Live Strip Poker Tutorial
A typical hand in five card draw poker has the following steps in the game play.
Bet Round | Draw | Bet Round | Draw | Bet Round | Showdown
A typical game of Five Card Draw can have between 2-5 Players, our version has a maximum limit of 5 players and a minimum limit of 2 players.
Each hand is dealt by a DEALER, with each new hand there is a new Dealer, the new dealer is to the left of the previous dealer position.
The game play is in a clockwise direction, each player makes their decision to continue in the game in turn.
The PLAYERS in our example are: Sean, Thania, Vincent and Bianca (as per the graphic example. We are going to assume that Sean opened the game so she is the dealer in the first instance. All players are automatically credited with $500 of play money.
1st Betting Round (Blind Bets)
Blind Bets are forced bets, 2 players are obliged to make these bets BEFORE the cards are dealt, this is why they are called Blind Bets and the objective is to provide some money in the pot just in case the majority of the players immediately fold upon receiving their cards in the first draw.
As Sean is the Dealer, and Thania is to her left, Thania is obliged to make a Small Blind Bet, the amount of the Small Blind Bet is HALF that of the minimum bet requirement set by DEALER. In our example the minimum bet requirement is $2 and the maximum bet is $10.
Thania (player 2) places a $1 chip into the POT (in our game this is an automatic bet (no user intervention).
Vincent is the next player to the left of Bob so she is obliged to make a Big Blind Bet, the amount of the Big Blind Bet is EQUAL to the minimum bet requirement set by the DEALER.
Vincent (player 3) places a $2 chip into the POT (again this is an automatic bet (no user intervention).
NOTE: If there are only two players in the game, Blind Bets are not placed but an Ante equal to the minimum bet amount is, again this is an automated process (no user intervention) and cards are immediately dealt. Blind Bets should only be set if there are (3) or (4) players in the game.
Immediately after the blind bets are laid the game proceeds to the draw.
The Draw (Cards Dealt)
In the first draw of the game, each player is dealt (5) playing cards by the DEALER. Cards are dealt in a clockwise direction one at a time from the deck. ie: Player 1 receives 1 card, Player 2 receives 1 card, Player 3 receives 1 card, Player 4 receives 1 card, Player 2 receives the 2nd card and so forth until all players have 5 cards each. All cards are dealt face-down. So only each individual player knows what cards he/she holds.
Immediately after all players receive their cards the game immediately proceeds to the 2nd Betting Round.
2nd Betting Round
The betting round starts at the first player to the left of the Big Blind, in our example that's Bianca (Player 4) and a waiting message appears below the player, so that all players are aware who turn is currently in play.
Bianca looks at this hand and has to decide to either CALL, RAISE or FOLD.
To CALL is a decision to remain in the hand and it requires a minimum bet to be placed.
To RAISE is a decision to increase the minimum bet by the players desired amount, Bianca would do this if he believes he has a winning hand or he is bluffing.
To FOLD is a decision that the hand is worthless, and not to place a bet, the player remains seated in the game however is excluded from the rest of the hand. A message below the player should show a FOLD status.
Bianca decides to CALL as the minimum bet is $2 when Bianca clicks on the CALL button in the bottom left-hand corner $2 is deducted from her chips and placed in the pot.
The next player to Bianca's left is Sean and she has to make a decision to continue in the game and decides to CALL.
Thania decides to CALL.
Vincent decides to CALL.
Immediately after the last player decision to either bet, raise or fold, the game immediately proceeds to the draw.
The Draw
In the DRAW each player remaining in the game has the opportunity to discard unwanted cards and replace them with remaining cards in the deck. Each player discards cards (if any) in turn commencing with the Player to the left of the Dealer, in our example that would be Thania.
There are rules in drawing cards, most of which happens automatically behind the scenes built into the gaming software;
- The first card dealt from the top of the remaining deck is a burn card and is placed on a burn card pile.
- If a player wants to replace all FIVE CARDS, he/she can do so but is he/she is given four of those cards in turn, then the other players are given their draws and then the dealer returns to that player to give him/her their fifth replacement card, if no other player draws it is necessary to deal a burn card first.
