Poker is a family of card games, and online casinos offer it in two main forms: software games that deal cards at random, and live tables where a dealer deals real cards in front of a camera. This page explains the common variants, the basic rules, how the two versions differ and what to check at Captain Cooks Casino before you sit down.
Common poker variants
Poker variants share the same hand rankings, but the way cards are dealt changes from one to the next. Texas Hold'em is the most common: each player receives two private cards, and five shared cards are revealed in stages. Omaha deals four private cards, and a player must use exactly two of them with three shared cards. Seven Card Stud deals no shared cards at all.
Video poker, such as Jacks or Better, works differently. You receive five cards, choose which to keep and draw replacements. The paytable sets the payout for each winning hand, so read it before you bet.
Some poker games are played against other players, and the operator takes a fee from each pot. Others, such as Three Card Poker, are played against the house. Before you join a table at Captain Cooks Casino, check which variant it is and what rules apply to it.
How the basic rules work
A hand starts with forced bets, called blinds in Hold'em and antes in some other games. Each player then acts in turn: check, bet, call, raise or fold. Betting rounds take place between reveals of the shared cards. A player who folds loses what they have already put into the pot for that hand.
At showdown, the best five-card hand wins. From highest to lowest, the rankings are royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card. If two hands share a rank, the higher cards decide.
In games against the house, the pay table or the table rules set the outcome, so read them before the first hand.
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RNG poker and live dealer tables
RNG poker runs on software. A random number generator decides each card, and you act at your own pace, with your options shown on screen. Live dealer poker uses a real dealer, real cards and a studio streamed to your device. Play moves at the dealer's pace, and you act through buttons on the screen.
In both versions the cards are random. Your choices affect how you play each hand, not which cards come up.
Captain Cooks Casino has a live casino. Visit the Live Casino page and check whether the poker variant you want is listed there before you plan a session.
Tips before you play
Learn the hand rankings and the rules of the variant before you place a bet.
Check the table limits before you join, so you know the smallest and largest bet allowed. Set a budget before you sit down, and choose stakes you are comfortable losing.
Betting systems such as Martingale change how your stakes move after each hand, not the odds of the cards, so they cannot change the outcome of a session.
Deposit limits, breaks and self-exclusion are available if you want them. The safer gambling page explains the tools.
