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ulate if the burn cards plus any cards in the deck will allow each player to receive a final down card. If the dealer can deal each player a last card, then the dealer will do so by taking all the burn cards plus any remaining cards in the deck, shuffle and then deal the final card to each player. However, if the dealer calculates that it’s not possible to give each player his or her own card, then the dealer will take all the burn cards, shuffle and turn over a "community card." The folded (muck) cards may never be used in the game once they have been folded. In a live game, generally players who feel that they have a good opportunity to win a pot will show their hand voluntarily. However, in many instances, players all stare at each other wondering who will show their cards first. To avoid this situation, our game will employ the following standard rule:The determination of which players’ cards will and must be shown first will lie with the player who had initiated the action or with the person, who had initiated the last bet, raise or re-raise. This simply means that whoever created the last action on the river must show his/her cards first. If the player who had the action checked and all players checked, then the player who had the initial option to bet would show first. If a player checks and another player bets, then the player who bet will have his/her cards shown first. If a player checked, another bets and then another player raises, the raiser’s cards will be shown first. Players are not required to show their cards if and only if they are not the player who created the last action by betting or raising. If a player calls a bet and sees that they cannot win, they may “fold” or “show” their cards. However, if a player who has stayed in until the end mucks (fails to show) his hand, other players in the game may find out the hand by requesting that a hand history be emailed to them. In our poker room, as with all, "Cards Speak." That means our dealer will find the best 5-card hand on the table and declare it the winner based on the universal poker hand rankings. Most commonly called “fixed” limit games, this type of game limit structure is by far the most common betting structure you will find in the casinos. A fixed limit game is one in which each bet will remain consistent through several betting rounds and then change at some predetermined point in later rounds. All bets will remain equal to the posted table limit. For example, in a 5-10 Seven-Card Stud game, the bets will be as follows. c) If a player bets, you may “call” the bet or “fold.” d) If a player checks and another player makes a bet, the player who checked may then in turn raise the bet made by the other player. This is called a “check & raise. Players have 10 seconds to bet, check, raise or fold. If the player does not make a choice, the game will automatically place the player all-in if such player has an all-in remaining. The general poker rule is a “cap” of three raises allowed per betting round with three or more players. However, if there is a “heads up” situation whereby only two players remain in the game, then raises are unlimited. The opening round will be a force wager determined by the game limit. The player with the lowest “door card” is forced to wager the minimum or a player may open for the lower limit of the game. If another player wishes, they may “raise” the bet and “complete” it to the lower limit of the game in the event the player with the force wagered just the force amount. This is not a raise in the traditional sense. The player is only “bringing up” the bet to its normal minimum. If a player wishes to raise, then this will be considered the first raise of the game and not the second. Spread Limit: The second most commonly found type of betting structure. This structure means there is a range of betting amounts permitted. The easiest example is a $1 to 5 game. Players are allowed to bet anywhere from $1 through $5 on any bet and in any round. Another common game is the $1 to 3 game. In casinos, you find the limits written and used as you see here. Players at these limits may wager any amount on any round within the limit posted. Raises in $1 to 3 and $1 to 5 must be equal to or greater than the previous bet. If in the event there is a re-raise, then the re-raise amount will be equal to or greater than the raise amount, but not to exceed the game limit. For example, if the player in seat #5 bets $2, the player in seat 6 can only raise $2, $3, $4 or $5. Most commonly you will see a player bet $2, then another player will say “make it $7” hence a $5 raise. But, if he wants, he can “make” or raise the bet to $4 ($2 + $2 raise), $5, $6, or $7. A player cannot just raise a $1 because that would violate the rule above. While playing fixed limit Seven Card Stud on 4th street, (fourth card dealt) any player may bet