- Another house rule is that the bottom card of the deck is never given as a replacement, to avoid the possibility of someone who might have seen it during the deal and is using that information. If the deck is depleted during the draw before all players have received their replacements, the last players can receive cards chosen randomly from among those discarded by the previous players. For example, if the last player to draw wants three replacement cards but there are only two cards remaining in the deck, the dealer gives the player the top card, he then shuffles together the bottom card of the deck, the burn card, and the earlier players' discards (excluding the player's own discards), and finally deals two more replacements to the last player.
Players can select which cards they wish to discard by clicking on those cards, the cards will then appear shaded, if the player accidentally selects a card that he/she doesn't wish to discard (prior to clicking the DRAW button the player simply clicks on that selected card again and it will no longer appear shaded. Any cards that are shaded when the DRAW button is pressed will be discarded and a decision to discard cannot be undone.
Thania decides not to discard any of his cards and simply presses draw.
Vincent decides to discard all five cards, the dealer burns a card, then deals four cards directly to Vincent.
Bianca decides to draw 1 card, the dealer deals a replacement card directly to Bianca (no further burn cards are dealt).
Sean decides to draw 2 cards, the dealer deals two replacement cards directly to Sean.
The Dealer then deals the final (fifth card) to Alice.
Immediately after the draw the game proceeds to the 3rd and final betting round of the hand.
3rd Betting Round (Final Betting Round)
The final betting round commences with the Player to the left of the Dealer, in our example that would be Player 2 (Thania).
Thania decides to CALL
Vincent decides to CALL
Bianca decides to CALL
Sean decides to CALL.
Immediately upon the last Player making a decision to either, CALL, FOLD or RAISE, the showdown begins, this is an AUTOMATIC occurrence in our online game.
Please Note: If a player runs out of money during a hand, or is able to match a raised bet they are allowed to go “all in”, this means they place whatever money they have in the pot and they remain in the hand. An “all in” player can only contend for the money in the pot that they have contributed to, meaning all bets that are laid after a player “all in” goes into a side-pot for active players, so in an event that an “all in” player has the action (has the winning hand) in the showdown he/she is awarded the pot and the side-pot goes to the second highest ranking hand amongst active players.
The Showdown
All remaining players cards (players that have not FOLDED) are revealed face-up on the canvas deck.
The highest scoring cards wins and takes the pot.
The player with the lowest scoring cards has a strike recorded against their name for the purposes of tracking the strip poker aspect of the game. (ie: with each 3rd lowest score recorded the player removes an article of clothing).
The other players that lost the hand, however did not receive the lowest score, no strike is recorded against their name.
Note: In the instance that a player FOLDED in the hand, that occurrence is taken as the lowest score for the hand. If two or more players folded, then each of those players are recorded with a lowest score for the hand (ie, a strike is recorded against their name for the purposes of strip poker).
What Happens Next?
The host of the game (the dealer in the first hand) controls the game and at the bottom of the showdown screen will notice two buttons, a choice of either exiting the game or proceeding to the Next Hand.
When the Host (the person who created the game room) clicks on next hand the game continues and with each new hand the Dealer button moves in a clockwise direction to the next player, so in our example, Player 2 (Thania) would now be the dealer. Blind Bets to the left of the Dealer Players 3 & 4 are automatically placed and the game follows the same play routine as previously stipulated above. If there are only (3) players in the game in the second hand, then Players 3 & 1 would be making the Blind Bets.
Note: A player can only proceed to the next hand if he/she has at least enough funds to cover Blind Bets (if he or she is next in turn) and CALL bets in the two betting rounds for the minimum bet amount set by the dealer when the game was commenced. Ie: in our example Alice in the second hand would have to make a Small Blind Bet and would need to at least cover two CALL bets in the upcoming hand, so a player minimum balance of $5 is needed to commence the game, or $6 if they needed to place a Big Blind Bet. These figures are assuming a minimum bet amount of $2 and would increase if the minimum bet requirement was a higher amount.
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