Basic Rules Of Poker

The chopped down Basic Rules Of Poker - Texas Holdem - for new players

These are the Basic Rules Of Poker - Texas Holdem in particular. It basically explains how the game is dealt...

A dealer button is used to indicate the implied dealer position. To start a game one card is dealt to each player and the high card by suit gets the button.

Blinds will be put up by the next one or more players to the left of the button.

One or more blind bets are used to stimulate action and to initiate play. Blinds are posted before the players look at their cards.

Blinds are live and part of the players bet. Live means that the blinds may raise when the action gets to them.

These blinds are mandatory and part of the game.

The dealer button moves one place to the left after each hand is complete.

To begin dealing, two down cards will be dealt to 2 to 12 players. Starting with the first player (small blind) to the left of the button and clockwise around the table.
Note: with 2 players the small blind goes on the button.

The Basic Rules Of Poker are that in structured Holdem, betting and raising sizes are predetermined. In No-Limit Holdem bet sizes are only limited by the size of the betting players chip stack

After a betting round 3 cards will be flopped in the center of the table.

These community cards will be used to make up a players hand.

The first player to the left of the button always starts the betting. After a betting round a 4th card (turn
card) is placed next to the flop, and a betting round.

The 5th card (river card) is placed next to the turn card and the last round of betting.

In the showdown each player will turn over his 2 down cards, holding on to them, and the dealer will help determine the winner.

A player may use any of the community cards and any or none of his hand to make up the best 5 card hand.

The dealer will push up the cards to be used, from the board, with the players down cards for each player until the best hand is found. Kill all losing hands and push the pot to the winner.

There are many variations to the Basic Rules Of Poker and there are many unwritten rules of poker also, but these are enough to get most new players up and running at the table.

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Winning Hands In Texas Holdem

The Winning Hands In Texas Holdem made easy

Here is a short explainiation of the Winning Hands In Texas Holdem and more importantly, the warning signs that one of these hands is coming. When I refer to "the board" I am talking about the cards in the middle, the community cards.

The winning hands by rank i.e. "what beats what"

1st (lowest rank)- High card.
If no one has a pair or better, the player with the highest rank card wins e.g. an ace or king.
If you both have the same high card, then the rank or your other card decides.
If that is also the same, you split the pot.

--What to look for?
On the rare occasions where the high card is one of the Winning Hands In Texas Holdem, it is likely that there are only two players in the hand and the board shows mostly lower, mixed suit and not connecting hands.

2nd- One pair
Two cards of matching rank e.g. King Hearts, King DIamond.

--What to look for?
Difficult to tell, but not as big a problem because one pair is a weak hand. Generally if the pot was raised before the flop and a high card comes out and a player bets, it is a higher likelyhood that they have at least a pair

3rd- Two Pair
As it says e.g. Ten of Hearts, Ten of Spades, EIght of Hearts, Eight of Clubs
There is a few ways a player can get two pair. Firstly, they have two differnt cards e.g. Ace Ten and the board has an Ace and a Ten. Secondly they ave two different cards and the board has a pair plus one of thier cards. Thirdly, they have a pair and the board has a differnt pair.

--What to look for?
Well it can also be a difficult hand to pick, but generally people bet harder with two pair because this is one of the Winning Hands In Texas Holdem that is vulnerable to losing to higher hands as more cards are dealt on the board.

4th- Three of a kind
This is three cards of the same rank e.g. Two of Diamond, Two of Clubs, Two of Spades

--What to look for?
This is one of the best Winning Hands In Texas Holdem because of how well concealed it can be for such a strong hand, particularly if it is a "set" (you have a pair in your hand and a third card of that rank hit the board) as opposed to "trips" the board has two cards of the same rank and you have a third of the same cards in your hand.
I look for players checking the flop really quickly then raising you after you bet (check raising)

5th- Straight
Five cards of seperate rank that are connected e.g. 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10

--What to look for?
These hands are easier to pick. The board will have to have three of the five cards so look for running cards or one gapped cards e.g. 7, T, J or T, Q, A.

6th- Flush
Five cards of the same suit. If more than one player holds a flush the player with the highest ranked card of that suit wins unless the five highest cards of that suit are on the board.
Does a staright beat a flush? NO, does a flush beat a straight? YES

--What to look for?
Easy- Three or more cards of the same suit are on the board.

7th- Full House
Three of a Kind and a Pair. e.g. Two of Diamond, Two of Clubs, Two of Spades with King Hearts, King DIamond
If two or more players have a full house, the player with the highest rank three of a kind wins. If two or more players have the same three of a kind, the player with the highest ranked pair wins.

--What to look for?
This is also one of the fairly deadly Winning Hands In Texas Holdem because like the "set" it can be well disguised.
If the board is paired there will always be the danger of a full house. They come along less often then flushes or straights, but they can burn you when they do.
I am always worried about a paired board if I have a flush, especially if someone is check/calling me all the way, they normally don't want to scare you away if they have a full house so they will rarely bet at you.

8th- Four of a kind
Four cards of the same rank

--What to look for?
Apart from a paired board or a board with three of a kind on it, I generally look for acts of god or other very rare occurances- that is what four of a kind is like.

9th- Straight flush
A straight where all your cards are of the same suit

--What to look for?
Did I mention acts of god? well I guess you need to be wary of staightening and flushing boards with a patern that makes a straight flush possible e.g. 8 heart, 9 heart, 10 heart, J heart on the board would be concerning because of the likelyhood of someone actually playing with a Q heart. I would be less concerned about the 7 heart in this case.

10th- Royal flush
Also known as Staight flush, Ace high.
Quite simply it is an Ace high Straight Flush

--What to look for?
The ultimate of all Winning Hands In Texas Holdem .
I have had a few of these, only once did I use both of my pocket cards. On each occassion the board with looking dabgerous for anyone without a good hand because it was full of picture cards and same suits. The beauty of this is that it is even more dangerous for players with good hands, like full houses, beacause you can never believe someone has a Royal flush.
In fact if you are going to fold a big full house because you are afraid of a Royal flush, you should quit poker now, the odds are too small and you are supposed to loose the hand in that situation, just accept it.

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Poker Equipment

Some great home game Poker Equipment

Well a big thanks to my wife for her contribution to this entry i.e. buying me this Poker Equipment as a Christmas present.

I found this under the tree last year and I reckon it is pretty special. In particular this WSOP Ultimate Dealer Button with built in timer and blind scheduler.

It is not just a button, actually it is not even just a button with timer built in; it is a button with timer and blind scheduler built in.

You can set ten levels (more than enough for any home game) and each level can be set to any time, small blind, big blind and ante. I programed mine for all ten levels and it took me ten minutes.

Imagine that, no more oven timer and piece of paper. Or for those a little more sophisticated, no more lap top either! This is real Poker Equipment What is really cool is that thing barely cost $30 delivered.

Below I have added an explaination of how i programed the levels.

--20 min each level (can change level time in less than 20 secs if needed or start with more or fewer chips)
--lvl 1: 25/50,
--lvl 2: 50/100,
--lvl 3: 75/150,
--race off $25 chips
--lvl 4: 100/200,
--lvl 5: 200/400,
--lvl 6: 300/600,
--race off $100 chips
--lvl 7: 500/1k,
--lvl 8: 1k/2k,
--lvl 9: 2k/3k
--lvl 10: 2k/4k 1k ante (if it's not heads up yet it soon will be)

You dont need to play all the levels, the tourney will end at about time the big blind matches the starting stack.

I spoke to Grant who owns the company and he said "please tell your guests to use coupon code "poker" when they are checking out for 20% off."

So what are you waiting for? visit his store here

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