Virgin Poker

Learn the game

How to play

You'll find four different types of poker played on Virgin Poker:

Texas Hold'em

The object of Texas Hold'em is to create the best five-card hand using seven cards.

Texas Hold'em can be played from between 2 and 10 players with a single deck of 52 cards. Every player is dealt two 'hole cards'. Each player's aim is to make the best possible hand out of five cards. Those five cards can come from his private 'hole' cards and any of the five community cards which are dealt in the middle of the table face up.

Before the Deal:

Players will buy-in for the posted amount.

Selected players will post blinds.

The Dealer Button:

Unlike Seven Card Stud wherein the dealer deals each opening round clockwise around the table starting with the player closest to the left, the dealer in Hold'em will start to deal each game contingent upon which player has the "button". The button is a graphical representation ("D") of which player is the "dealer". Although our dealer will be dealing the Hold'em game, the player who has the button placed in front of his seat gets to play his cards as if he were the actual dealer. When the cards are dealt to players, they are dealt in a manner as if the player was actually dealing in a live environment.

Blinds:

Because we have a player "on the button" we now ask two players to "post the large or small blinds please". The blinds serve a purpose similar to antes, in that they put forced money into the pot that gives players an incentive to enter the hand. However, only two players will "post" or "put up" the blinds.

The first blind is called the "small blind". This bet is usually half the minimum bet of the game, although in some games, the fraction is slightly different. In $15-30, the small blind is $7, and in $5-10, the small blind is $2. So, in a $2-4 game the small blind will be $1. The second blind is called the "big blind" and is always the same size as the game's minimum bet, e.g., in a 5-10 game, the big blind is $5.

^® The player directly left of the button will have the "small blind". The player directly to the left of the small blind will have the "large blind" of the full amount or the lowest game limit.

Opening Deal:

Now that we have a Button and small and big blinds, we are ready to deal. The dealer always deals from the player closest to the dealer's left. Moving clockwise around the table, the game will "deal-in" each player. The players will be dealt one card face down, then a second card face down. A round of betting will occur starting with the player seated to the left of the big blind.

Betting on Opening Deal:

^® The player seated to the left of the big blind will always have the action on the opening deal. This player may not check, but rather can only fold, call, or raise the amount of the big blind.

The game will now advance to each player seated asking to fold, call, or raise until we reach the big blind for an action decision. If no one has raised by the time the play comes back around to the big blind, the big blind has the option to "check" his own BLIND wager or raise.

Once all players have completed the first round of wagering, they will proceed to the flop. It's important to know the strength and potential of your cards, and to try and deduce what hand you could make out of them. Make sure you familiarise yourself with the poker hand rankings before you play – you can find the hand ranking chart here.

Once you're comfortable with which hand is which and how the blinds work you're ready to play. the pre-flop

At the table there is a dealer button which moves on clockwise to the next player after every hand is completed. The two players to the left of the dealer put in the blinds, which are the initial forced bets. Don't worry, the blinds rotate clockwise after every hand, so each player is treated equally. Each player is now dealt two hole cards and a round of betting follows.

The dealer then deals 'the flop'. The flop is the first three community cards, available for use by all the players. There now follows another round of betting. The player to the left of the dealer is always the first to act.

Once all bets are matched, the dealer turns over the fourth community card, the 'turn' card. the turn

Another round of betting follows until bets are matched and the dealer now deals the final community card, known as the 'river' card. the turn

Texas Hold'em Blind Rules

^® All players must pay for their blinds in full before they are allowed to get the button. Therefore, the player who had posted the small blind in the prior hand will receive the button on the next deal of any game.

If in the event we have a new player to the game, then three (3) actions will occur.
1. If the new player is seated left of the blind, then he/she may choose to "post" the big blind or "wait." If the player does post, then his/her wager is active.
2. If the new player is seated in the big blind, then he/she is treated as such.
3. If the player is seated between the button and any blind, then he/she must wait for the button to pass.

Missed Blinds rules and Procedures:

Missed big blind. If a player misses the big blind for any reason, then that player may not play in any hands until the sum of all blinds are made up. The game will place an "ML" button in that seat to declare the missed big blind. The game will ask the next active player to the left to post the big blind for the hand. If the missed player makes up the sum of all blinds, then the small blind portion is dead and must be put into the pot before the hand is dealt.
Missed small blind. If a player misses the small blind for any reason, then that player may not play in any hands until the small blind is made up. The game will place an "MS" button in that seat to declare the missed small blind. The game will ask the current big blind to please also post the small blind for the game. The game will further ask the next active player to the left to post the big blind. The player who had missed the small cannot return until after the button has passed. When and if the player does make up the missed small blind, then that money is dead and must be placed directly into the pot before any cards are dealt.

Virgin Poker Texas Hold'em Games

Virgin Poker offers a great variaty of low, medium and high limit games. The offer may vary over time and therefore we do not list the games in this section. However, when setting up and specifying the limits of a game, we follow the general rules described below.

$ (Lower Limit)-(Upper Limit)

Maximum number of players: 10
Minimum Buy-in = $(10 x Lower Limit)
Small Blind = $(50% of Lower Limit)
Big Blind = $(Lower Limit)

Example: $1-2

Maximum number of players: 10
Minimum Buy-in: $10
Small Blind: $.50
Big Blind: $1