INTRO:
Poker is one of the most popular games that have widely been accepted by all the casinos of the world. Its growing popularity can be judged from the fact that the word poker itself is searched over 1 million times a day. Due to its enormous demand poker has been made available online too. Like any other game, poker is a game of skill and you should be a master of these in order to excel in this game.
There are many different forms of poker including seven card stud, Omaha, five-card draw, and Texas hold’em to name a few. Texas Hold’em has evolved as the most popular game worldwide.
Basics of Game play:
Just like in a casino, there’s a professional dealer to deal the cards and keep the game moving. Online poker is fast and fair, with no wait to shuffle, no collection of discards (known as the “muck”), and no misdeals.
REQUIRE THINGS TO PLAY POKER
- A standard deck of cards (no Jokers)
- At least 2 players
- Poker chips or substitute (optional)
There are generally two types in poker: Texas Hold’em Poker, Omaha Poker. The rules of both the games are almost identical. Every player gets a chance to deal once in a round. It’s important to remember that no matter which variant of poker you play certain things always remain the same. The object of the game is always to try and win the money placed into the pot, and the order that hands score in also always stays the same, so even if you are playing a variant that you’ve never played before, you will always be safe in this basic knowledge, and can concentrate on where the games vary instead.
How to Play Texas Hold’em Poker: In this form of the online poker game, players have to score more than his opponents by means of the two initial dealt cards and five community cards which shall be opened in the later rounds.
How to Play Omaha Poker: Omaha is a form of poker that is similar to Texas hold’em in terms of its ultimate goal, which is to make the best five-card hand possible from all the available cards. Each player on the table is dealt four cards face down and then he/she is required to make his or her best hand of five cards using three of the five community cards that shall be opened in the later rounds and two cards from the four cards that were dealt initially.
In Poker there are two kinds of blinds:
- Small Blind, The smaller of two forced bets. Usually 1/2 the minimum opening bet.
- Big Blind, The larger of two forced bets. Usually equal to the minimum opening bet.
The two games begin the same way with the dealer dealing two cards face down to each player, and then an initial betting round is played. At this point the game deviates from Five Card Stud however as no community cards are dealt. Stud poker is any of a number of poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds. Instead each player is then dealt Five more individual cards one per round with a betting round between each deal.
So cards 1 and 2 have been dealt together as the hole cards face down. Then cards 3, 4, 5 and 6 are dealt one face up to each player one per round. After the betting that follows card 6 being dealt, the final cards are dealt again one to each player, but this time face down again. The final betting round then takes place, and then comes the showdown. As with most poker variants, players are betting on the best five card hand that they can make.
With a total of six rounds of betting per game, the play does take longer for each game, and some people do find this a bit more frustrating as it creates a slower game. However for some people this added betting and the fact that the seventh card is face down instead of face up means that they find it more interesting and challenging to play, and usually it means that there is more money in the pot at the end of the game as well which many people find an improvement.
Many beginners play too many hands at first. Get used to folding all but the best hands, and play those hands aggressively – the classic beginner’s mistake is to call a bet rather than raise. Hand ranking is all about placement of a card’s in order from best to worst. The standard hand rankings for the most common poker variations are, in order from highest to lowest. Here is a list of hand rankings in Poker.
ROYAL FLUSH
Royal flush: cards consisting of the ace, king, queen, jack and ten of a suit.
Card combinations which has the best possible straight flush is known as a royal flush, which consist of the ace, king, queen, jack and ten of a suit. A royal flush is an unbeatable hand.
STRAIGHT FLUSH
Straight Flush: Five cards in numerical order, all of similar suits.
In case of tie highest rank at the top of the sequence wins.
FOUR OF A KIND
Four of a Kind: A hand containing four cards of one rank, and an unmatched card of another rank.
In case of tie highest four of a kind wins. In community card games where players have the same four of a kind, the card with highest rank wins which is also called as kicker.
FULL HOUSE
Full House: A hand which contains three of a kind and a pair of different cards with same rank.
In case of tie when multiple players have full house then the three of a kind with highest card value is the winner.
FLUSH
Flush: Five cards of the same suit i.e. diamonds, hearts, spades, or clubs.
In case of tie the player having the highest ranked card wins. If necessary, the second-highest, third, fourth and fifth can also be used to break the tie. If all five cards are of the same ranks, then the pot is split. The suit by itself is never used to break a tie in poker.
STRAIGHT
Straight: A hand which consist of cards with consecutive values.
In case of tie the highest rank at the top of the sequence wins
THREE OF A KIND
Three of a kind: A hand containing three cards of the same rank, and two unrelated side cards.
In case of tie three of a kind having highest ranking wins. In community card games where players have the same three of a kind, the highest side card, and if necessary the second-highest is also considered.
TWO PAIRS
Two pair: A hand consisting of a pair of cards with same rank, another pair with different rank and a kicker.
In case of tie the one who has the highest rank of all the pairs, wins .If both the players have same highest pairs the second highest pair wins. If necessary the kicker is compared when both players have two identical pairs.
ONE PAIR
One pair: A hand consisting two cards of a matching rank, and rest of the three side cards of different ranks.
In case of tie the highest pair wins. If players have the same pair, the highest side card wins, and if necessary, the second-highest, third and fourth side card can also be used to break the Tie.
HIGH CARD
High card: A hand whose ranking is decided completely on the basis of the highest card value held when it does not have a pair, two pair, three of a kind, a straight, a flush, a full house, four of a kind, or a straight flush.
In case of tie highest card wins, and if necessary, the second-highest, third, fourth and smallest card can be used to break the tie.
It’ll all become clearer once you’ve played a few hands – practice poker for free at one of the trusted poker rooms. Play solid starting hands, and play them aggressively, and you’ll go from beginner to pro in no time.
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