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Poker School

Cards

Most people know what a deck of cards are. If you do not we are going to start with the basics. Texas Holdem is a skill game. There is a degree of luck. But in Vegas the same players make it to the final tables. That is what we what to teach you.

Hand Ranking

​​ROYAL FLUSH

 

 

FULL HOUSE

 

THREE OF A KIND


 

STRAIGHT FLUSH

 

FLUSH

 

TWO PAIRS

 

FOUR OF A KIND

 

STRAIGHT

 

 

ONE PAIR

 

Basic Rules

Every single day, thousands of poker players try their luck against friends, family and strangers in both online and live Texas Hold'em tournaments. The idea behind tournament poker is that every player puts up a buy-in and gets tournament chips. Play goes on as normal with the blinds going up in regular pre-determined intervals and until one player is left with all the chips. Where you are eliminated is where you finish in the tournament. In a standard Hold'em tournament, 10% to 20% of the field is paid out with most of the money reserved for the top spots. Because you can win so much more than your initial buy-in, big tournaments attract both pros and amateurs trying to make a big score. Each room's rules vary slightly so it's always a good idea to brush up before the tournament starts.

 

Here are some of the most standard rules for playing a poker tournament.

 

  • Entrance Fees - All entrance fees most be paid before play begins. Generally the house takes a 5%-10% fee for providing the tables and dealers and administering the game. This is true both live and online. For example in a $200+$20 tournament, $200 goes to the prize pool and $20 would go to the house.

  • Seat Assignment- Your seat will randomly be assigned to you. You will usually be given a card with your table and seat number on it. That is your seat until a tournament director tells you otherwise. Unlike in cash games there are no seat changes.

  • Starting Stacks- When you arrive at the table your starting stack will be at your spot.

    • Tournament chips have no cash value, and you cannot cash out at any point during the tournament.

    • It's always a good idea to double check your chips against the posted starting stack to make sure you have the correct amount of chips.

    • The total amount of your starting stack varies from tournament to tournament.

  • Blind Levels - The way tournaments differ from cash games is that the blinds increase at regular intervals.

    • This is to force play and get the action going. You can usually get a sheet from a floor person that tells you the schedule of blind increases and what the blinds will be.

    • Online you can find this information in the tournament lobby.

    • It's a good idea to get familiar with the blind structure before playing. If the blinds increase and your dealer has already cut the cards, the blinds will increase on the next hand.

  • The Deal - The deal proceeds exactly as it does in a cash game. The two players to the left of the button are the small blind and the big blind. After each hand the button moves one seat to the left. The button is determined in the first hand completely randomly.

  • Absent Players - All players must be dealt into the hand and their blinds/antes forced into the pot whether they are at the table or not. If the player is not present by the time his second card is dealt, his hand will be ruled dead.

  • Breaking Tables - As players are eliminated the tournament director will start breaking tables in a pre-determined order. If your table breaks, you will be assigned randomly to an empty seat at one of the remaining tables.

  • All-in Bets - A player who declares himself all in plays for all of the chips in front of him. If the other player has more he is only entitled to an amount equal to his own stack. The same goes for an all-in player that has less than his required blind. He is only entitled to what he put in.

  • All-in confrontations - When two players are all in and the action is completed, both hands must be exposed face up before the rest of the board is run.

  • Calling the Clock - A player can request the pit boss to force a player to choose an action in a set amount of time (typically 90 seconds). If the player fails to act in that time, his or her hand is folded. Only a player seated at the table at the time the current hand was dealt can call the clock.

  • Multiple Busts - If two players go broke on the same hand the player with the greater amount of chips at the start of the hand finishes in the higher position.

  • Showing Cards - Intentionally exposing a card is illegal in tournament play and a hand can be ruled dead as well as a time penalty issued.

  • Inappropriate play- Inappropriate play such as swearing and or throwing cards is punishable by a penalty.

  • Coloring up - The lowest chip denomination in play will be removed from the table when it is no longer needed in the blind or ante structure. 

The Lingo

If you play cards you probably know the basic language or terms used in most games, but it's important to be familiar with each specific card game. The following jargon is commonly used in Texas Hold'em. The first step to success in any gaming adventure is studying the basics. I suggest starting with the definitions before you even think about throwing down cash.

 

Texas Hold'em Terms and Definitions:

 

Action - When a player stays in a hand, giving action to the round.

Ante - A small bet put in by each player.

All In - To put all the rest of your money into the pot.

Backdoor - Catching the turn and river cards to make a hand.

Bad Beat - To have a hand that is way behind and has little chance of winning, "catch" an unlikely card or cards to beat the much stronger hand.

Bankroll - The money a player has to play with is their bankroll.

Bet - To wager.

Bet the Pot - To make a bet equal to the pot size.

