What you need
- A standard 52-card deck, no jokers.
- 2 to 10 players (6 to 9 is ideal).
- Chips, or a phone each: EasyPoker keeps every stack and the pot on the players' phones.
- A dealer button: any object that marks who deals. It moves one seat left after every hand.
One hand, step by step
- Blinds. The player left of the button posts the small blind; the next player posts the big blind (normally twice the small blind, e.g. 10/20). Blinds are bets made before seeing cards, so every pot has something to win.
- Hole cards and pre-flop betting. Everyone gets two cards face down. The player left of the big blind acts first and must call the big blind, raise or fold. Action goes clockwise; the big blind acts last and may check if nobody raised.
- The flop. The dealer burns (discards) one card and deals three community cards face up. Betting starts with the first active player left of the button.
- The turn. Burn one, deal a fourth community card, another betting round.
- The river. Burn one, deal the fifth and final community card, the last betting round.
- Showdown. Players still in show their cards. Each makes the best five-card hand from their two cards and the five on the board, using any combination (both, one or none of their own). See the hand rankings.
If everyone but one player folds at any point, that player wins the pot immediately and does not have to show.
Your options when it is your turn
| Action | When you can | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Check | Nobody has bet this round | Pass without betting; stay in the hand |
| Bet | Nobody has bet this round | Put chips in; others must match to stay in |
| Call | Someone has bet | Match the current bet |
| Raise | Someone has bet | Match it and add more |
| Fold | Any time it is your turn | Give up the hand and anything you already put in |
| All-in | Any time | Bet every chip you have left |
A betting round ends when every remaining player has put in the same amount (or is all-in) and everyone has had a chance to act.
How much can you bet?
- No-limit (the usual home game): any amount up to your whole stack. The minimum bet is the big blind.
- Minimum raise: at least the size of the previous bet or raise. If someone bets 20, a raise must make it at least 40.
- Pot-limit and fixed-limit variants cap the bet at the pot size or a set amount.
Running the chips with phones
With EasyPoker, everyone's stack is on their own phone. To bet or call, pick the amount and tap Bet: it leaves your stack and joins the pot that every phone shows. Checks and folds need no tap at all. At showdown the winner taps Take whole pot; for a split pot, each winner takes their share. The host changes the blinds between levels from the Host tab.