or raise the lower or higher limit of the game when there is an open pair on the table. This is called the “Fourth Street Rule.” This does NOT apply in a spread limit game. Mock Hand on Seven Card Stud: The Ante: The game begins with each player placing an "ante" in the pot. The ante is a small sum that serves a purpose similar to the blinds in hold'em: it gives the players something to "fight over," or contest, once the hand begins. Without the ante, there would be very little reason to enter the hand without the best possible cards. Some casinos do offer stud games without an ante, and these games tend to be dominated by players who play extremely conservatively. After the antes are in the pot, the dealer deals three cards to each player. The first two are dealt face down, and the third is face up, for everyone to see. The Forced Bet (or Bring-in) : After everyone has his three cards, there is a forced bet. The rules about who makes this bet vary. In most games, the player showing the LOWEST card must make this forced bet, which is called the "bring-in." In some casinos, the rule is that the highest card must start the betting. After the first round, the highest hand always starts the action (by betting or checking). As a result of this rule about the lowest or highest hand starting the betting action, the advantage of position can change quickly in stud. In hold'em, the person holding the button knows he will have the advantage of acting last throughout a hand. In stud, the person sitting just behind the first actor for one round won't necessarily be sitting behind the first actor on the other rounds. We'll see an example of this in our mock hand, shortly. The moment of deciding who starts the betting action is the ONLY time in poker where suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs) matter. If two players tie for the lowest showing card (for example, if one shows the Two of hearts (2h) and another shows the Two of clubs (2c), the player with the 2c is considered to have the lower card and would start the betting. The "ranking" of suits for this purpose is:This is the only time when suits matter. At the end of this same hand, if one player has the A-10-8-5-2 of hearts, and the other player has the A-10-8-5-2 of clubs, they are considered to hold identical hands and would split the pot. The player who holds the low card has the option of making the minimum allowed bet (here, $1) or making a full $4 bet. Usually the player will make the minimum bet, even if he holds a strong hand, because it creates deception. The other players then must call, raise, or fold, just as in hold'em. We'll go through a mock hand in a moment. First I want to finish discussing the differences between seven stud and hold'em. Some Important Differences Between Stud and Hold'em: The absence of community cards-or, put another way, the fact that each player holds cards that belong to him, and only him-means that it is easier to "catch up" in seven stud. In hold'em, the fourth card dealt belongs to everyone. So if an Ace comes, you and I each get an Ace. But in stud, if you are dealt an Ace, I'm going to be dealt a different card, almost certainly not as good as an Ace. Of course, just because everyone gets the same card in hold'em doesn't mean that card helps everyone the same way. If my hold'em hand is K-9, and yours is A-10, a Nine hitting the board helps me a LOT more than it helps you; I now have a pair, and you don't. But there are also many hands where the card will be equally helpful or not helpful. For example, if I hold A-K, and you hold A-Q, a Nine hitting the board helps us both equally-that is, not at all. But because I had the lead to start with (A-K being better than A-Q), I still have the lead after the equally useless Nine. The next big difference is that there are five betting rounds in seven stud, instead of four in hold'em. In stud, usually the first two rounds are at the lower level ($4 in the example we're using), and the last three are at the higher $8 level. This extra round of betting means you can win more on a winning hand, and can lose more on a losing hand. So even though it is easier to catch up in stud, it can be more expensive to try. It can be even more expensive to try to catch up if someone has a pair showing, because if that happens, the betting can go to the higher level immediately, if the bettor wants. So if someone's first two visible cards are both nines, that person can start the betting by making either a $4 bet or a $8 bet. Another big difference between hold'em and stud is the moment in time when you get to see a lot of cards for a small price. In hold'em, you get to see two cards before you ever have to make a bet, and then if you stay in, you get to see three cards all at once (the flop ). In stud, you get to see three cards immediately, but then you see only one card at a time the rest of the way. Although all decisions