Big Blind - The larger of the two blinds, the blind that is put in by the player 2 seats left of the dealer, except when 2 players are left, then the dealer is the small blind.

Big Slick - Nickname for the hand of ace-king. One of the best starting hands in texas hold'em.

Blank - A card in the community cards that does not affect the players hands.

Blind - A forced bet for the first two positions at the table. The small blind is put in by the first position and the big blind is put in by the second position. The only time this changes is when there are 2 players left, at this point the dealer is the small blind.

Bluff - To act like a hand is better than it really is.

Board - The community cards, the cards shared by the players.

Boat - A nickname for a full house, a set and a pair.

Bottom Pair - A pair that includes the smallest ranked card on the flop.

Broadway - Ace high straight.

Bullets - Two aces.

Burn Card - To discard the top card from the deck. This is done before the flop, turn and river.

Buy The Pot - Make a bet that causes the other players to fold without having to show your cards.

Buy In - The amount of money you pay to enter a game.

Call - To put in the amount of money equal to the bets before you. Once everyone at the table has called or all the money is in the pot, play continues to the next round.

Cash Game - Game using either currency, or poker chips exchanged for currency. You can leave the game at any time with your money as opposed to a tournament where you play until you win or are knocked out.

Check - When no one has bet in front of you and you do not bet.

Check Raise - To check and have the betting come back to you (not everyone checked or called) and you raise. This can be a sign of very strong cards, that a player was slow playing but since someone raised they are now raising even more!

Chop - When players decide to end a game early and split up the winnings between whomever is left in the game.

Color Up - Exchanging smaller chips for higher valued chips, this can happen when there are a lot of chips and blinds have grown to where smaller chips slow a game down because of all the counting.

Community Cards - The cards dealt face up and used by everyone to form hands.

Connector - Cards in which two cards are one apart in rank.

Dead Man's Hand - Aces and Eights. Hand known from Wild Bill Hickock's last hand.

Dead Money - Someone who plays in a tournament but doesn't have a chance of winning so they are just contributing to the better players.

Dealer Button - A marker that indicates who is currently the dealer.

Draw to a Hand - Starting with cards that are 1 or 2 cards away from a hand and with the cards coming up making that hand.

Drawing Dead - No matter what cards come up at this point; you are drawing dead and can not possibly win.

Early Position - First player to act in a betting round.

Family Pot - A hand in which all the players call before the flop.

Fast Play - To play aggressively.

Fifth Street - Also known as the River, the fifth community card.

Flop - The first three community cards, put out face up.

Flush - Poker hand where all the cards are of the same suit.

Flush Draw - Poker hand where 4 cards are of the same suit and one more of that suit is needed to obtain a Flush.

Four of a Kind - Four of the same ranked cards, for example 4 Kings.

Fourth Street - Also known as the Turn, the fourth community card.

Free Card - The turn or river card in which you don't have to call a bet.

Free Roll Tournament - Tournament with free entry for prizes.

Full Boat - Another name for Full House, a set and a pair.

Full House - A set and a pair.

Gutshot Straight - A straight that is obtained by drawing a card that is inside the straight run.

Heads Up - When only 2 players are left in the game.

High Card - Poker hand is the highest card in the hand.

Hole Cards - Two cards in players hand.

In Position - Playing after another person.

Kicker - After matched hands, the top high card. For example if both players have a set of Jacks, the player with the next highest card has the top kicker.

Late Position - Final players to receive cards.

Limp In - To call pre-flop.

Limit Game - A version of Texas hold'em in which a player must bet/raise by the current blind amount.

Live Blind - When a player has a forced bet and the player still has the option of raising when it is their turn.

Live Cards - Cards that are not matched up with an opponent, so matching either card improves your hand.

Low Limit Game - A small stakes game.

Middle Position - Player that acts half way through the round.

Muck - To fold the hand.

No Limit Game - A version of poker in which a player may bet any amount of chips (up to the number in front of him) whenever it is his turn to act.

Nuts - The best possible hand. When a player has the nuts, no one can beat their hand.

Offsuit - Cards with different suits.

Open Ended Straight Draw - Hand with 4 cards in a row and a possible card on either side of the straight.

Outs - The possible cards that will allow you to win the hand.

Over Card - Card that is higher than any card on the board.

Over Pair - A pair that is higher than any community card rank.

Over the Top - To bet over another bet, also known as a reraise.

Pair - Two cards of the same rank, for example two Jacks.

Pocket Cards - The card in the players hand.

Pocket Pair - Two cards of the same rank.

Position - Position of the player at the table, how far into the round the player has to act on his/her hand.

Post a Blind - When a player puts in money for the forced blind. The small blind is put in by the first position and the big blind is put in by the second position. The only time this changes is when there are 2 players left, at this point the dealer is the small blind.

Pot - Money that is in the current hand that the players are playing for.

