REAL POKER MASTERY

Will Win asked:


When we last spoke, I told you that Caribbean Stud Poker was a fun and exciting game. We went over some of the layout basics and the game setup. Today, I’ll continue the discussion by going over game play from start to finish. You know the setup of the game, so now it’s time to play a hand of Caribbean Stud Poker.

First, placing a wager on the Ante spot is mandatory. Don’t place it and you can’t play. Most tables have a $5 or $10 minimum wager, so this would be the lowest you could go on your ante. You basically have up to three decisions to make each hand and deciding to play by placing the ante is the first one.

Once you’ve anted up, it’s time to make your second playing decision of the hand. Do you want to play the progressive? If so, you need to place $1 into the progressive slot. By doing so, you’re qualified for all the progressive payouts should your hand qualify.

After that’s settled, the cards are dealt. Once you’ve analyzed your hand, the last decision that you’ll make on each hand is whether to fold and call it a day or to stay in and play. If you want to fold, you lose your ante and progressive and the hand is over. Should you stay, you must place a Raise wager. This wager is always double your ante. For instance, let’s say you anted with $10, your raise would be $20. It’s never more or less.

Let’s back up for a minute. After you ante and decide on the progressive, the dealer will deal you five cards. And these are your only cards of the hand (unlike draw poker). The dealer also gets five cards. Your goal is to beat the dealer’s hand. If you think you can beat the dealer’s hand, that’s when you raise and stay in. The dealer’s hand will reveal one card to you.

So let’s imagine that you’ve stayed in the hand. It’s time to evaluate all hands to see who wins. The dealer must have an Ace-King hand or better to qualify. If not, all bettors win their Ante bet only and all raises are simply returned. However, all progressives are paid. We’ll talk about hand rankings and payouts in the next segment of this series.

The downside about qualifying is felt when you have a good hand, like a four of a kind. If the dealer doesn’t qualify and you have a four of a kind, you’d be paid even money on your ante wager, say $10, and that’s it. By the way, antes are always paid even money. The raises are paid based on the hand ranking only if the dealer qualifies.

And that leads us into our next segment, hand payouts and progressive payouts.



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Liz Lunn asked:


Texas Holdem is currently “the” game to play in the poker world. The rules are fairly simple and so with relatively little information even the newest of players can win a pot or two.

The game works as follows:

Each player is dealt 2 cards face down. Then there’s a round of betting where you can either fold (cast out) your cards believing that they aren’t good enough to win, calling which means placing the appropriate minimum bet into the pot, or raising if you think your hand has a good chance of winning. Once everyone at the table has bet the dealer will place 3 cards face up in the middle of the table. These cards are called “the flop” and are the first of 5 community cards that all players will be able to use in combination with their original cards to make the best possible hand.

Once the flop is shown, there is another round of betting where some players will fold because the flop has meant their hand is not as strong as they thought it was, and others will raise as they’ll now have a better hand than they were originally dealt with. Again, there’s always the possibility to “check” which at this stage means you don’t need to place any more money into the pot, but as with the first round of betting, this is only possible if no-one else at the table has during this round of betting. If someone has raised, then you will need to either fold your hand or “call” which means matching the amount of money placed by the person who raised – or you could raise again if you’re confident that your hand is best.

When betting is completed, then the 4th card, known as “the turn” is placed face up on the table, followed by another round of betting as in the one following the flop. Finally the 5th card, “the river” is dealt face up by the dealer followed by a final round of betting. Once the bets are complete, whoever is still left in the game turns over their cards and the winning hand gets all the money in the pot.

Winning hands:

One of the most important things to learn in how to play Texas Holdem is which hand out ranks another from a 3 high to a royal flush, so in order from least to best the hands are:

Single Card High – you have no pair, no nothing, but you have the highest card of the players left in the game. It’s not unheard of to win with a King or Ace high.

One Pair – a pair of anything, but highest pair wins the hand – your pair of 8s wins over my pair of 4s.

Two Pair – 2 pairs, that could be pairing up your dealt (hole) cards with 2 of the community cards, or if you already have a pair, you could make 2 pair if a pair is dealt in the community cards.

