This section will inform you on gaming procedures, rules, policies and limits of StellaPoker’s game of Telesina.

Dealing the Game of Telesina

Telesina is a stripped deck version of Five Card Stud with slightly different rules:

- 32 cards are used ranging from 7 to Ace in all suits.
- Suits are ranked, from highest to lowest, hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades.
- The highest open combination starts the action in each betting round, including the first.
- Players who fold will not have their cards thrown in the muck. Instead, their face up cards remain visible on the table until the end of the round.
- Blinds are used instead of antes. A small blind is posted by the first active player to the left of the dealer and a big blind is posted by the second active player to the left of the dealer. A dealer button is used to indicate the dealer position.
- The winner of the hand is the player who holds the highest hand according to:

Royal flush
- Straight flush
- Four of a kind
- Flush
- Full house
- Straight
- Three of a kind
- Two pair
- One Pair

Before the Deal:

- Players will buy-in for the posted amount.
- Selected players will post blinds.

The Dealer Button:

Unlike Five Card Stud wherein the dealer deals each opening round clockwise around the table starting with the player closest to the left, the dealer in Telesina will start to deal each game contingent upon which player has the “button”. The button is a graphical representation (“D”) of which player is the “dealer”.

Blinds:

Because we have a player “on the button” we now ask two players to post the big and small blinds. The blinds serve a purpose similar to antes, in that they put forced money into the pot that gives players an incentive to enter the hand. However, only two players will “post” or “put up” the blinds.

The first blind is called the “small blind”. This bet is usually half the minimum bet of the game, although in some games, the fraction is slightly different.

The second blind is called the “big blind” and is always the same size as the game’s minimum bet.

The player directly to the left of the button will have the “small blind.” The player directly to the left of the small blind will have the “big blind” of the full amount or the lowest game limit.

Opening Deal:

Now that we have a Button and small and big blinds, we are ready to deal. The dealer always deals from the player closest to the left of the dealer button. Moving clockwise around the table, the game will “deal-in” each player. The players will be dealt one card face down, then a second card known as the “door card” will be dealt face up. A round of betting will occur starting with the player holding the highest open card.

The player with the highest card value (ace being high) will be the first to act. In the event that two or more players hold door cards of the same rank, then the lowest suit will make the determination. Suits are ranked, from highest to lowest, hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades (i.e., the ace of hearts is the highest possible card). This is the only time suits will play a role in the game.

Third Card (3rd Street):

The next card to be dealt into the game will be the third card the players will receive in their hand. This is called “3rd street.” The dealer will burn one card off the top of the deck and then deal to the player closest to the left of the dealer button and, moving clockwise around the table, will deal each player one card face up. A round of betting will occur starting with the player with the highest two-card value.

The player having the best hand on the board “has the action” and may make the initial bet of the round or check to the next player. If there is a tie between players as to the best hand, then the player closest to the left of the dealer button will have the action.

Betting in Telesina

a) If you choose not to bet, then you are said to “check,” or pass on the option to bet to the next player.

b) If a player bets, you may “call” the bet, “raise” or “fold".

c) If a player checks and another player makes a bet, the player who checked may in turn raise the bet made by the other player. This is called a “check & raise".

Fourth Card (4th Street):

The next card to be dealt into the game will be the fourth card the players will receive in their hand. This is called “4th street.” The dealer will burn one card off the top of the deck and then deal to the player closest to the left of the dealer button and, moving clockwise around the table will deal each player one card face up. A round of betting will occur starting with the player with the highest three-card value.

Fifth Card (5th Street):

The next card to be dealt into the game will be the fifth and final card the players will receive in their hand. This is called “5th street.” The dealer will burn one card off the top of the deck and then deal to the player closest to the left of the dealer button and, moving clockwise around the table will deal each player one card face up. A round final of betting will occur starting with the player with the highest four-card value.

Showdown:
Who shows first?

In a live game, generally players who feel that they have a good opportunity to win a pot will show their hand voluntarily. However, in many instances, players all stare at each other wondering who will show their cards first. To avoid this situation, our game employs the following standard rule:

The determination of which players’ cards will and must be shown first will lie with the player who had initiated the last bet, raise or re-raise.

This simply means that whoever created the last action on the 5th Street must show his cards first. If the player who had the action checked and all players checked, then the player who had the initial option to bet would show first. If a player checks and another player bets, then the player who bet will have his/her cards shown first. If a player checks, another bets and then another player raises, the raiser’s cards will be shown first.

Suppose a Player wins by default. Is the hand required to be shown?

Players that have won a pot do not have to show their cards if they were not called.

This means that if two or more players were playing and one player bets and the other player(s) fold, the player who has won the pot by default will not under any circumstances have their cards shown automatically. The winning players may choose to “show” or “don’t show”.

Do Players have to show their cards if they call a bet or a check on fifth street?

Players are required to show their cards if and only if they are the player who created the last action by betting or raising. If players call a bet and see that they cannot win, they may “fold” or “show” their cards. However, if a player who has stayed in until the end mucks (fails to show) his hand, other players in the game may find out the hand by requesting that a hand history be e-mailed to them.

Who wins?

It is theoretically possible that two or more players can hold the best five-card hand. If there is a tie between two or more players, then the dealer will “split” the pot equally between all the winning players.

Folded Players

In Telesina, when a player folds, his face-up cards will remain visible to the other players. Folded players can never show their face-down card and are not allowed to comment on their face-down card until the hand is finished.