Pot Committed - A point when the player has so much money into the pot, they will continue to stay in no matter what.

Pot Limit - Texas hold'em where a player may bet up to the amount of money in the pot.

Pot Odds - The amount of money that is in the pot compared to how much money the player has to put in to stay in the game.

Protect Your Money - To bet so that weaker hands fold, this will keep the number of players against you down and stop weaker hands from getting lucky.

Push - Tie in the game.

Rags - Bad cards.

Raise - To call and place a bigger bet.

Rake - Amount of money taken out by the house.

Rebuy - An option to buy back into a tournament after you've lost your money.

Represent - To play a hand in a way that represents a certain hand.

Re-raise - To raise a raise.

River - The fifth and final community card.

Rounder - A skilled poker player.

Runner - Referred to as runner-runner, meaning that both cards on the turn and river make the players hand.

Satellite Tournament - A tournament which awards a seat at a bigger tournament.

Semi-bluff - Bluffing without a strong hand, but a hand that can still be drawn to.

Set - Three of a kind.

Short Stacked - When a player has very little money compared to other players.

Showdown - When all the players show their hands at the end of a round.

Side Pot - A pot that is created since a player has all their money into the pot and at least two players are left betting above the all in players bet.

Slow Playing - Playing a strong hand weakly.

Small Blind - The smaller of two blinds, which is put in by the player left of the dealer.

Splash the Pot - To toss chips into the pot instead of keeping the chips in front of you. This makes it hard to keep track of bets.

Split Pot - Pot that is split by 2 or more players since they all have the same hand.

Stack - The stack of chips a player has.

Straddle - An optional extra blind bet which is made by the player one to the left of the big blind which is twice the big blind. It is basically like having 3 blinds.

Straight - Hand with 5 cards in sequence.

Straight Draw - Hand with 4 cards in sequence, with at least 1 card left to be flipped.

Straight Flush - Hand with 5 cards in sequence all of the same suit.

String Bet - Betting where the player puts in a certain amount of chips, then adds more after increasing the bet. This is not allowed since string betting could be a way of getting a reaction from your opponents.

Suited Cards - Cards that are the same suit.

Suited Connector - Cards that are the same suit and are off by one in rank.

Tell - Something that a player does that gives away information about their hand.

Three of a Kind - Three cards of the same rank.

Tilt - A player that is playing recklessly.

Top Kicker - After matched hands, the top high card. For example if both players have a set of Jacks, the player with the next highest card has the top kicker.

Trips - Three of a kind.

Turn - The fourth community card. Put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fourth street."

Two Pair - A hand that contains 2 pairs.

Value Bet - A bet for value, when a player wants more players to call the bet to more money into the pot.

 

As you can see, there is a ton of language involved in the game of Texas Hold'em. Players who study the game will always have the advantage over the less educated players. Luck to ya.

Betting

This is another introductory post for those unfamiliar with the basics of poker. It will be most useful for those who have never played poker or those looking to confirm their understanding of the game.

 

A poker hand consists of a series of rounds of betting. At the start of the hand or between rounds of betting cards are dealt to players, community cards are dealt that can be used by all players and/or players reveal some of the cards in their hands. The number of rounds and what happens depends on the particular game being played, and each game gives names to the various betting rounds; in Texas Hold ‘Em the rounds are called in order Preflop, Flop, Turn and River. Seven card stud takes a more straightforward approach and calls them Third Street, Fourth Street, Fifth Street, Sixth Street and finally Seventh Street, which is sometimes also called the River.

 

There are two common ways to determine who begins the betting. If the cards players have are all face down, there is generally a dealer button, and betting proceeds clockwise starting with the player to the dealer’s left. If the players have face up cards, the player with the best face up hand will act first.

An intuitive explanation for betting is that it goes around clockwise. Each player has the chance to bet. If one does, the others must either fold (give up), call (match) the bet, or raise and make an additional bet of their own, which in turn must be called, until all players have either made the most recent bet, called the most recent bet or have folded.

 

Formally, each player has these choices when it is their turn to act:

When it is a player’s turn to act, he must do one of the following:

 

1)      He can fold, leaving the hand and giving up all claims to his hand and the pot,           including any chips bet during this betting round.

2)      If no one has previously bet, he can check, meaning he declines to wager.

3)      If no one has previously bet, he can bet.

4)      If another player has previously bet, he can call that bet by matching its size.

5)      If another player has previously bet, he can raise by betting an amount larger           than the amount previously bet. Players who have already bet must now      make up the difference between their bet and the new bet when it becomes their turn, or fold.

 

If all players check, the round of betting ends with no betting.  If one player has made a bet or raise and all other players that remain in the hand have called that bet, this also ends the betting round.

 

At the beginning of the first betting round, some players called blinds are usually be forced to make wagers to begin the betting, which forces all players except the one forced to make the largest wager to always either put more money in the pot or fold.