are important at all times in poker, those moments when you can see multiple cards for the least money are particularly important, because you can get out of a hand relatively inexpensively at these times. In stud, you see the "most cards for the least money" on your first three cards (three cards for one betting round). In hold'em, you see the "most cards for the least money" after the flop (five cards for one betting round), although the moment when you see two cards for free (pre-flop) is extremely important also. If you make good decisions about calling, raising, or folding at these times, you will have a better than average chance of winning. The last big difference between hold'em and stud is that the final card in stud is dealt face down, instead of face-up. The game thus goes: First round: two cards face down and one up. Second round: one card up. Third round: one card up. Fourth round: one card up. Fifth round: one card down. With these preliminaries out of the way, let's take a look at a mock hand. Each player's face down cards (his "hole cards") are grayed. So, for example, means that this player has the Six of hearts and the Seven of hearts in the hole, and the Eight of spades face up. Our players are almost the same as we met in the hold'em game, but Iggy won't be playing. In hold'em, it was easy to play with nine players (or even ten, or eleven, if the table is big enough), because even with eleven players, it only takes 27 cards to complete a hand (two cards each to the eleven players, and five for the board). In stud, if everyone stays to the end, you run out of cards with eight players (52 cards in a deck, 7x8=56). Despite this, casinos are quite willing to start stud games with eight players, because it is extremely unusual for everyone to stay in all the way. If that situation occurred, the dealer would turn the final card face up, making it a community card, instead of dealing everyone their final card face down. Don't spend much time worrying about this situation; you could play seven stud in casinos for years without encountering it. So let's begin with an eight-player game. Everyone has anted one dollar, and in our game, the low card on board will have to start the action with a one dollar bet: In a real game, of course, none of these players would know what cards his competitors have in the hole. So we'll analyze the quality of the decisions made in this mock hand based on the information an actual player would possess. Andy sees that he holds three cards to a straight, and also two to a flush. Having two cards to a flush adds slightly to the value of Andy's hand, but not much-probably much less than most players think. Another problem for Andy is that his 3-straight is composed of three low cards. His hand would be much better if it were something like J-Q-K, which would still be a 3-straight, but which could also improve to a high pair. If Andy makes a pair, it will be a low pair. So the value of Andy's hand comes mostly from his chances of making a straight. Fives and Nines are thus very important cards for Andy, and as he looks around the board, he sees only one of these cards out, the Nine in Bob's hand. He doesn't know that Frank has one of the Fives he needs. Bob is very happy with his hand. A pair of Queens is a very good starting hand in seven stud, and because both of them are hidden, no one has any idea of the strength of his hand. He looks around the board and sees no one else has a Queen or a Nine, a happy situation that improves his chances of getting one of those cards later. He has no way of knowing that Greg holds one of his Queens in the hole, of course, and will never know unless Greg remains in the hand until the end and then shows his cards. When folding, the proper procedure is to turn the exposed card or cards face down, and slide or toss them all gently to the dealer. Sometimes angry players fling their cards face up. This is not only poor sportsmanship and poor etiquette, but can affect a hand's outcome, by providing information to a player to which he should not have had access. Chuck's hand is similar to Andy's, although his cards are even lower, and he doesn't have the two-flush that Andy does. This is the sort of hand that a lot of seven stud players play, because they look for an excuse to get involved in a hand. But it is the sort of hand that loses money over the long run. Dave's hand is very, very weak. He has no pair, no high cards, and no straight or flush possibilities. Nonetheless, if Dave is an optimist, he might think he has a good bluffing opportunity. Aside from the Aces, his Jack is the highest visible card, and because THREE Aces are visible, it becomes fairly unlikely that any one person has a pair of Aces, and will be impossible for anyone to hold three Aces. So if Dave is a bluffer and an optimist, he might try something fancy. People who bluff too much and who are too optimistic