Texas Hold'em Tutorial

I'm having another poker game at our house (first one at the new place) and since I tend to post about playing poker every once in a while, I thought I'd give a few tips so that you all know what I'm talking about. If you have played any type of poker, you know the hand rankings:

1. Royal Flush - A, K, Q, J, 10 of all one suit
2. Straight Flush - any 5 consecutive cards of all one suit (ex. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 all hearts)
3. Four of a kind - four of any one card value (ex. 5 of spades, five of hearts, five of diamonds, and 5 of clubs)
4. Full House - two of one card, three of another card (ex king, king, king, two, two)
5. Flush - five cards of all one suit (all clubs, hearts, spades, or diamonds)
6. Straight - any 5 consecutive cards of any suit
7. Three of a Kind - 3 of one card
8. Two Pairs - two sets of two different cards (two 2s and two 3s)
9. Pair - two of the same card (two aces)
10. High Card - the higest card is the Ace

With Texas Hold'em, you can have many players at one table (I wouldn't recommend more than 10 at one table). The dealer deals two cards to each player, one card at a time, starting to the left, and going clockwise. There is a round of betting based on the two starting cards. (I will go over betting later) After the betting is completed, the dealer puts the top card of the deck aside (do not show this card). This is called a 'burn' card and ensures that the dealer is not cheating. The dealer then turns three cards face up, called 'the flop'. Each player uses these three cards in their hands. There is another round of betting. Then, another card is burned, and another card turned up (called the turn card). There is another round of betting. A final card is burned, and the last card, called the river card, is turned face up. There is one last round of betting, and then after betting is completed, the players remaining in the game show their cards and the best hand wins the pot. It is possible for ties, in which case, the winning players split the pot equally.

In itself, the game is easy. The skill and strategy lies in the betting. Since each player shares five cards that are turned up, the key is to try to guess what your opponent may have and guess if you can beat them.

Blinds - Blinds are forced bets that insure that there is money in the pot. There is a big blind and a small blind. The person to the left of the dealer pays the small blind and the next person to the left pays the big blind. The big blind is usually double the small blind (ex. $5 and $10). Blinds are increased regularly (usually based on time or on the number of hands played) and are usually doubled each time they go up. If you are playing a cash game (instead of using chips) you can set an ante instead. Ante is an amount of money that each player has to put into the pot at the beginning of each hand.

The way betting works, after the blinds are paid, the person to the left of the big blind has the chance to call (meet the big blind amount), raise (the minimum raise is equal to the big blind and there is no maximum), or fold (get out of the hand). If any player raises, each player must meet the bet amount to stay in the hand. If no one raises, the maximum bet amount is the big blind. Each player must at least meet the big blind to stay in the hand. It seems confusing, but it's not. If any one raises the bet, you must meet the bet or fold. This is where strategy comes in. If you want to try to bluff, bet big and hope no one calls you. If you have a strong hand, you want to bet, but try not to scare anyone off. A good strategy is 'limping in' or betting small so that people won't guess that you have a strong hand. Another strategy is the 'check/raise'. You ckeck, or don't bet anything, hoping that someone else will bet. You then raise the bet higher. That way, your opponent has already put in some money and is more likely to call the bet. You really need to be a good judge of character and a bit of an actor to be an effective better. Look for patterns in your opponents bets.

Side Pots - Side pots occur when one play goes all in and two other players call him (meet the bet) and then continue betting. The player remaining in the hand that has the fewest chips can only win the money based on his bet. In other words, if the person with the fewest chips has $500 and bets it all, he/she can only win $500 of their opponents money. If there are multiple people in the hand and betting goes above $500, the additional money goes into a side pot. If the person with only $500 wins the hand, they get the main pot based off of the $500 then bet. The rest of the money, or the side pot, goes to the next best hand. It is a bit confusing and is best to have an experienced player keep track of side pots.

I've probably made this game souind a lot more confusing than it really is. Really, it's not. Watch some World Poker Tour or the World Series of Poker. They are often on ESPN 2 or the Travel Channel. It's a really fun game and addicting. There is a plug and play version of the game that you can buy for about $20. It's a good way to learn.