Emanuel Ferreira Argolo - The Joker

Golden Wolf Casino welcomes you at this fine establishment.

We wish you good fortune.

1. Objective

The objective of Texas Hold’em is to win chips by:

• Holding the best five-card hand at showdown, or
• Making all opponents fold.

2. Table Positions

• Dealer (D) – deals the cards.
• Small Blind (SB) – the player to the left of the Dealer, posts the small forced bet.
• Big Blind (BB) – the player to the left of the SB, posts the large forced bet.

At the end of each round, positions rotate clockwise.

3. Dogmas of Golden Wolf Casino

The establishment in which you have the honor of residing takes pride in its exceptional prestige and clientele drawn from the most exclusive circles of the elite. The reputation of Golden Wolf Casino is so distinguished that the International Association of Gaming Regulators has permitted the casino to enact special commandments governing the game of Texas Hold’em:

3.1 Wealth Equated

• Grey and blue chips hold the same value, and as such a player is unaware of their true colors.

3.2 Wealth Bestowed

• A player begins the game with the following chip inventory, whose total value equals the paid buy-in:

3.3 Wealth Coveted

• Chips are crafted from the rarest and most coveted materials in the world, and as such their number at the table will be limited (only approximately 300 specimens exist worldwide). So that the game does not end too quickly for an unlucky player, Golden Wolf Casino recognizes the values of BB and SB as equal, each worth 1 grey chip.

3.4 The Wheel of Wealth

• Players may freely exchange chips among themselves. The conditions of exchange are mutual consent and equal value of chips exchanged.
• Players may exchange chips with the Bank, provided the vault contains a sufficient number of appropriate chips for the exchange.
• Any attempt at fraud during an exchange is punishable by death.
• Players may purchase additional chips.
• Chips are backed by cash, and cash is backed by chips.

3.5 The Dealer’s Providence

• The Dealer is responsible for maintaining order at the poker table. This entails:
  • the duty to deal cards with full grace,
  • collecting discarded cards,
  • verifying the value of bets in accordance with the rules of Golden Wolf Casino.

3.6 The Dealer’s Downfall

• Should the Dealer neglect their duties, the remaining players are obligated to exact appropriate punishment upon them.
• Should the Dealer, while dealing cards, expose a card that ought to remain face-down, or fail to burn a card that ought to be burned, the Dealer is compelled to sacrifice the equivalent of 0.4 PLN to the pot being contested, or to endure the torment of a thousand throat thorns, delivered in one shot of vodka.

3.7 The Gambler’s Aura

• A player who goes all-in, wagering their entire fortune, is obligated to stand, so that their heightened presence may sow fear in the eyes of their rivals.

3.8 The Gambler’s Dominance

• A player who wins a round holding a 7 and a 2 of different suits as their hole cards dominates all others.
• The remaining players, acknowledging their inferiority, endure the torment of a thousand throat thorns or pay the dominant player the tribute of shame worth 0.2 PLN.

4. The Deal

4.1 Preparation

1. The Dealer shuffles the deck.
2. Players post the blinds (SB and BB).

4.2 Dealing Hole Cards

• Each player receives 2 hole cards from the Dealer, kept face-down from other players.

4. Betting

During betting, when it is their turn, a player may take one of four actions:

• Fold – discards their cards and takes no further part in the round.
• Call – matches the highest bet in the current round.
• Raise – increases the bet.
• Check – passes their turn; this action is only available when the player’s current bet equals the maximum bet at the table.

Betting ends when all players have equalized their bets and each has taken at least one action.

4.1 Betting Rounds

There are four betting rounds:

1. Pre-flop

   • Betting begins with the player to the left of the BB.

2. Flop

   • The Dealer burns the top card of the deck, then deals 3 community cards face-up on the table.
   • The next round of betting begins with the player to the left of the Dealer.

3. Turn

   • The Dealer burns the top card of the deck, then deals 1 community card (the fourth card).
   • Next round of betting.

4. River

   • The Dealer burns the top card of the deck, then deals 1 final community card (the fifth card).

4.4 Showdown

• If more than one player remains after the final round of betting, a showdown takes place.
• Players reveal their hole cards.
• The winner is the player who formed the best five-card hand using any combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards.

5. Poker Hands (from strongest to weakest)

6. Additional Rules

• The best possible five-card hand counts, even if only one or none of the hole cards are used.
• In the event of a tie, the pot is split equally among the winners.

7. Betting – Limits

• Pot-Limit: the maximum raise may not exceed the current pot.

“Poker: the art of civilized robbery.”