Online Poker FAQ — Beginners' Guide

Sites welcoming US players

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Poker Stars
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Absolute Poker
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Betting rules

A hand of poker is divided into betting rounds. During a given betting round, each remaining player in turn takes one of the actions below. Betting proceeds in a circle until each player has either called all bets or folded.

  1. check, a bet of zero that does not forfeit interest in the pot
  2. bet or raise, a nonzero bet greater than preceding bets that all successive players must match or exceed or else forfeit all interest in the pot
  3. call, a nonzero bet equal to a preceding bet that maintains a player's interest in the pot
  4. fold, a surrender of interest in the pot in response to another player's bet, accompanied by the loss of one's cards and previous bets
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