 

How much players are allowed to wager is almost always either (fixed) limit, pot limit or no limit. If the game is Limit Poker, then each betting round has a predefined wager size and players must bet or raise exactly that amount. No other bet size is allowed. There is also a limit to the number of raises that players can make if there are more than two players in the hand, which is typically three raises plus one initial bet. When playing Pot Limit or No Limit, players must always bet at least the amount of the largest initial blind bet. A raise of a bet must increase the bet by at least as much as the bet, and a raise of a raise must be at least as large an increase as the previous raise. In Pot Limit bets cannot be bigger than the current size of the pot, including all wagers made previously in the round by all players including the one making the wager. In No Limit, as one would expect, there is no limit on how much can be bet so long as they have the required chips in front of them.

 

No matter what, no one is allowed to bet anything that they did not have in front of them, in what is called their stack (of chips), when the hand began. All poker is played for table stakes. If a player doesn’t have more chips, that player can no longer wager. If a player does not have enough chips left to place a bet but still has at least one, he may always make a bet or raise consisting of all his remaining chips, announcing that he is “All In.” Similarly, if a player has an insufficient number of chips to call a wager, or calling would require all his chips, he can choose to be similarly All In and risk all of his chips.

 

Once a player is All In, they no longer need to wager to stay in the hand. In exchange, they are not eligible to win any chips that they did not match, including the initial blinds and antes. If a player is All In and there are bets that this player did not fully call, any remaining wagers are placed into a separate pot called the Side Pot. If another player then goes All In as well, an additional side pot is created, and so on. When the hand ends, the highest hand eligible to win each pot wins the chips in that pot. An intuitive explanation for this is that the other players are free to bet amongst themselves but that the player who is out of chips is not involved in that.

Game Variations

Come along with us as we take you on a tour of some fun alternatives to traditional Texas Hold'em that can beathe new life to an old, old game

Most home poker games focus on seven-card stud and its variations. These games are fun, but why limit your game to just seven-card stud when there are also fun variations of Texas Hold'em? Come along with us as we take you on a tour of some fun alternatives to traditional Texas Hold'em.

 

Each of these games plays in the same manner as regular Texas Hold'em with the exception of the "minor" changes noted.

 

Pineapple - In Pineapple, players are dealt three hole cards and discard one after the first betting round (pre-flop).

 

Crazy Pineapple - Crazy Pineapple is just like Pineapple with three hole cards being dealt. The only difference between the two is that the extra card is discarded after the flop.

 

Aviation - Aviation is a very wild version of Hold'em. Players are dealt four hole cards. One card is discarded before the flop, and another is discarded after the flop. This game was named after the world-famous Aviation Club in Paris, France, where the game originated.

 

Speed Hold'em - In Speed Hold'em, players are dealt four hole cards, then immediately discard two of them. Five community cards are then flopped. The one and only betting round then takes place, followed by the showdown. That's it!

 

Super-Eight - In Super-Eight Hold'em, players are dealt three hole cards, but do not discard any of them. Players may, of course, use all five community cards plus their three hole cards to make the best five card poker hand.

 

Tahoe - Tahoe Hold'em is much like Super-Eight Hold'em with the only difference being that you may only use two of your three hole cards to make the best five card poker hand.

 

River of Blood - This version of Hold'em can get wild. In River of Blood, if the river card is red play continues, meaning there is another betting round and a sixth community card is dealt. Another betting round takes place followed by a showdown, that is, as long as the 2nd river card is not also red. Play continues until the river card is black.

 

The River Wild - This is a game that literally lives up to its name. In the River Wild, the river card is just that - wild. In fact, all of the cards of the same rank as the river card are wild. Games like this can result in some wild results as it motivates players to stay until the bitter (happy?) end.

 

Two-Time Hold'em - In Two-Time Hold'em, players are dealt four hole cards which they then split into separate pairs. The pairs must be kept separate throughout play of two separate hands. A round of Texas Hold'em is played under normal Hold'em rules. A player will eventually fold or showdown a hand. It is the player's choice which hand to showdown or fold, but once a hand is shown or folded, it is dead. After the first hand is played, a second hand follows without a shuffle in between. This is a very fast way to knock two hands of Holde'em.

 

Double Flop - This has to be the most outlandish Texas Hold'em variation in existence. In Double Flop, two separate boards are dealt exactly opposite each other. This means that during each deal, flop, turn and river, two sets of cards come out. Players make a separate hand with each of the two boards, with the pot being split between the high hands for each board.

 

Speed River Runs Wild - In the Speed River Runs Wild variation of Texas Hold'em, you no longer have to worry about missing your straight draw. That's right, a four card straight is a hand.

 

Sorry we do not offer any of these games. We have this here for your own enjoyment.

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