House Of DecksGame rules
Poker
Make the best 5-card hand (combining yours with the community cards) and take the pot.
Deck
Standard 52-card deck
Players
2 to 7 players
Dealing and blinds
Each player gets 2 private cards. Before dealing, the two players to the left of the dealer post the small blind and the big blind (with only 2 players, the dealer posts the small blind).
The dealer button moves one seat every hand.
Betting rounds
There are up to 4 betting rounds: preflop, after the flop (3 community cards), after the turn (1 more), and after the river (1 more).
On your turn you can check (if nobody has raised), call, raise, or fold. If you don't have enough chips to call, you can go all-in with what's left.
Side pots
If someone goes all-in with fewer chips than everyone else, they can only win up to what they bet: a main pot and side pots are created so nobody wins more than they put in play.
How a hand is won
If everyone but one player folds, that player takes the pot without showing their cards.
If it goes to showdown, cards are revealed: whoever has the best 5-card hand wins (best to worst: straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, pair, high card). On an exact tie, the pot is split.
How the game is won
Whoever runs out of chips is eliminated. Whoever still has chips once everyone else is out wins.
Tips and strategy
Position beats cards
Acting last in a betting round means deciding with all the table’s information already on show. The same hand plays completely differently depending on where you are sitting.
From early position, play fewer and stronger hands. From late position you can widen up: you have the advantage of watching everyone act before committing chips.
When to fold
The chips already in the pot are not yours. Calling down a bad hand "because I have already put so much in" is the most expensive mistake in poker.
Folding early and often is what sustains a stack. Most hands you are dealt are not worth playing, and the discipline to throw them away is what leaves you chips for the ones that are.
Betting on a short stack
When your stack is short relative to the blinds, half-measures stop making sense: you are either all-in or folding. Blinding away into nothing is the worst way to go out.
Side pots exist precisely so you can go all-in for less than somebody else and still contest the part of the pot you covered. Do not let a big stack push you off a hand you have won.
Frequently asked questions
Which poker variant is this?
No-limit Texas Hold’em, simplified: two hole cards, five community cards, four betting rounds and blinds that do not escalate. There are no antes and folded hands are not shown.
How do side pots work?
When somebody goes all-in for less than others are betting, the excess forms a parallel pot. The all-in player can only win the portion they covered; the rest is contested by whoever kept betting.
Is real money involved?
No. House Of Decks has no real-money play and nothing can be bought with money: chips are just the game’s scoreboard. Coins you earn by playing are only good for cosmetics in the shop.
What is the hand ranking?
High to low: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. The game evaluates the showdown automatically.
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