How About Poker Games Rules

Poker is a 5-card game. Players are given an opportunity to bet on their hands. The player with the best hand wins. Hands are rated according to the following scale:

From best to worst:

STRAIGHT FLUSH

All 5 cards are in sequential order and the same suit (see Straight and Flush below).

4 OF A KIND

4 cards of the same rank

FULL HOUSE

3 cards of the same rank + two cards of the same rank.

FLUSH

All 5 cards are of the same suit

STRAIGHT

All 5 cards are in sequential order.

Aces can either come before a 2 to start a straight or after a King to end a straight.

3 OF A KIND

3 cards of the same rank

2-PAIR

2 cards of the same rank + 2 cards of the same rank

PAIR (2 OF A KIND)

2 cards of the same rank

HIGH CARD

If you have no other hand, your highest card is your hand. For example: 'high card ace' or 'high card queen'

KICKER

In any hand that does not use all 5 of the player's cards, the highest leftover card is called the 'kicker'. The kicker is used to compare ties. In some cases the kicker may need to include your top two or three leftover cards (this would happen if both players had the same kicker).

The following hand is:
'a pair of 10s with a Jack kicker' or
'a pair of 10s with a Jack, Seven kicker'

TIES

In all of the illustrated hand examples given above, the higher hand has been given first.

Straight, Flush, Straight-Flush
The player with the highest rank card wins (an ace acting as a '1' in a straight is considered low).

'2-Pair', 'Pair' , '3 of a Kind', '4 of a Kind'
Compare the matched cards for highest card. If there is still a tie, compare the 'kicker' cards.

Full House
The highest set of 3 wins. If both players have the same set of 3, then the highest set of 2 wins.

COMPLETELY TIED

If both players have the exact same hand, then both players win and the pot is split evenly between them.

top

Texas Hold'em

Texas Hold'em is the most popular type of poker played in casinos and seen on television.

7 CARDS

Texas Hold'em is a version of 7-card poker. This means that by the end of the round, the player will have 7 cards to choose from to make a 5-card hand. For example, if the user has these cards to choose from:

The following hands could be made:

Heart Flush:

Pair of 7s:

In Zynga Poker, the computer automatically determines your best possible hand, so in this case you would be considered to have the flush.

TEXAS HOLD'EM ROUNDS

Texas Hold'em is played over 4 rounds. Each round allows players to bet or fold. If no player bets, the next round begins.

ROUND 1 - HOLE CARDS

Each player is dealt two cards face down. These are called 'Hole cards'. No other players see your hole cards.
After the hole cards are dealt, there is a round of betting. The first round of betting involves 'Blind' bets.

Blind bets
The player to the left of the dealer is forced to bet the "Small Blind". The next player to the left is forced to bet the "Big Blind". The big blind is double the small blind. The blinds are set by the table rules and appear as two numbers separated by a slash, for example: 5/10 or 500/1000

The dealer changes after every hand, so all players will take turns paying the blind bets.

Betting
Proceeding clockwise, all other players must either match the blind bets ('call'), raise or fold. If someone raises, all players must match the new amount to stay in. If a player folds, they are no longer participating in the hand and may not bet or win. Once all players have had the opportunity to raise or match the current bet amount, the round of betting ends. All bets are moved to the center of the table. The total chips on the table is called the 'pot'.

Uncontested
If at any time, only one player remains in the hand (all others have folded), the hand ends immediately and the remaining player wins the pot.

ROUND 2 - 'THE FLOP'

Three cards are dealt face up on the table. These are 'community' cards. Community cards are shared by all players, meaning all players may build their hands from these cards. After the flop, there is another round of betting beginning with the first player to the left of the dealer. A player may check (bet nothing) and remain in the hand. If another player bets, checking players will be given another opportunity to bet or fold.

ROUND 3 - 'THE TURN'

One more card is dealt face up on the table. After the turn there is another round of betting.

ROUND 4 - 'THE RIVER'

One final card is dealt face up on the table. There are now 5 cards on the table and 2 cards in your hand: 7 cards total. From these 7 cards, the computer will pick your best 5-card hand. It is possible that the 5 cards on the table make the best hand -in this case it is possible that all players may have the same hand. After the river, there is one more round of betting.

Showdown
After the final round of betting, it is time to determine a winner. The last player to bet (not call) must show his cards first. All other players still in the hand (they have not folded) then show their cards. The winning player takes the whole pot.

SPECIAL BETTING RULES

Minimum bet
A player may not bet or raise an amount that is less than the big blind amount.

Split Pot
If two or more players tie, the pot is split evenly between them.

All-in
If you do not have enough money to call a bet, you may go 'all-in'. This means that you are betting everything you have left. If you go all-in, you are not allowed to win more money than you were able to call. If the pot increases after you go all-in and you win, the pot will be split between you and the player with the next best hand who was able to cover the raises.

top

Chips

GETTING CHIPS

These are the following ways you can get chips:

Daily bonus – Every day that you log in and play you earn free chips.
Win at poker – Pick a table and strike it rich. This is where you can win -or lose- it all!
Daily Lottery – Visit the game each day and you're automatically entered into the daily lottery! Win up to $1M chips!
Shootout Multi-Table Tournament – Buyin for $2k chips and win up to $500k chips!
The weekly tournament – always free to enter. Play with a special stack of chips. The top 20% of players on Sunday take home huge bonuses!
Earn through offers – Every day that you log in and play you earn free chips.
Buy chips – if you're in a hurry, visit the 'Buy Chips' tab.

top

Chip Transfers

CHIP GIFTING

You can gift chips to Poker Buddies using the "send chips" tool. This tool is found by clicking on a buddy's picture at the table or by viewing their profile page. However, you are not allowed to send these gifts in exchange for money or money equivalent. Doing so will result in your accounts beings suspended and/or banned.

CHIP TRANSFERS

The only allowed method for transferring chips between users is by using the "send chips" tool. Losing hands on purpose at the table to send chips to a friend (or yourself on another account) is a violation of our Terms of Service and is aggressively enforced through account suspensions and/or banning.

MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS

You are allowed 1 account per social network. In addition, you cannot use multiple accounts to try to accumulate free chips (aka chip farming). This behavior is easily detectible and will result in all your accounts being suspended and/or banned.

CHIP FARMING / SCRIPTING

Using scripts and manual processes to abusively accumulate free chips is not allowed and will result in your account(s) being suspended or banned.

top

Stolen Chips

Scams are an unavoidable threat on the internet, and even Texas Hold'em poker isn't safe. There are people who want your chips and will try anything to steal them from you.

REPORT STOLEN CHIPS!

Before reporting, please do as many of the following as you can:

• Clear your browser's cache
• Uninstall Java, then re-install the latest version,
• Change the password to your e-mail account
• Change the password to your Facebook/MySpace account

Usually Zynga can track down the cause and return your chips to you. Be patient. If you know the website or email address responsible, be sure to report it!

Security Advice

TIPS TO IDENTIFY HACKERS AND SPAMMERS:

• Zynga, Facebook and Myspace will never email you asking for passwords, credit card numbers or other sensitive information.
• Zynga will never send you Facebook messages.
• Zynga will never communicate with you via in game chat.
• Zynga will never ask for your log-in email and password.
• Never accept links or downloads from strangers regarding free chips.
• Always check the URL when entering personal information.

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD!

If you think you've been scammed, immediately change your Facebook/MySpace password. Don't let the scammers do any more damage.