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Monday, September 20, 2010

Double Hold'em

Double Hold'em plays exactly like Texas Hold'em except for one major difference. You receive three hole cards, choosing one as point card after the flop is dealt but before the betting round starts.

To select the point card, when prompted select the card you want to position as the point card. The card will move to the center if not already there and be raised. Once the point card is selected it can not be changed.

Each of your other two hole cards plays with the point card. You then play with two hands, hand 1 is formed by the point card and the card to the left and hand two is formed by the point card and the card to the right with the five community cards for twice the fun of Texas Hold'em. Hand 1 and hand 2 could use all of the community cards, the point card or the non point card and 4 community cards or both point and non point cards plus 3 community cards.

The strongest of the two hands is the one that is played; this may change as additional community cards are dealt.

To start, players are dealt three hole cards that only they can see and use. Then, five 'community' cards are dealt in the middle of the table that everyone can see and use. The game is split into four rounds of betting and the game moves clockwise around the table. Betting starts from the player position next to the dealer button, which moves one place to the left after each hand. In online games, the dealer button replaces the 'real' dealer.

If two or more players hold equally-strong winning five-card hands and tie, the pot will be split between the two players. If there is an odd chip left from the winnings, the player sitting closest to the left of the dealer button will receive this.

The Blinds

Before the game starts, the two players to the left of the dealer post 'blind' bets; these are called blinds because they are made before the players have seen any cards. The blinds ensure that there is some money in the pot to play for as the game starts. The player to the left of the dealer posts the 'small blind' and the player positioned to his left then posts the 'big blind'.

Pre Flop Action

Each player is dealt three cards, face down. These are called hole or pocket cards. The action begins on the player to the left of the big blind. He or she has three options: either to call the bet, raise the bet or fold.

Call - match the amount bet in the big blind
Raise - increase the amount bet
Fold - give up the cards and any stake in the hand

This betting procedure continues clockwise around the table until each player has had a chance to act on their hand.

If one of them raises, then all players wishing to remain in the pot must match the raise amount, re-raise it or fold without having to invest any more money.

The player on the big blind (the first compulsory full bet), can 'check' and opt to stay in the game without adding anything to the pot. However, if an opponent has raised the big blind has three options: fold, call or re-raise.

Once all players have folded or matched each others' bets, the flop is dealt.

The Flop

This stage entails dealing three community cards. Players then set their Point card. The point card plays with each of the other cards BUT the other non-point cards don't play with each other.

a) If a player fails to set the common card within the time limit, our software will automatically select the highest card as the common card. If the player has two high cards then the software checks if one of the high cards has a suited match with the third card. If yes then the high card which has a suited match with the third card will be selected For example if you are dealt Kc, Ks, 6c software will select Kc as it has the same suit as the 6c. In the above case the selected card can be of a lower suit also as you see Kc is a lower suit than Ks.

b) If the player has 2 high cards and suit does not match with 3 card, then the highest card with regard to face value and suit value will be considered. Ex: Ks, Kh, 6c software will select Ks as point card.

Once the player has selected their point card a further round of betting commences. Player selects their point card and act in regards to the betting round. Once complete the action move to the next player who in turn will have to select their point card and then act in regards to the betting round.

Players now can use the community cards to make their best five-card hands.

A second round of betting follows.

The Turn

The fourth community card is dealt face up on the table. The third round of betting follows.

The River

The fifth and final community card is dealt, followed by the final round of betting.

The Showdown

If there is more than one player left in the game, there is a showdown in which the players reveal their hands and the highest hand wins (see Rank of Hands). A player's second-best hand is not considered. If two players share an identical top hand, the pot is split.

Play Double Hold'em now!

posted by Clark Gamble at Double Hold'em

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