What exactly is poker? Poker is any of many card games where players wager between one and nine on which hand they think the card containing the ace will be dealt to them. There are three general styles of poker, freeroll, half-and-half and no limit. In Texas Hold ‘Em poker the lowest player on either team has to be dealt a hand and the highest player on either team gets to act as if he has one more card to deal – called the flop.
In freeroll poker the last two players on each team have a final round of betting before the hand is dealt. If you are the first to call, the other team now has to match your bet. The second player in the deal has to be the caller. If after the first round of betting the other team has raised their bet then the first player can now raise again, but only to the extent that his bet raised the maximum. If the first player has now raised his maximum then the second player must also match the same amount or be turned down.
Half-and-half is a version of freeroll where the second player on each team is dealt two cards face up and the first player is dealt one card face up. This is sometimes referred to as a “pot” in Omaha Poker. In a full ring game the pots can increase even further to six cards or seven cards in some cases. Pot odds may also increase by a small amount for every hand dealt. So half-and-half is often used as a learning technique where the novice poker player can observe how much money is in the pot and evaluate how to bet based on the current odds.
No Limit is a variation on the standard Pot-Limit Omaha game wherein all bets are made in regards to the amount of the pot. Once the last card is dealt then that player is considered to have “maxed out” their betting amount. The highest card in this set is the Ace and subsequent highest cards are the Queen, King and Jack. Raising these three cards will cause the pot to increase to a very large sum.
Three-card draw is another way to play Pot-Limit Omaha. In this game the players are dealt two cards face up and are blind until the fifth turn when the deal is turned over. Players may call, raise or fold. Once all players have looked at their cards and there are no other bets, then the blinds are turned over and the pot becomes the highest possible hand.
In summary, POKER provides a good way for beginners to practice bluffing techniques and learn how to decide the best possible hands based on the current conditions of the pot. The players need to be willing to be bluffing if they want to make serious money from a POKER cash game. A big blind can get your attention and allow you to make more calls than your opponents. In a big blind you have a much better chance of winning than you do in a small blind. The only drawback to a POKER cash game is that there is always a risk of losing a big pot to someone with a better hand, so unless you are well rounded in terms of playing skills it is not recommended for beginners.
