REAL POKER MASTERY

Andy Fullard asked:

The first step for a new player who wants to learn how to play Texas Holdem poker properly is read one of the hundreds of good books available about the game. You can find a massive selection of poker books at online stores such as amazon or ebay, or have a look in your local bookstore. Another good way to learn the game is by watching some of the poker tournaments on TV closely watching how the professionals play; the commentators usually explain the player’s actions reasonably well, and talk you through the game. When starting out you should always play at the low limit tables until you begin to grasp the basics of the game.

The play of a hand is as follows: Each player is dealt two cards face down before the first betting round, unless you have placed a small or big blind bet you have the option to continue or fold. The next deal is to the center of the table with the dealer placing three cards face up for everybody to see. This is followed by two more deals of one card each and one card to the center of the table with rounds of betting between, eventually making a total of five cards in the center of the table. These five cards are common to all of the player’s hands. When all of the betting is completed the player with the best five-card poker hand created from the seven cards that make up his hand wins. Occasionally the five cards in the center might be the best hand and in this case all of the players who are still in the game would tie and share the pot.

Your starting hands and the advance play are the main reasons to read and watch the way good players play the game. Excellent starting hands start with pocket aces and decline in value to lower pairs. Ace King suited or unsuited are reasonable starting hands, but can also be chip burners if the flop does not pair either the ace or the king. Just watch any tournament on TV to see how often this starting hand is beat by a low pair or forced to fold by aggressive betting.

When you bet and are raised by two or more players, its best to fold unless you have a really great starting hand and you are confident. If two players continue to raise it is unlikely they are bluffing. If the table folds or checks to you and you are the last potential better you should consider betting with a raise since they have all checked to your call. When playing poker you should watch out for the “sand bagger” this is a player who has a good hand but plays it quietly waiting until the end to place a large bet, you can sometimes figure these players out by betting or raising. Some say poker is a game of luck, but there is defiantly a skill element involved, which you can learn over time.

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Brad Potter asked:


Within poker there are a few different variations that make the games slightly different. Here is a break down of the games and the differences between them:



Straight Poker – This is the oldest form of poker and involves each player having a complete hand dealt to them. Each player bets in round one and raising and re-raising is allowed. This is the most straightforward of poker games to follow; different variations come from this structure.

Stud Poker – cards are dealt in a slightly different manner as some are dealt upwards and some downwards and each player bets in turn. This is the first variation to appear from the Straight poke gamer, the most popular stud game 7 Card Stud where 2 extra cards are dealt to each player, 3 facing down and 4 facing up, and of these cards the player can choose the best possible 5 card hand.

Draw Poker – 5 card draw is the most famous of this variation. The hand is dealt to each player, all cards face down, the players then bet and after betting the players can then change their cards by getting rid of unwanted cards and being given new cards.

Community Poker – This is a variation of Stud. Each player is dealt an incomplete hand, face down, and then a bunch of ‘community’ cards are dealt in the middle of the table face up which the players can use to make up their 5 card hand. Texas holdem is a famous version of a Community poker game. 

Miscellaneous Poker – some variations use the above as a structure and then incorporate other rules such as about individual cards for example 3’s and 9’s are wild and if any player who stays in (or the deck hand) has a 4, they get an extra card.   



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Josh Andrews asked:


Traditional land-based tournaments have always been favored by poker players, yet in recent years there is no doubt that the real poker action takes place in the online poker tournaments held by the variety of online poker rooms. Before you make your choice of an online poker tournament, it is important that you know everything there is to know about tournaments of poker online:

Just like in a regular poker tournament, all the players begin the poker game with the same amount of chips, and the game continues up until the point that only one poker player has remaining chips, the winner of the particular poker game and tournament.

In order to make sure that the poker tournament will be concluded after a reasonable amount of time, the antes or blinds are gradually incremented, making the poker players think twice before they continue.

Usually the winner does not take it all and the online poker room divides the prize pool between the top positions, and the winner gets to pick the biggest share.

Poker Tournaments can be about ten people in one table or thousands of players in multiple tables, they can be about Texas poker or 7 card stud but the types of poker tournaments are usually fixed and they are as follows:

Sit n’ Go Tournaments: These tournaments of poker online, as their name implies, begin as soon as enough players, usually 9 or 10, have assembled around the table.

Multi-Table Tournaments (MTT): These poker tournaments are scheduled for a predetermined time and involve hundreds and sometimes thousands of people playing Texas Holdem or Omaha poker at various tables.

Knockout Tournaments: This type of poker involves two online poker players with the same amount of chips. The one who cleans out the other’s poker chips will be the winner.

Satellites: This poker tournament is different from the rest in that the first prize is not only money, but a buy-in to another poker tournament. This prize usually includes a package of plain ticket, hotel and spending money besides the desired buy-in to that poker tournament. The idea behind this type of tournaments is to give good players the chance to participate in a big poker tournament which they probably cannot afford otherwise.

Re-Buys: Once your chips run out in this kind of poker tournament, you can purchase more chips. You can make a limited or unlimited number of purchases depending on the establishment or online poker room you play in.

Freezeouts: Once your chips run out in this type of poker tournament, you have no choice but to withdraw from the race to the prizes since no re-buys are allowed here.

Now that you are familiar with the different types of online poker tournaments, keep in mind two very important things:

First, avoid risky calls. Think about every bet you make while you play poker. Don’t forget that if you move to quickly you might find yourself out of the tournament. Be patient and make your moves wisely, it’s worth it in the long run.

Second, don’t waste all your money in the first few rounds of the poker tournament. Keep a tight control on your budget, and on the rising blinds. Keep your bets relative to the rise of the tournaments: low blinds – low bets and vice versa.



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