Texas Hold Em poker is the most popular poker game in the USA and in no time I didn’t see T.V. adverts for it on every block. Everyone plays some form of poker as a pastime, I know I’ve played friends with it, but to others it’s just a pastime. Get to know Texas Hold Em poker – the game itself, how to play, and tips to improve your game – and you will soon be chatting it up with the pros outside of the adverts.
A little of background may be useful. Texas Holdem poker was the original poker game. Before it became the “big game” it was played in the old Wild West saloons, and then when it moved to Vegas in the 1950s it became the game played in the old casinos. It has matured and grown up under many guises including the mix of high-low cards, high/low cards, high/low sets, seven card stud and more.
How to play Texas Hold ‘Em Poker is fairly straight-forward. Each player is dealt two cards face down, and then bets, raising or calling the action. Three community cards are then dealt face up which the players can use to make up their hand. This begins the final round of betting, after which the players show their hands and the dealer reveals his. In No Limit Hold ‘Em the action is maximized at $2,000/$4,000 blind levels.
As a general rule, the more experienced players bet aggressively using the first round to build the pot. Less experienced players tend to either stay in the hand, raising, or chasing draws. When money is on the line, players have better judgment with regard to playing hands.
Now we know how to play, but before we start playing properly we must first understand how to play correctly. Reading this article will help you do that.
Texas Hold Em Poker is played to win the most money. When you play Texas Hold Em Poker you want to win as much as you can. How do you do this? You will need to bet constantly. Almost all players play too tight and fight a war using only their top two cards. This makes money for the casinos in the long run.
Texas Hold Em Poker – The Play
In playing Texas Hold Em Poker, there is one round that is always the same, throughout all of the betting rounds the dealer is the constant source of gambling income, or more accurately loss.
The dealer breaks, at a clockwise turn, the hole card and the four community cards. Each community card is addressed, with the first card sometimes dealt face up, the second card sometimes dealt face down, and the third dealt face up.
By this time each player has made their hand. Cards from Ace to Ace, King to King, Queen to Queen, Jack to Jack, 10 to 10 will receive whatever card was on the flop or community board whatever number of times.
The dealer then reveals his or her hand. If the dealer’s hand is less than the players hand, money is snatched from the old stack. If the dealer has a higher hand, the money is then generally trailed or malls. Poor hands or no hands at all are bad for the player.
But the dewabet is not always the bad guy. There are other opportunities to be the bad guy. The most common scenario is during a pot Split where the cards on the table are split between the player and the dealer. During a cleared pot, the natural hand of the player goes to the dealer, and the dealer remains desk.
This unusual rule has created a confusion in the minds of players as to which is the bad guy. Even conflicting with the normal rules of poker, this puts the player in a tricky position. On one hand, you know you have a better hand than the dealer, yet on the other hand you know the dealer has a better hand than you.
It would be better if we just avoided this rule and played perfectly. But we can’t.
Real life poker isn’t like what you see on television. Sure, things happen in reality just like in poker, but everything else is created in earnest. Sure things could happen to simulate poker – strange things can and do happen – but the poker game is not the same.
We also don’t know when we will hit our long-term shot. We could be sitting at the table and yet we hold the line with all due diligence, playing our premium hands and calling our raises, just to see the next one. Yet we do this while we watch the Tulsa Oilers and we know they willigree their next goal.