usually lose in poker. Ed's hand looks attractive, at first. He has a hidden pair, and he also has an Ace. But Ed has a problem. Can you guess it? Take a moment to look at the information available to Ed: Ed's difficulty is that most of the cards that can improve his hand are not available. He can see one Eight and two Aces in other players' hands, which means there is only one Eight left and only one Ace left. A pair of Eights, by itself, is unlikely to win the hand, and Ed's chances of improving are very poor. If Ed is the kind of player who looks only at his own cards, he might be very happy with his hand. If he is the kind of player who takes note of what his opponents hold (in other words, a good player), he will understand that his chances of winning are poor. Frank's hand is also not good. He has no good straight or flush possibilities; even though his three cards could all eventually form part of the same straight, the double gap between the Ace and the Four makes a straight unlikely. Even though Frank holds an Ace, there is only one possible Ace left to help him-and for all he knows, one of his opponents might already have it. About the best thing Frank can say for his hand is that he doesn't see any Fours or Fives on the board. But small pairs like Fours and Fives almost never win at low-limit seven stud, by themselves. Even if Frank made a pair of each, he could very easily lose to a higher two pair. Greg's hand looks attractive. Although he is unlikely to catch an Ace to pair his up card, for the same reasons, he opponents aren't likely to have a pair of Aces either. He sees no Queens or Kings on board and so quite reasonably assumes that he has a good chance to pair one or the other-he doesn't know about Bob's pair of Queens in the hole, of course. Greg even has some small chance of a straight, because his three cards could all fit in a straight. It is only a small chance, because his straight draw is not "open-ended," like Andy's or Chuck's. Their hands could make a straight in either direction (that is, Andy's 6-7-8 could become a 6-7-8-9-10, or a 4-5-6-7-8, or even a 5-6-7-8-9; Chuck has the same three-way possibility), while Greg can only go one way: he specifically needs both a Jack and a Ten. Every extra possibility helps, but the value of Greg's hand lies mainly in the three high cards. Compare Greg's hand to Frank's. Each holds an Ace, and each has the same remote chance of making a straight. But because Greg's cards are high, while Frank's are low, Greg's hand is playable. Frank's is not. Hal will be forced to open the betting, because his Two of clubs is the lowest possible card, and so he has the option of opening for $1 or $4. He will definitely want to open for the minimum. Even though he has a pair, it is the lowest possible pair, and he can see one of the Sixes that could help him is in Chuck's hand. Another problem for Hal is that his pair is "split." By that I mean, half of the pair is in the hole, and half of the pair is visible. If Hal catches another Two, people will consider the possibility that he might have three Twos, and be cautious. By comparison, look at Bob's hand. No one would worry much if Bob caught a Queen, but it would give Bob a very powerful hand. So Hal is in the unhappy position of holding a hand that isn't very likely to improve, and even if it does improve, people will be cautious about calling his bets. Hal must bet first, and he bets $1. Andy looks at his three-straight and two flush, and thinks, "gee, it would be nice to be able to see another card for $1." He knows that in his early position, there are still six more players left to act, and the chances of sneaking in for $1 aren't good. But he calls $1 anyway. Bob knows he has a good hand. Someone holding Queens is mostly afraid of someone else holding Kings or Aces, and the chances of someone holding Aces are greatly reduced, because three Aces are visible in three different hands. So Bob raises (actually, in this case, he is considered to "complete" the bet) to $4. Chuck should know he is in trouble, but can't resist seeing if he can turn his three-straight into a four-straight, so he calls $4. Dave had been thinking about bluffing with his Jack, but with three players already in, he decides this is not the best time to try a bluff. He folds. Ed knows his hand will have a hard chance of improving, but can't resist playing with a pair. He calls, even though he knows this is probably wrong. Frank realizes his hand is practically worthless, and folds quickly. Greg grows a bit more encouraged by Frank's fold; he now knows that the last Ace left wasn't in Frank's hand. He also reasons that because Ed didn't raise, Ed probably doesn't have another Ace either. Perhaps most importantly, Greg doesn't see any Queens or Kings. Although this hand probably should be played with a call, Greg decides to be aggressive and raise. If this is a mistake, it's a small