Published at 21. 6. 2009 in category
MainShowing the cards is only done during the Showdown in the end. The concealed cards should never be revealed to other players while folding. A player may show the hole cards but that also gives the information to the other, still in the game, about the cards which would be unavailable to them. In stud and draw poker, face down cards is dealt which are called hole cards. The variants of poker game determine how the cards are dealt whether face up or face down. A player can hold the hole cards in the hands but if he is not careful a person sitting next to him or the spectators watching over his shoulders can look at the cards and communicate to the opponents also. So, mostly the standard method followed is to keep the hole cards face down on the table. Also, if a player is wearing glasses, then at certain angles and light, his cards will be reflected in the glasses which opponents can easily see.
Published at 19. 5. 2009 in category
MainA player should keep a track of betting amounts. There are certain etiquettes required for poker games in casinos. If a player looses the track of betting amounts regularly then this kind of action is not liked and discouraged, since this can slow down the pace of the game. “pot is good’ is phrase which is used when the betting round is over. Stacking the bet amount in front of the players aids the players in keeping a track of the amount and also ensures that all the players have bet the correct amount. All the stacked chips are pushed towards the pot and dealer puts them into the pot. Splashing the pot which means tossing the chips into the pot is not considered good as then the true betting amount will not be clear. Any player’s act for raise, fold, call, before the player sitting on his right has acted, is not considered proper. Again string raise is also discouraged in casinos. It is the act of first placing the chips in the front to call and then putting additional chips to raise. By doing this a player can give out information which others did not have. It can also cause confusion about the betting amount.
Published at 24. 4. 2009 in category
MainPoker requires skill and a bit of aggression. A player can not ‘Raise’ on every card. But aggression should be used intelligently. To call out Check and Bet is also as important. Some players are aggressive and some are passive. There can be weak players and strong players. The skill of a player lies in increasing your chances even with a weak hand. All of these players have certain characteristics which one should be able to read with time and change the strategy from time to time. . You should be skilled enough to read from theirs hands, body actions that what their psychology is. Another ability of a good player of poker is his ability to read the other players. An amateur player will give away his hands by his actions and moves. In big games with experienced players, such tell signs will not be there. These signs are called ‘tells’ and are more commonly seen in smaller games with weak players. There a player will have to look for other subtle gestures like facial expressions, the way he handles the chips. Another tip for a player to become a good player at poker especially in casinos is to realize that as they are looking for signs in other players they also would be watched. A good advice would be not to be too predictable and do some thing out of turn which no one expected you to do. A player should be aware of his table perception; meaning how he is perceived by everyone.
Published at 26. 3. 2009 in category
MainThe broad categories in which these games can be divided are Straight, Stud, Draw and community poker games. With its rising popularity, emerged many different variants of the game. Each of these categories has many different games thus there is a huge Poker family of games. The games differ with each other by how the cards are dealt, hands are formed, betting round allowed. The oldest family of poker is straight. Here no wild card like joker is used. In the stud variant of poker, each player is dealt a mix of face up or face down cards and has multiple betting rounds. Also, in these games the position of the player who bets first can change from round to round. All the face down cards dealt are called hole cards. Caribbean poker, 5 card stud, Razz, roll your own, 7 card stud, twist, Seven twenty-seven and Spanish poker are examples of stud Poker. Out of these, five card stud and seven card stud are the most popular. The Draw variant of the game has face down cards being dealt to the players and it’s a very positional game in the sense that who will bet first is almost fixed. In this game complete hand is dealt to the players and after the betting round the players can replace their hand cards by ‘drawing’ the cards. The community poker games involve a certain number of face-down cards dealt to the players like Stud and few are laid in the centre of the table. Anaconda, Badugi, Chicago, Five card draw and lowball poker are few types of Draw type poker. The cards which are kept in the centre of the table are called community cards. The players make 5 card hands by using their dealt cards and the cards from the centre; so in a way the centre cards are shared by the layers. Texas hold’em and royal hold’em, Cincinnati, Merry go round are the most popular games of this category. There are few games which are a combination of these variants. Some games use the stripped deck. Like H.O.R.S.E. which is Texas hold’em, Omaha hold’em, Razz, Seven card stud and seven card eight or better.
Published at 9. 2. 2009 in category
MainWhen a player drops out of the hand it is called ‘Fold’. The player no longer places the bets in the pot. A player may verbally communicate about his Fold decision or he may discard his hand cards face down as is done in USA casinos. In UK casinos, the player gives his hand to the dealer, who spreads the cards in front of the other players to have a look before he ‘mucks’ them. Hence it is also called ‘mucking’. The discarded cards are kept in‘muck’. The casino or the house takes a small percentage from each pot which can vary from 2 to 10 %. Betting round continues till every player has either ‘called’ or ‘folded’. The last two players remaining in the round in the end show their cards and the highest value hand wins the pot.
