AsiaPokerHow to play AsiaPoker
AsiaPoker is Texas Hold'em re-engineered for more action. If you know Hold'em, you'll be playing in minutes.
Coming from Texas Hold'em? Only three things change. You get 3 hole cards instead of 2. The board is dealt 2 → 1 → 1 → 1, adding a fifth betting round called the Trump. And you make your best five-card hand from 8 cards instead of 7. Blinds, betting and hand rankings are the same.
1. The goal
Win chips by taking the pot. There are two ways to do it:
- Everyone else folds. If every other player gives up, the pot is yours and you don't have to show your cards.
- You have the best hand at showdown. After the last betting round, the players still in the hand compare their best five-card hands, and the best one wins.
AsiaPoker uses a standard 52-card deck with no jokers, and is played by two to seven players.
2. The deal and the blinds
A dealer button moves one seat to the left after every hand. Before any cards are dealt, the two players to the left of the button put in forced bets called blinds, so every pot has something to play for:
- The small blind is the player directly left of the button.
- The big blind is the next player to the left. It's usually twice the small blind.
The players agree the blind amounts before the game, just as in any other poker game.
Each player is then dealt three hole cards face down. Only you can see yours.
If you can't cover a blind, you put in what you have and are all-in for that amount.
3. The five betting rounds
A hand has five betting rounds, which players call "streets". After the first round, community cards are turned face up in the middle of the table. Everyone shares them.
| Round | New cards | Cards on the board |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pre-flop | None (hole cards only) | 0 |
| 2. Flop | 2 cards | 2 |
| 3. Turn | 1 card | 3 |
| 4. River | 1 card | 4 |
| 5. Trump | 1 card (the last) | 5 |
Before the flop, action starts with the player to the left of the big blind. In every round, play goes around the table in order until everyone still in the hand has either matched the biggest bet or folded. Then the next card or cards are dealt.
The big blind always gets a turn before the flop, even when nobody has raised. They can check, or raise.
4. Betting
On your turn you have these options:
| Action | What it means |
|---|---|
| Fold | Give up the hand. You lose whatever you've already put in the pot. |
| Check | Pass without betting. Only possible when no one has bet in this round. |
| Bet | Put chips in when no one has bet yet in this round. |
| Call | Match the biggest bet in this round. |
| Raise | Increase the bet. Everyone else then has to call, raise again or fold. |
| All-in | Bet every chip you have in front of you. |
How much you can bet or raise, and whether there's a limit, is up to the players, the same as in any other poker game.
Table stakes
You can only bet the chips you have on the table when the hand starts. You can't add more in the middle of a hand. If you're short of a call, you go all-in for what you have, and you can still win the part of the pot you matched. See side pots.
5. Showdown
If two or more players are still in after betting on the Trump finishes, the hands are shown. Each player's hand is the best five cards out of the eight available: your three hole cards plus the five on the board.
You can use any combination. That could be all three of your hole cards, two, one, or none, which means playing the board.
The best five-card hand wins the pot.
6. Hand rankings
From strongest to weakest:
| Hand | Description | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush | A-K-Q-J-10, all the same suit | A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ |
| 2 | Straight flush | Five cards in a row, all the same suit | 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥ |
| 3 | Four of a kind | Four cards of the same rank | Q♣ Q♦ Q♥ Q♠ 4♣ |
| 4 | Full house | Three of a kind plus a pair | J♠ J♥ J♦ 8♣ 8♠ |
| 5 | Flush | Any five cards of the same suit | K♦ 10♦ 7♦ 4♦ 2♦ |
| 6 | Straight | Five cards in a row, mixed suits | 10♣ 9♦ 8♠ 7♥ 6♣ |
| 7 | Three of a kind | Three cards of the same rank | 7♠ 7♥ 7♦ K♣ 2♠ |
| 8 | Two pair | Two different pairs | A♣ A♦ 9♠ 9♥ 5♣ |
| 9 | One pair | Two cards of the same rank | 10♠ 10♥ K♣ 6♠ 3♦ |
| 10 | High card | None of the above. Your highest card plays. | A♠ J♦ 8♣ 6♠ 2♥ |
Aces and straights
An ace can be high or low in a straight, but it can't wrap around:
- 10-J-Q-K-A is the highest straight.
- A-2-3-4-5, called the "wheel", is the lowest straight. It counts as five-high.
- K-A-2-3-4 is not a straight.
Outside straights, an ace is always the highest card. Suits are never ranked against each other. If two hands are the same rank, the higher cards win, and if they're identical the pot is split.
7. All-ins, side pots and ties
When a player is all-in and others keep betting, the extra chips go into a side pot:
- The main pot holds what every player could match. Everyone still in the hand can win it.
- Each side pot holds the extra bets between the players who had chips left. Only those players can win it.
- If nobody can match part of your bet, that unmatched part is simply returned to you.
Each pot goes to the best hand among the players eligible for it. A tied pot is split evenly between the winners.
Playing online? In the AsiaPoker app the table sets the stakes, deals and runs the clock for you. Just pick a table and play.