Texas Holdem Basics

The Very Basics
In Texas Holdem, each player is dealt two cards down, your “Hole” cards. Then comes a round of betting called the “pre-flop round”. Anyone still in the game sees the “flop” - that is 3 community cards, dealt face up in the center of the table for all to play. Then comes another round of betting. Next comes another community card, the “turn”. Then comes another round of betting. Finally the last community card, called “the river”, and the final round of betting. Now, anyone still in the hand shows their hole cards, and the best hand wins. Your hand is made up of the best 5 cards you can make from your 2 hole cards and the 5 community cards.

Value of Hands
The basic values of 5-card poker hands are, in order from best to worst:

• Straight flush, five cards of the same suit in sequence, AKQJT is the best straight flush, also called a royal flush. The ace can play low to make 5432A, the lowest straight flush.

• Four of a kind, three cards of one rank accompanied by two of another, such as 444KK.

• Flush, five cards of the same suit, such as 54897 of diamond.

• Straight, five cards in sequence, such as 87654.

• Three of a kind, three cards of the same rank and two kickers of different ranks, such as JJJ56.

• Two pair, two cards of one rank, two cards of another rank and a kicker of a third rank, such as 55QQ2.

• One pair, two cards of one rank accompanied by three kickers of different ranks, such as QQ753.

• High card, any hand that does not qualify as one of the better hands above, such as KJ542 of mixed suits. Ranked by the top card, then the second card and so on, as for flushes. Suits are not used to break ties.

Reading the Board:
It’s important to be able to “read the board” and know what hands are possible and what’s likely to be out there. The first part of that is identifying “the nuts”. Nuts are the best possible poker hands. If you hold the nuts, you know you cannot lose.

Adjusting to the Table:
A lot of the skill in poker is in adjusting to the table. You make money when other people make mistakes, and it’s good to encourage them to make mistakes. If someone is “tight-weak” i.e. folds too much and rarely plays back at you, then you should get at them with lots of holdings. They will then fold too much. By betting at them, you give them the opportunity to make a mistake. Remember that the goal of poker is to win chips not hands. You might lose a lot of small hands but when you win a pot, you’ll win a lot of chips, and be way up over all. Your goal is to lose the small pots and win the big ones, not the other way around.

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Making the Right Choice of Table for the Game of Poker

Winning a poker game can depend upon a lot of factors one such way is to choose the right kind of poker table to play. The basic advantage of online poker is to choose the poker table on which one would play, which can turn to a great advantage to play poker.

A wise decision on the choice of poker table helps the player in winning the game. Choosing a poker table out of the many poker table can literary be called as one of the poker strategy and it indeed plays a very important role in the fate of the player for making winning hands at the game.

The very first thing that one needs to look while choosing the poker table is to look for an average pot size table. Many players would target at the large size pot tables but it is usually not the very best thing to do. Secondly, one must avoid a table where all the players are drawing on their cards. This leaves out for only one out of ten opportunities to win the game and hence less chance to win cash. And of course, one must try and avoid playing poker with the expert hands; this will only lessen the chance of winning the game.

However, choosing the poker table online is not the only way to win the game. One obviously needs to know the game in consider winning the game. Today one can also get online guide on the choice of poker table at different sites. I is also advised that while choosing the table one should choose the one where the table is 7 to 10 times the Big Blind, which is also known as the Big bet or BB. The choice can also be made by seeing the stack of money. If there is large stack of money then it usually means they are serious players, and hence to play poker with them for an amateur would not be a great idea.

However, a perfect table to choose for playing poker is a loose one. Hence one should closely watch at the number of flops on the table. If this is done then the player gets more chances to win. A table with lower limits is no doubt a good table to start a game. One can also choose a passive table, where betting is not regularly and aggressive. Hence one must keep the following in mind while choosing the table.

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Playing on Poker Cash Games

Playing on a cash game is a bit different from playing in a poker tournament. Following are some of the points that would certainly help you if you are new to a poker cash table.

1) Unlike a Poker tournament, in a cash game you have a lot of time to wait for the right hand. Blinds are always the same and there is an option to re-buy and reload your chips. Therefore it is advisable to play fewer hands especially in early positions.

2) You should have enough money at your disposal so your decisions don‘t become one sided i.e. between all-in or fold. Try to buy-in for at least 100 times the big blind amount, so in INR 1-2 game, you should sit with at least INR 200.

3) Look for the weak players and take full advantage of their bad play. You should never feel bored of taking all the money off these players.

4) When you sit down, don't post your big blind early. Wait for your big blind to naturally come around and use the time to observe. Identify what types of players are at the table and especially pay attention to people’s betting patterns.

5) Do make sure that you understand how to calculate both your outs and the pot odds. It is also important to understand implied odds. This is a key skill for every winning player, and without it you cannot make correct decisions. 

6) Many players will play a hand worried about a bad beat. Of course bad beats do happen in poker but they are quite rare so you must not be tense about such a probability. Playing aggressively with a good hand will surely benefit you in the long run.

7) Think about what you are trying to accomplish with your bet. Always remember that how much you bet determines the odds you are giving your opponent. Your goal should be to force them to make incorrect decisions.

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Double Bonus Poker

Double Bonus Poker is a game of draw poker. The player receives five cards from the dealer; the player then chooses which of the cards to keep or “hold”. Then discards the remaining cards for new ones by pressing deal.  
The final hand is determined a winning hand if the player has a pair of Jacks or better.

·         Playing more coins increases the payouts on winning hands.

·         There is a special pay line in the pay table for 4 of a kinds.

·         Hands are graded based on the pay table.

·         Cards are dealt from a single deck.

·         Cards are re-shuffled each hand.

·         The player has the option to discard up to five cards. 

Hand Values:

Hands are ranked in order of; pair of jacks or higher, 2 pair, 3 of a kind, Straight, Flush, Full House, 3 different types of 4 of a kind, Straight Flush, and Royal Flush. 

The Player Can Win if:

The final hand is at least a pair of Jacks. 

The Player Loses if:

The final hand does *NOT* meet the minimum hand of at least a pair of Jacks. 

Player Actions:

Bet – The player purchases credits by clicking on chips to put into the game, then decides whether to bet 1-5 coins, each increasing the payout for a winning hand. 

Bet One – Clicking 'Bet One' bets one coin each time it is clicked up to a maximum of five coins.

Bet Max – Clicking 'Max Bet' bets five coins and deals the cards. 

Draw Deal – Deals the cards after a bet has been place or after cards have be selected to be ‘held'.

Hold – The player clicks on the cards it wishes to keep. 

Cash Out – Click on the red 'Cash/Out' button to stop playing and cash out your credits and winnings.

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Poker Games

Poker is a family of playing card games, which involves betting  and individualistic play where the winner is declared by the combinations of cards. Poker vary in the number of cards dealt, the number of shared cards and the number of cards that remain hidden. The betting procedures vary among different poker games in such ways as betting limits and splitting the pot between a high hand and a low hand.

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