. If there has not been a
bet yet, you can either check or bet. If you check, the action passes to the
next player and they will face the same option. If you bet, then the action
passes to the nest player, and they are forced to fold, call, or raise.
Checking - you do not place any money in the pot, but your hand is still
eligible. If all players check, the betting round ends with no additional money
going into the pot. If there is a bet, then you are not allowed to check.
Folding - if there has been a bet, you may drop out of the hand by folding. You
have no chance of winning the pot. You may fold any time the action reaches you,
but you forfeit any money you have placed in the pot.
Betting - if there has not been a bet yet, you may be the first person to open
the betting by placing an amount of chips in the pot. The other players will now
have to call or raise in order to remain eligible.
Calling - if there has been a bet you put in equal amount. You continue to have
chance of winning the pot.
Raising - a player calls the previous bet and raises the betting to a new level
which other players, including the original better will now have to call. The
second raise in a betting round is a re-raise and the third raise is a
re-re-raise.
A betting round comes to an end when all remaining players have checked or
placed equal amounts of money in the pot, or when all but one players have
folded. Betting moves clockwise, and you act after the player on your right.
Players on left - act after you.
There is often a limit on the number of raises. It is usually limited to three
or four, depending on what part of the world you are in. The limit on raises is
usually lifted when there are only two players left in the pot. There are three
basic structures in poker: no-limit, pot-limit, and limit. Limit poker further
divides into fixed-limit and spread-limit. In fixed limit poker games, all bets
and raises must be the precise amount of the betting limit - for example, $5-$10
Hold'em. In spread limit poker games, any amount between the minimum and the
maximum is allowed. The bettor will decide what amount in between those two to
bet. Most of the online poker rooms use the fixed-limit poker games.
Poker is played according to table stakes. At the beginning of a hand whatever
money or chips you have is all that is available to you. You van not use more
than you have in front of you, nor can you win more than you have from any one
of your opponents. You can not, at half way through the hand, "recharge" your
bank. If you run out, you are declared "all-in", and you are eligible to win
whatever money is in the pot up to that point. Any additional money that goes
into the pot will form a side-pot that you will not be entitled to win.
|