one. Aggression is often rewarded in poker. Hal now must decide if he wants to invest another $7 in this hand. His low pair, the visible six in Chuck's hand, and the fact that so many other players seem to have good hands (or at least the belief that they have good hands), convince him to fold. Good decision, Hal! Andy had been hoping to sneak in for $1, and would have called another $3 without much complaint, but Greg's raise has made it more difficult for him to indulge his desire to play. He knows he should fold, but he decides to call anyway. Like many poker players, Andy has made a bad decision a little bit at a time. If Andy had known at the outset that it would have cost $8 to see a fourth card, he might have folded immediately. But he tried to sneak in cheap, and then, when Bob completed the bet to $4, Andy had time to get used to the idea of putting $3 more in. By the time Greg raised, Andy had mentally committed to tossing another $3 in, so the decision to invest the final $4 wasn't quite so hard. If Andy had taken an immediate realistic look at both his cards and his awkward early position, he could have gotten away from this hand very cheaply. We'll soon see whether his gradual seduction winds up costing him. Bob furrows his brow. Greg has raised with an Ace showing; he COULD have a pair of Aces; just because this is unlikely doesn't mean it's impossible. If Bob raises back, he will probably cause some players to drop out, and he will probably find out how strong Greg's hand really is. On the other hand, if he just calls, he disguises the strength of his own hand. Greg likes being sneaky like that. He decides just to call. With more opponents, Greg's Queens will have a greater chance of losing, but if they win, they'll win a bigger pot. Chuck knew his $4 call was a bad idea, but because he already has $4 "invested" in the pot, he goes ahead and calls the raise, forgetting the principle that once money goes into the pot, it no longer belongs to him. He now has $8 invested in a pot he shouldn't have played. Chuck and Andy apparently learned from the same teacher. Ed isn't happy either, but with $4 invested, he calls the $4 raise. His decision is a bit better than Chuck's, because he can be sure that this $4 is the most he'll have to invest to see the fourth card. When Chuck called, there was some chance that Ed might have raised and then Greg could have raised again. Ed doesn't face that risk. Greg was the raiser, and with Frank now out, Greg now follows Ed in the hand. Greg can't raise his own raise.This concludes the first round of betting. With $8 starting in the pot in antes, and Andy, Bob, Chuck, Ed, and Greg in for $8 more each, and Hal in for his $1 bring-in, there is $49 in the pot (less whatever this particular casino "cuts" from the pot as its share). Andy now has a three-flush to go with his three-straight, but the news isn't very good. Bob also has two hearts showing, and he holds the Ace of hearts, too; in the unlikely event that they both make heart flushes, Bob's will win. Ed also caught a heart this round, which means that hearts are in relatively short supply. Worse still, one of the sevens that would have paired Andy is now gone, as well as one of the eights. In sum, Andy now has a hand he should throw away, unless everyone checks and gives Andy a card for free. Unfortunately, the optimist in Andy still sees the three-flush and three-straight, and ignores the visible cards whose unavailability will make it tough for Andy to improve. Although the Ace of hearts didn't really improve Bob's hand, he was still happy to see it, because if Bob remembers that Frank folded an Ace on the first round, he now knows it's impossible for Ed or Greg to have a pair of Aces. Remembering allows Bob to play more aggressively, because his pair of Queens now feels stronger. Bob might have to face a pair of Kings at some point, but he no longer has to worry about Aces. Chuck shouldn't have been in the hand to start with, but now he has caught a "lucky" Seven to give him an open-ended straight draw. What Chuck doesn't and can't know is that this ISN'T an open-ended straight draw, because all the Eights are in other players' hands. Only a Three can help him, and there are only three of those available. Ed now realizes he is sunk. There were only two cards that could have helped him, one Eight and one Ace, and they both fell into other players' hands. Greg isn't too happy with the Eight. He was hoping to pair up, and didn't, and now knows he can't make a pair of Aces. The only consolation he can find is that no one else can make a pair of Aces. Playing our Hypothetical Hands on Fourth Street. Let's see what happens in the betting. Bob gets the option to bet first, because his A-9 is the highest hand showing. He thinks his hand is likely the best out there, and wants both to get more money into the pot, and to try to get some players to fold. His bet