How To Play Poker
It's the hottest thing in town right now. Poker is fast gaining as the favorite card game in the world. Poker has become a household name and major poker tournaments have penetrated mianstream TV programming.
Now everyon'e scrambling to play this game, live or online. If this whole poker thing is all new to you and you want to go along with the ride, here's the basic of playing poker:
Poker 101
Poker is played with a standard 4-suit 52-deck card. In other poker games a joker or an extra card, called the Wild Card, is added. The wild card can take whatever rank or suit the player chooses.
Cards suits are arranged alphabetically, from highest to lowest value: Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades. In some games, no suit is higher than the others.
Meanwhile, card rankings are as follows: Ace (highest), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8,7,6,5,4,3,2 (lowest). In some game variations, the Ace is considered as the lowest rank.
Suits are not used to break ties, a poker hand contains five cards in which the highest hand wins. In case of a tie the pot is split among the winning hands.
The number of cards dealt among the players depend on the kind of poker game. For the common poker game, Five Card Stud, players are dealt five cards face down; for 5 Card Stud players are dealt 5 cards as well; in 7 Card Stud, 7 cards.
The most popular poker games are Texas Hold'em , 5 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud, and Omaha poker. They have different set of rules, tips, and strategy.
Betting
During the betting rounds, the players may take one of these following actions:
Check or Pass. A bet of zero that does not forfeit interest in the pot. Players may no longer check once an opening bet is made.
Bet or Raise. You first match the previous bet and then raise it. Once a raise is made, other players must match or exceed it, or else forfeit their interest in the pot.
Call. You match a previous bet that has been made and maintains your interest in the pot.
Fold. You surrender your interest in the pot; along with your cards and previous bets.
Standard betting proceeds in a circle (clockwise) until each player has called bets or folded. Different poker games have various rules on the number of betting rounds. But when there are only two players in the pot, they may keep betting until one of them decides to fold.
During a showdown, the player who made the last bet or raise is obliged to show his hand first. Whoever has the best hand wins the pot.
Bluffing
Bluffing is a poker strategy where the player pretends he has a strong hand, when it's actually the opposite, in hope that the other players will fall for this trick and call his bluff.
It is called “semi-bluffing” when you actually have a winnable hand, but not right now. However, you have the chance to outdraw the other hands. If everyone folds, you win the pot outright, if they call you still have a chance because the next card may be your winning card.
Bluffing is exciting but you must use it wisely. Before bluffing, you must have a reason to suspect that your opponents have weak hands.
It is also important that you have a good record. If you are winning many pots, the other players are more likely to believe your bluff and eventually fold.
Meanwhile, see the best poker players bet it out for the 2005 World Series of Poker World Championship from June 2- July 15 in Las Vegas. For more tournaments coverage also check out The Poker Tournaments Page.
Now everyon'e scrambling to play this game, live or online. If this whole poker thing is all new to you and you want to go along with the ride, here's the basic of playing poker:
Poker 101
Poker is played with a standard 4-suit 52-deck card. In other poker games a joker or an extra card, called the Wild Card, is added. The wild card can take whatever rank or suit the player chooses.
Cards suits are arranged alphabetically, from highest to lowest value: Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades. In some games, no suit is higher than the others.
Meanwhile, card rankings are as follows: Ace (highest), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8,7,6,5,4,3,2 (lowest). In some game variations, the Ace is considered as the lowest rank.
Suits are not used to break ties, a poker hand contains five cards in which the highest hand wins. In case of a tie the pot is split among the winning hands.
The number of cards dealt among the players depend on the kind of poker game. For the common poker game, Five Card Stud, players are dealt five cards face down; for 5 Card Stud players are dealt 5 cards as well; in 7 Card Stud, 7 cards.
The most popular poker games are Texas Hold'em , 5 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud, and Omaha poker. They have different set of rules, tips, and strategy.
Betting
During the betting rounds, the players may take one of these following actions:
Check or Pass. A bet of zero that does not forfeit interest in the pot. Players may no longer check once an opening bet is made.
Bet or Raise. You first match the previous bet and then raise it. Once a raise is made, other players must match or exceed it, or else forfeit their interest in the pot.
Call. You match a previous bet that has been made and maintains your interest in the pot.
Fold. You surrender your interest in the pot; along with your cards and previous bets.
Standard betting proceeds in a circle (clockwise) until each player has called bets or folded. Different poker games have various rules on the number of betting rounds. But when there are only two players in the pot, they may keep betting until one of them decides to fold.
During a showdown, the player who made the last bet or raise is obliged to show his hand first. Whoever has the best hand wins the pot.
Bluffing
Bluffing is a poker strategy where the player pretends he has a strong hand, when it's actually the opposite, in hope that the other players will fall for this trick and call his bluff.
It is called “semi-bluffing” when you actually have a winnable hand, but not right now. However, you have the chance to outdraw the other hands. If everyone folds, you win the pot outright, if they call you still have a chance because the next card may be your winning card.
Bluffing is exciting but you must use it wisely. Before bluffing, you must have a reason to suspect that your opponents have weak hands.
It is also important that you have a good record. If you are winning many pots, the other players are more likely to believe your bluff and eventually fold.
Meanwhile, see the best poker players bet it out for the 2005 World Series of Poker World Championship from June 2- July 15 in Las Vegas. For more tournaments coverage also check out The Poker Tournaments Page.
posted by poker_geisha @ 8:09 PM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home