Courchevel is a type of poker that evolved from Omaha. Courchevel rules are much like Omaha rules. Players are also dealt 5 “pocket” cards, and 5 community cards are laid open on the table, forming what is known as a “board”. Players can use two of their pocket cards and three of their community cards to make a combination. The difference between Courchevel and Omaha is that the 1st card of the flop is dealt open before the preflop trade begins.
Versions of Courchevel
There are three such varieties:
- Fixed-limit game – all bets at all stages of the trade are strictly limited.
- Unlimited Courchevel – the opposite of the previous variety. Here bets can be absolutely any size up to the size of the entire stack.
- Pot Limit – Bets in the game are limited to the number of chips available in the pot.
Courchevel Poker Rules
The Dealer in the dealings is determined by the “Button”. Prior to the start of the game, the player to the left of the Button makes a bet – the small blind, the neighboring player puts the big blind. The big blind is most often twice the small blind, but it also depends on the structure of the blinds and the stakes of each game.
Then the cards begin to be dealt: 5 pocket cards to each player, and one flop card is placed on the table open.
- Preflop. The players, after looking at their dealt cards, decide. To continue playing or not. The player to the left of the big blind makes the first move. He can call the big blind, raise the big blind or fold and leave the hand. The other players do the same in order. Each Betting Round goes on, as in other forms of Poker, until all Active Players have placed an equal bet in the Pot.
- Flop. At the end of the initial round of bidding, two flop cards are dealt. The table ends up with three common cards, which are equally available to all players. The first active player to the left of the Button has the 1st move. Another round of betting begins. In a fixed limit game, all players’ bets (and raises) must be a multiple of the small bet.
- Turn. The fourth card of the board opens. The first turn is traditionally the first active player, from the Button’s left. A new round of bidding begins. If the game is played with a fixed limit, then on the turn the size of both raises and bets are multiples of a large bet (for example, 2$ in a 1$/2$ game).
- River. Finally, the final 5th common Courchevel card opens. The order of players’ moves and trading rules are identical to the previous rounds.
- Showdown. If more than one player reaches the final opening, the cards are opened first by the poker player who raised or bet last. If no one has bet before that, the cards are opened in order, starting with the player to the left of the batten and then in the clockwise direction.
The player who collected the stronger combination becomes the winner of the current deal and takes the whole pot. If there are several such players, i.e. there are several card combinations of equal strength, these players divide the pot equally between them.
Then the next deal begins, and the batton moves to the next player.
How do Courchevel rules differ depending on the game’s variety?
- Courchevel has a fixed limit. All bets are pre-determined. On the pre-flop, or flop, all bets must be a multiple of the big blind. On the next streets (turn, river) betting step increases by 2 times. Up to 4 bets are allowed per round: Bet, Raise, Reise and Last Raise.
- Courchevel Pot Limit. The smallest bet is equal to the size of the big blind. However, all bets are allowed, as long as they do not exceed the pot size.
The minimum Raise cannot be less than the previous Raise or Bet made in a given round. The maximum raise in the game is the size of the pot, which is defined as the sum of the current pot, bets on the game table, as well as the amount by which the player must first make a Call before he can Raise. There is no limit on the number of raises. - Courchevel has no limit. The smallest bet is equal to the big blind. The maximum bet can be any. Reeses in no-limit Courchevel cannot be less than the previous bet in the current betting round. Maximum raises are limited to a player’s stack. There is no limit on the number of raises.