will accomplish one or both of these goals. Chuck is happy with his "open-end" straight, but realizes all he has at the moment is potential, so he just calls. Ed decides his virtually impossible-to-improve hand isn't worth playing, and makes the smart decision to fold. He would have saved even more if he got out immediately, but at least he isn't compounding his error by hoping for a miracle. About the best he could realistically hope for is to make two pair, Eights and Threes, and even if he manages to make this hand, the chances are it won't win. If, looking at Ed's hand, you decide that you would continue to play if you were in his seat, you are much, much too optimistic to have a chance to win at poker right now. Greg knows Bob can't have a pair of Aces, and decides to call also. Folding would probably have been a better choice. Greg can't make aces, one of his Kings just went to Andy (who could hold a pair of Kings already), his flush possibility is very remote, and while he could make a straight, he would need to catch two perfect cards in three chances-not a very promising situation. Andy should fold, but can't resist his double long-shot possibilities, and calls. The additional $16 brings the pot to a total of $65. Somebody up there must not like Andy. He keeps catching cards that aren't really very good but are just good enough to keep him interested. Bob has a powerful hand and no one has any reason to suspect it; for all they know, he was trying to make a heart flush, and the Queen of clubs brought no help. Chuck's card offers no help, but he knows he still has two more chances to make his straight. Greg finds himself in a situation a bit like Andy. The Jack of Clubs has given him a chance to make a straight, but not a particularly good chance: he must catch a Ten. His hopes are bolstered because he hasn't seen any Tens yet; it's possible that all four remain in the deck. He also has a remote chance to make a club flush. Mostly, he has a bunch of high cards. Playing our Hypothetical Hands on Fifth Street Bob's hand is high on board, and he bets. Chuck calls, still hoping to make his straight. Greg calls, hoping for a miracle Ten. Andy realizes his straight chances are just about gone, but looks at all the money in the pot, and figures another pair (especially if it is Kings) or a Seven might win, so he calls too. This $32 brings the pot to $97. Andy suddenly has a powerful hand, three Sevens, and he happily bets $8. Bob is pretty much positive his three Queens are still the best hand, and pauses. Should he raise, trying to drive out the drawing hands? Or should he call, and try to lure more players in? He decides to raise; in a game with seven cards, if enough players are out there drawing at straights and flushes, the chances become good that ONE of them will get there, even if the odds are against any one particular player doing so. The pot is already pretty big. Better to try to narrow the field, he decides; even if they all do call, he might win a big pot. Bob would have preferred to "narrow the field" after the fifth card, because once players get to sixth street, they tend to stay until the end. The vagaries of position made it impossible to do this on fifth street, because Bob had to act first. On sixth street, Andy's open pair of Sevens changed the betting order, and his bet gave Bob the chance to raise and try to narrow the field. Chuck is now staring at having to call $16. The three he needed fell just in front of him! Life is not fair! Still, he thinks there are three other Threes he can catch (he has forgotten about the Three that Ed folded earlier), and two other Eights (he doesn't know about the two Eights that Ed had in the hole). So Chuck calls, thinking there are five cards that can win for him, while actually there are only two. Greg is a bit confused by Bob's raise. Probably Bob has a pair of Queens; possibly two pair. Greg's Kings might or might not be the best hand. But he can still catch another King, for trip Kings, or a Ten for a straight, or perhaps an Eight or a Jack, for two pair. He also calls. Andy, whose eyes had lit up when he caught the third Seven, is now a bit confused. Not only was his bet called, but it was also raised and called! He is tempted to raise again, but wonders. Chuck could have a flush or a straight. Bob could have three Queens, or a flush draw. Greg could have three Kings or a straight. He decides that there are too many possible good hands out there against him, and just calls. He can always bet more if he makes a full house on the last card, he realizes. The $64 added to the pot brings it to a total of $161. Andy still has three Sevens, a strong hand, but not so strong when facing three opponents who have all indicated strength. Bob has a well-hidden full house and is confident of victory. He's not worried about losing, because with two Kings in sight, he knows no one can have a better full house