Card games at BrainKing make a significant difference, compared to classic board games, because they are usually played by more than 2 players and work as real online games - time per move of each player is usually measured by seconds and it is not necessary to reload the whole page to see the game progress. In most cases, our card games require that your web browser supports JavaScript and AJAX technologies - which is, luckily, the basic feature of all modern web browsers (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Google Chrome etc.)
19.1) Poker
Online poker is the first real-time multiplayer game at BrainKing. The list of poker tables can be found at the left menu column of all pages, Poker tables link. This page contains all available poker tables and is refreshed every second, so it always reflects the current status of tables. This function should make easier to decide which poker table to join, regarding its parameters and number of free seats.
The online poker client is written in JavaScript, which means that your web browser must support this technology, in order to join a poker table and play. BrainKing's online poker was successfully tested with the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera and Google Chrome, but it is very likely that it would work with many other web browsers which do not have problems to process JavaScript applications.
It is important to say that all poker games at BrainKing are played with chips which are given to every player for free, so there is no risk of gambling and everyone can enjoy this great and popular card game without losing any real money. The current amount of chips of each player can be found at their profile pages.
19.1.1) How to play
The poker table page consists of several sections:
Table and seats - this is where the game is actually played. It displays seated players, their amounts of chips, current bets and cards if the game status allows you to see them. New players can join the game clicking on a free seat and posting the required buy-in number of chips
List of observers - is located below the table and shows all BrainKing users who observe this table but do not play at any seat.
Chat box - players can communicate during the game play and write messages to other players using the chat box which is located next to the table (right side). This section also lists all system messages which can help to follow the game progress.
Control panel - this section contains control buttons and its structure depends of the game situation. For instance, if it is your turn to make an action, you should see buttons to place a bet, call the current bet, raise the bet, fold the cards etc.
If, for some reason, the poker table sections seem not to show the correct status of the game, the easiest help is to reload the web page (ctrl-f5 key combination on the most browsers). Then the page would load the current game data from the server and fix all possible visual problems.
19.1.2) Texas Hold'em
Texas Hold'em is undoubtedly the most popular form of poker. It is widely considered to have the most strategy of all poker games, although the rules are quite simple (which is exactly what makes it so attractive).
How to play
One player acts as the Dealer. This position is called the Button and it rotates clockwise after every hand. In read casinos and card rooms, the dealer does not play, but it is a usual practice in home games that the dealer participates in games as well.
The two players to the left of the dealer are called the Small Blind and the Big Blind. They are obliged to make "blind" bets before any cards are dealt.
Every player receives two cards from the Dealer, face down. These are called Hole Cards.
The first round of bets starts from the player sitting immediately to the left of the Big Blind, and continues clockwise to the Dealer.
When the first betting round is completed, three Community Cards are flipped face up on the table. This is called the Flop.
The second round of best begins with the first remaining player seated to the left of the button. The betting continues, clockwise again.
After the second round of best is completed, the Dealer flips the fourth community card face up on the table. This is called the Turn.
The third round of betting starts with the first remaining player sitting to the left of the button. The betting moves clockwise, with double bets in this turn.
When the third round of betting is over, the fifth community card is flipped face up on the table by the Dealer. This is called the River.
The fourth round of betting starts with the first remaining player seated to the left of the button (dealer). The betting continues to move clockwise.
How to determine the winner
Each player tries to make the best possible combination of five cards, out of 7 available ones (2 hole cards and 5 community cards). It is allowed to use both hole cards, one hole card or no hole card at all. The combination ranks are listed below (from the best to the worst one):
Royal flush (A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit)
Straight flush (e.g. 9-8-7-6-5 of the same suit)
Four of a kind (e.g. K-K-K-K-9)
Full house (e.g. A-A-A-7-7)
Flush (e.g. K-J-8-7-5 of the same suit)
Straight (e.g. K-Q-J-10-9)
Three of a kind (e.g. A-A-A-9-2)
Two pairs (e.g. K-K-9-9-8)
One pair (e.g. Q-Q-9-4-2)
High card (e.g. K-J-7-3-2)
20) Achievements
This is a reward system that allows all BrainKing users to earn points when they achieve certain goals - for instance, to win 100 games with different opponents, to purchase a paid membership, to win a pond game with 100 or more participants etc. It belongs to the statistical category of functions but also could be a beginning of new way of competition among players.
Each achievement is rated by 5-50 points, depending on how difficult it is to achieve. Every BrainKing user can find own achievements at Profile / Achievements page and it is also possible to browse achievements of other users at their respective profile pages.
The Achievements page contains a chart of users who earned the most achievement points, it provides a simple form to check how many users received the selected achievement, etc.
