The first thing that you need to know about how to play poker is that it is a skill game. This means that it is something that requires you to understand a set of rules and follow them. Should you do this you are going to prosper? If you do not, you will lose money.
For starters, the first thing you will want to appreciate is that poker is a game where your cards are not the only thing that is important. The other variables involved include the other players and how they play their cards. This can be something that to the amateur player is not noticeable, but once you have spent time investigating and studying the physical tells.
Hand rankings are an incredibly important aspect of poker and one that needs to be completely understood. There are many books online that tell you what to learn, but for the beginner there is a very simple rule to follow. It is critical that you play very tight and only a very limited number of starting hands.
These hands are pocket pairs that are large. For instance, you will want to play aces, kings, queens, jacks, and tens. These hands are very strong but there are some things that you will want to take into account. When you learn the starting hands you will be in a good mindset.
If you are playing against a very tight and conservative person, someone who does not play many hands, then perhaps you will want to limit the starting hands to an even smaller number, namely aces and kings and ace king. However, on the other hand, if you are playing at tables with someone who is playing very loose and aggressive and is never going to fold then you are going to want to adjust and play more hands.
The other thing you will want to learn about is the concept of pot odds. This means that you need to remember the importance of how much is in the pot and how much the bet is. For example, should the pot contain a minimum of say ten dollars, and the bet is fifty dollars, you would want to have a very good hand. On the other side of the equation if the pot is only something like ten dollars and the bet was fifty cents, then you could call with a draw.
This leads to the concept of the draw. A draw is when you have no hand currently that would win, but you could win if a particular card comes. For instance, the most important hands in poker are full houses, flushes and straits. A flush and a straight are the two most common draws. If you have two suited cards, an ace of spades and another spade and the flop has two spades, it is good to call a bet and try and hit that flush.
Learning how to play poker properly will mean the difference between making games to earn money and losing money. This is what you need to know when playing poker Texas Hold’em style:
· Learn the hands in poker: Before you can play poker, you need to learn about the different hands that you can get while playing the game. There are 9 in total. The better the hand, the better your chances of winning.
· The basic rules: Each player is dealt two cards face down. Eventually, five cards will be placed down the centre of the table, one at a time. This is known as a river. In Texas Hold’Em, there are small blinds and big blinds and each player will take a turn at being the dealer. The person to the left of the dealer is the small blind and the big blind is the person next to them.
· The big blind is the minimum bet that needs to be placed and the small blind is half of that.
· The first player to the left goes first: Before the first three cards of the river is turned over, they will need to place a bet, raise or fold. This will be based on the two cards that they have in their hand. The betting, raising and folding will then continue around the table until it has returned to the first player. Here, the betting can continue or the first three cards of the river will be turned over.
· The flop: The first three cards of the river will be exposed. This is known as the flop. Before the flop occurs, the dealer will have to “burn” a card. This “burn” card will be the first card on the deck being dealt. The players will then be able to use the two cards in their hand, as well as the three “community” cards from the river, to determine their next move. Betting, folding or sticking will then commence around the table one again.
· The turn: After the second round of betting, the dealer will “burn” another card and reveal the fourth card in the river, known as the turn. The players will then begin another round of betting.
· The river revealed: After the third round of betting, the dealer will “burn” another card and reveal the fifth and final card of the river. Again, the betting will commence with the remaining players. Once all of the betting has been completed, the players must reveal their hands. The winner will then receive the pot. The game will continue as before with the dealer, small blind and big blind moving clockwise around the table.
Once you learn about how to play poker game with the most important fundamentals understood, it is going to only next take time. With appropriate time and study, you will be able sit down at a poker table and be comfortable and win playing cards.