like K-K-K-7-7, and he knows Andy can't have four Sevens, because he sees one in Chuck's hand. Greg can't have four Jacks because Dave folded one early in the hand, but you know what? Even if Dave's Jack hadn't been visible, even if it was theoretically possible for Greg to hold four Jacks, you can't spend too much time worrying about extremely unlikely hands like three hidden Jacks and still play successful poker. In this situation, you bet Queens full of Nines for every possible bet. If the other players drop out, and the hand becomes heads-up (Bob against Greg), the 3-raise rule goes away: once two players remain, most casinos employ a rule that allows unlimited raising and re-raising. So if in that situation, Greg kept re-raising Bob, at some point it would be right for Bob to consider that the unlikely had happened, and just to call. Playing four-handed, Bob will want to figure out the best way to extract the maximum from his opponents. Chuck never did make his straight, and hopefully he will realize that his pair of Tens can't win. Greg thinks he has gotten very lucky, but actually just the opposite has happened. By catching the Ten, Greg has made a straight, a strong hand that will win most of the time in seven stud. But poker is not a game like hand grenades or horseshoes, where close counts; the worst possible hand in poker is a strong hand that finishes second. Greg's error is a common one; many beginning poker players focus entirely on their own hands, and try to decide how good their chances of improving to a hand like a straight or a flush might be. They never stop to think that they might lose even if they make their hand. Andy's pair of Sevens is still high on board. He decides to bet, because he has a good hand. He doesn't stop to consider that if someone can call this bet, they can probably beat his hand. Betting is not a terrible play, but with all the strength shown on the previous betting round, Andy would have been smarter to check. If everyone else was drawing at straights and flushes, and everyone else missed, Andy's bet won't be called; he'll win the pot, but his bet won't win him any more money. But if someone makes a straight or flush, they'll probably raise. Once all the cards have been dealt out, holding a good hand isn't, by itself, a good enough reason to bet. The bet has to have a chance to win if someone else calls. This is a fairly advanced strategic concept that even experienced players frequently forget. If someone else bets, Andy can always call. By betting, he risks having to call several additional bets if someone raises. His bet isn't terrible, because it is certainly possible (even likely) that someone would call with two pair, but given all the strength the other players have shown, a check would have been better. Bob briefly considers calling, to suck the others in, but decides that since everyone called his raise last time, they might do it again. So he makes the correct decision to raise. Chuck, although disgusted by his failure to make his straight, finally comes to his senses, and throws his hand away. There are players who would call with a pair of Tens in this spot, at least in low limit poker, and such players are the source of much of your potential profit. Chuck would have saved a lot of money if he hadn't played a weak hand like 4-5-6 in the first place. At least he got a bit lucky. He didn't make a straight on the end. If he had, he would have lost much more money. Greg pauses briefly. Certainly he is going to call, but he considers raising. He'd been worried about Chuck having a flush, but Chuck has folded. He figures Andy has three Sevens, or maybe two pair. He can't figure out Bob at all. His board looks weak: 9h Ah Qc 3s. Maybe Bob is just bluffing. He tries to remember if Bob bet aggressively early in the hand, but can't. If he had remembered Bob's early aggression, he might just call. Instead, he raises. Andy starts to get a sinking feeling. One raise, maybe he could beat, but two raises, it seems almost certain that someone has made a big hand. But Andy can't bring himself to throw away a good hand like three Sevens. He calls. Bob decides that he is the greatest seven stud player for miles around, and raises again. Greg realizes there is no more point in raising. His straight might be the best hand, or might not, but he certainly can't raise again. He calls. (In most casinos, Greg would not have had to think about a fourth raise, because most casinos limit raises to three per round. But some do allow four.) The Wisdom (or Foolishness) of Saving Bets on the End. Andy finally decides three Sevens can't win. He saves the last bet by folding. He would have saved a lot more if he hadn't let his optimism get the better of him during the early rounds, where each time his hand was fair, but just not quite fair enough. Just as we saw in the hold'em mock hand, this "late clarity" of thinking is probably