Three of a Kind – also known as a set or trips, you could have 1 or 2 of them in your hand and the others are in the community cards – remember that if you only have 1, it’s possible someone else also has one in which case the other card in your hand (the kicker) will have to be higher than theirs in order for you to win.

Straight – 5 cards in consecutive numerical order of any suit. If there’s more than one person with a straight, then the person who has the highest straight wins – but if both straights are the same, then the pot is split between the players who have the straights.

Flush – 5 cards of the same suit. Simple as that. If more than one person has a flush in any one hand however, it’s the person with the highest ranking flush card that takes home the pot – my Ace high flush will win over your 9 high flush.

Full House – If you get a pair, plus a set – that’s 2 of one card and 3 of another, that’s a full house. It’s a pretty good hand!

Four of Kind – also known as quads – unless there’s a straight flush possibility, or someone else who has a higher set of 4, you are guaranteed to win with this hand.

Straight Flush – 5 consecutive numbered cards of the same suit.

Royal Flush – this is also a straight flush, but it’s as high as it gets (10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace suited) – get this, and you ought to take home the money!

In simple terms Texas Holdem is a poker game where you make the best hand you can from up to 7 cards available – 2 you are dealt with, plus 5 community cards available for use by all players.



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Stephen Todd asked:


/>No Limit Texas Holdem Poker Strategy – Say Goodbye to Limit Games and Win more Money



No limit Texas Holdem poker strategy is the key to winning big and you need to employ a very different approach to the strategy used in limit games.



Although the dynamics of the game are essentially similar, with the skill level in no limits games being higher and with the use of psychology you can win more money than in any other poker game.



Here are the fundamental differences and advantages of no limit, compared to limit Texas Holdem:



1. No Limit Texas Holdem Is a Psychological Battle



Limit Texas Holdem gives you small edges over your opponents to exploit, No limit Texas Holdem poker Poker however gives you far a far bigger edge to exploit. In limit Hold’em, “the best hand wins”.



In no limits games though, we have an intense psychological battle where you are essentially playing your opponent, NOT the cards.



It is this psychological battle that is the key one to win in no limit games. If you can do it, you will win big.



2. No Limit Texas Holdem Is a More Skilful Satisfying Game



No limit Holdem offers more tools for a skilled player to use against an unskilled opponent.



Because of the nature of a no limit game, you can use skills such as bluffing, deception and varying bet size, with far greater effect to crush your opponent than in limit games.



3. Initiative and Winning



Taking the initiative means taking control. In both limit and no limit, being on the offensive is more favourable than being the caller, as limit games put a far higher premium on initiative then limit games. The reason for this is that you can make a large bet, or raise, to take control. Because of the initiative factor, betting and raising has much more power.



4. Chip Size



In no limit Holdem, the amount of chips that a person has in front of them, is one of the largest factors affecting play against them. For example, say you have $2000 in front of you and your opponent has $300. You hold an advantage over them. However, if your opponent has $2000 dollars and you only have $300 dollars then they have the advantage.



The size of your bankroll, against your opponents, is a consideration to take into account that is not present in limit games.



5. The Odds Favour the Strong



Limit Holdem poker has very favourable odds, which means that people can call you easily. That results in people running you down with what in many instances stupid hands. This is usually because they don’t really know how to play or that the odds are favourable to do so.



In no limit, you don’t find that this happens due to higher stakes involved. Skilful players take out weak hands quickly.



6. Higher Stakes Means – Bigger Winnings



The big difference with no limit compared to limit games, (where you can make a number of errors and still come out ahead), is that no limits games are not so forgiving. If however, you know what you are doing, you can take an opponent in one hand for his entire bankroll.



No limits games favour the skilful player much more then limit ones do.



No Limit Texas Holdem Poker – Brutal and Profitable!



If you are a skilful card player, then playing No limit Texas Holdem poker strategy offers potential to make big profits.



Sure, it is a brutal unforgiving game, but it allows far more scope, in terms of strategy and gaining a psychological edge, that is just not available in limit games



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