Published at 20. 1. 2009 in category
MainWhen the fist player calls out Open it means he is putting the initial bet in the pot which is also called ‘Opening the Pot’. Any player has to bet on something with any amount so as to start the process. This is called Ante. There are certain variants of poker where ‘blind bets’ open and there are still other where a player has to have certain cards to open like a Jack for example. There are four calls that a player makes during the play. These are Call, Check, Raise and Fold. By calling ‘Check’ a player means he is not willing to bet he wants to be in the game, almost like pass and means zero bet. A free round is when all the players decide to Check. ‘Call’ is when you are putting the same amount as your previous bet. A call is to match a bet or to raise. Any betting round ends when all the players have placed their bets and no opponent player calls a bet or raise of a player. A cold calling is when a player calls for a raise before he ahs invested in the pot in that particular round. Raise means increasing the size of the bet in the pot which will force all the other players to ‘call’ for the new amount. “Raise’ is matching the previous bet amount and then some additional amount to it. If there is no current bet in the pot and ‘raise’ call is made then it is considered the opening bet. When a player makes a second subsequent raise of the betting round it is called re-raise.
Published at 21. 12. 2008 in category
MainAfter the shuffle, cutting of cards takes place. As with other card games shuffle is an important part of the play in poker. The players then ‘ante up’, put money in the pot. Before the start of the play colored chips are bought for money. Acting out of turn is against the rules of the game. Dealer deals the cards going in the clockwise direction with the player on his left hand side the first one to receive the cards. When it his turn to act, the player has to declare the action that he wishes to do and he can not change it based on the reaction of other players to his ‘declaration’. The first player to bet is at a disadvantage as by placing the bet he reveals his hands but the later players will not be doing so. While betting the chips are placed in front of the player and not in the pot. It’s the dealer’s job to put the chips in the pot. In fact the last player to bet is at a very advantageous position as he can decide after looking at every body’s bet whether he should play the hand or not.
Published at 20. 11. 2008 in category
MainThe game is played with a 52 card deck. All the four suits; spades, clubs, diamonds and hearts are equal in value. The cards are rated form highest to lowest starting from Ace, then the court cards and then the number cards ending with 2. However, in some cases the ace counted as the lowest. Joker is used as a Wild card in some games. There are a number of hands which a player can make. Poker game always has 5 card hands. The highest possible hand in poker is ‘Five of a kind’ which uses wild cards. When five cards of the same suit are present in a sequence, it is called ‘Straight Flush’. Of all the natural hands, ‘Royal flush’ is the highest. It has an Ace, King, Queen, Jack and ten present of the same suit. A ‘Full house’ is three of a kind and a pair where as ‘Three of a kind’ is three cards of the same rank and other two cards need not be a pair. ‘Four of a kind’ is when there are four cards of the same rank. ‘Flush’ is all five cards of the same suit but without any sequence. ‘Two pairs’ have one-one pair of two cards each of one rank and another card. A ‘pair’ is only one pair and rest three are all different cards. In case of Full House, the three of a kind decides the winner among the two players. If two players have flushes, then the highest card determines the winner.
Published at 16. 10. 2008 in category
MainAccording to some, poker originated in China in the 1st century. In the 12th and 13th century, some card games were popular in Egypt. The origins of poker are very vague. As it has not directly descended from one single game, poker is thought to resemble many games which involved ranking of cards and bluffing. There were various other cards like ‘Ganjifa’ which were used to play betting games. a deck of ‘Ganjifa’ or treasure cards had 96 cards. During the 17th and 18th century French and Germans had games called ‘Poque’ and ‘Pochen’ respectively. It is believed that Poker originated from the Persian game called the ‘As Nas’ which was played in the 16th century. This game involved 25 cards and it had betting rounds and hand ranking just like present day poker. They both have been believed to have developed from a Spanish game ‘Primero’. This game had bluffing as an integral part of the play. From France the game Poque moved to Canada and from there to USA by the French settlers. It first finds its mention as a cheating game by Jonathan Greene in the year 1834. That game was played with 20 cards with only Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks and Tens. Later, Jonathan Greene documented this ‘Cheating game’ in his book “An Exposure of Arts and Miseries of Gambling”. It became so popular in USA that a poker table in a saloon was a very common sight. That was a new age for Poker as it found a name. In 1875, Joker was introduced in the game as a wild card. This was entirely a USA contribution. From 20 cards, 32 cards were being used and now modern day poker is mostly played with a standard 52 card deck. In just over 15o years, the game touched such great heights that it is a very popular game in casinos. Regular tournaments are held on a worldwide basis.
Published at 9. 9. 2008 in category
MainThis family of card games is similar in two facts which are betting and hand ranking. Poker is a very popular card game. But each poker game is different from the other in the way the cards are dealt, hands are formed, whether high or low hand wins the pot, limits on betting and the number of betting round allowed. This game requires a certain amount of skill and psychology. This game is very commonly played in casinos but unlike other games poker is played against the players. In many games the pot is split between the high and low hands. Also, like other gambling games, it is not only dependent on luck or chance but skill of the player. A bit of psychology is important as well, as a good player has to judge opponents actions and behaviors. Skill is about assessing the strength of hands, deciding which card to play when, when to call, when to bluff, when to fold or when to raise. Poker is different from other casino games as this is played against the players and not against the House or casino. Thus the house edge is not there. But the casinos make money by taking a small percentage from each Pot.