Basic Hold’em Continued

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: General
• Date: Jun 29,2008

We’re going to take a look at limit Hold’em games today and try to work out a few basic playing strategies that will hopefully help you increase your game.  Follow these tips at your own caution; they come with absolutely no guarantee, but if you find an improvement in your game afterwards – please stop by to say thank you!

So to start, let’s recap on Hold’em rules.

1) – The Highest hand wins.
2) – Ace plays High & Low for straights
3) – You can raise three times
4) – Players may use any number of hole cards to make their hand.

Okay – so, how do we win this game?

From the rules we can recognize that Texas Hold’em is a ‘high-card’ game.  So, the highest card wins.  This obviously means exactly what it says, and it confers a little bit of advice as well.

There are three stages:

Flop
Turn
River

Only play your stronger hands!

This means being very selective and when you are early in the betting sequence, not afraid to fold.

Button

The button is an important feature of Texas Hold’em.  It is a little marker that signifies who the "dealer" would be if the game had one. 
If you are left of the button by one or two spots, you will be required to "post the blind" This means you are required to bet a pre-determined amount this round.  If you are posting blinds, stay in until the flop.

Tomorrow we’re going to continue, and talk more on hand strategy, so in the meanwhile have a play in some of our sponsored rooms and get a feel for the game.

Hold’em and other Poker.

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: General
• Date: Jun 27,2008

Hold’em has brought a huge influx of poker players back to the tables, both experienced and ‘newbies’ at the same time. As a result, there is a great contrast of players out there, and many people may be experienced at poker, but inexperienced at Hold’em in specific.

Today we’re going to take a quick look at some Hold’em fundamentals in order to hopefully improve your game, and teach you some discipline! Like any betting game, Discipline is the number one rule.

So – You need to learn discipline for yourself. Remember and work a system and play within your own limits. Even if you think you’re a pro if you play risky hands expect to suffer. Only play within your system, and only play what you can afford to lose..

Betting; the heart and soul of any poker game. If we play for money, this is where it comes down to. Many players show their hand by the amount they bet, and in no-limits Hold’em good betting is a very important strategy. There are two kinds of betters, those that play for money, and those that play for ego. Betting is not about winning, it’s about taking a percentage of the pot based on odds. You put your money in, when you have a high chance of winning and when that chance improves, so does your wager. It is important to regulate your betting behaviour, and follow through with the discipline rule.

Remember, poker may just be a game, but these two rules above, are the foundations of any poker game regardless of whether it is Hold’em Omaha or any other. They also apply to both online and offline poker rooms and they take a lot of practice. Be patient and follow your own rules and you will develop as a strong poker player.

WSOP Day 22

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: Tournaments
• Date: Jun 21,2008

It’s now day 22 of the WSOP and today Texas Hold’em is not at the forefront of the WSOP surprisingly, but today the popular games are Omaha, and 7 Card Stud.

Texas Hold’em has been dominating the WSOP in recent days, with the no-limit Hold’em being played frantically yesterday.

So today – to take a break from the all too popular, we’ll take a quick look at Omaha, and see how it differs.

Omaha – being very similar to Texas Hold’em is known as a flop game.  There are a number of variations; however the most popular is Omaha High. 

Unlike Hold’em, Omaha players are dealt four cards to their hand not two.  After this, the betting is identical and the winner is the player who can produce the best five-card hand with THREE of the table cards, and TWO of his own.  This is possibly the largest difference, as it makes the game somewhat more calculated and clever than Hold’em, with even professionals needing a longer amount of time to calculate their move.

So that’s Omaha – now let’s take a quick look at 7 card stud. Seven card stud used to be the big name in poker before Texas Hold’em became the popular game it is today. However many people come to poker knowing only Hold’em. So – briefly

Betting is clockwise – and the person with the highest hand starts.
Two cards are dealt face down, one card is dealt face up to each player.

Following this – four cards are dealt face up, and one card is dealt face down.

After the cards are dealt, we reach the showdown.

Later on we’ll go into a little more detail about Omaha, Hold’em and the other forms of poker. Stay tuned for more information, reviews and tips.