wrong. If Andy was going to fold at the end, he should have folded after Greg's initial re-raise. Once Andy called that bet, he was pretty much committed to see the hand through to the end. When he finally folded, the pot contained $249. He was risking $8 to win $249, odds of better than 30-1. Andy invested a lot of money in this pot while he had a bad hand. He finally made a pretty good one. Although it turned out that he was indeed beaten, it wasn't impossible for his three Sevens to have won. Having run the first 1,450 meters of this 1,500-meter race, Andy probably should have stayed in for the last few steps. With the pot offering odds of better than 30-1, he doesn't have to be right very often for this final $8 to be a good investment. Bob turns over his full house, and Greg curses his bad luck. The best hand at the start has turned into the best hand at the finish-something that happens much more frequently than most poker players realize. The participants who played in an overly optimistic style lost a lot more than the players who realized their hands were inadequate, and who folded, knowing another hand would be dealt in a minute or two. While this hypothetical hand isn't typical-it's unusual to see three strong hands like a full house, a straight, and three of a kind all at the same time-it certainly isn't impossible, or even highly improbable. I've taken a bit of dramatic license to demonstrate how overly optimistic thinking can prove expensive. It can also be expensive to forget which cards have been folded, or who was the aggressor early in the hand. That the final card is dealt face down demonstrates one more very significant difference between hold'em and stud. In hold'em, it's fairly easy to figure out what kind of hands your opponent might have, because only two of his cards are face down. But in stud, with three cards face down, a player can have a visible board that looks very weak (like Bob's), and yet he can have a powerhouse hand, even four of a kind. If you play strong cards at the start, pay attention both to the cards in the other players' hands and the way they bet them, and don't let optimism get the best of you, you'll be well on your way to playing a very solid game of seven stud. If that sounds like a lot, you're right. That's why poker, in the long run, is a game of skill, not luck. But take heart. Especially at the lower limits, most of your opponents won't be performing all these important tasks very well either. Focus on making good decisions, be honest with yourself about how well or poorly you played, and try to keep improving, and the players who beat you today may find you too tough to handle a few months from now.Texas Hold’em. This section will inform you on gaming procedures, rules, policies and limits of PlayWebPoker´s game of Texas Hold’em. Dealing the Game of Texas Hold’em: Texas Hold’em Blind Rules, TotalPoker Texas Hold’em Games: Dealing the Game of Texas Hold’em: All Texas Hold’em games that are offered at TotalPoker are “fixed” limit games. The object is to create the best five-card hand using seven cards. Unlike Seven Card Stud wherein the dealer deals each opening round clockwise around the table starting with the player closest to the left, the dealer in Hold’em will start to deal each game contingent upon which player has the “button.” The button is a graphical representation (“D”) of which player is the “dealer.” Although our dealer will be dealing the Hold’em game, the player who has the button placed in front of his seat gets to play his cards as if he were the actual dealer. When the cards are dealt to players, they are dealt in a manner as if the player was actually dealing in a live environment. Because we have a player “on the button” we now ask two players via a specific voice announcement (just those players will hear the announcement) to “post the large or small blinds please.” The blinds serve a purpose similar to antes, in that they put forced money into the pot that gives players an incentive to enter the hand. However, only two players will “post” or “put up” the blinds. The first blind is called the “small blind”. This bet is usually half the minimum bet of the game, although in some games, the fraction is slightly different. In $15-30, the small blind is $7, and in $5-10, the small blind is $2. So, in a $2-4 game the small blind will be $1. The second blind is called the “large blind” and is always the same size as the game’s minimum bet, e.g., in a 5-10 game, the large blind is $5. The player directly left of the button will have the “small blind.” The player directly to the left of the small blind will have the “large blind” of the full amount or the lowest game limit. Now that we have a Button and small and large blinds, we are ready to deal. The dealer always deals from the player closest to the dealer’s left. Moving clockwise around the table, the game will “deal-in” each player. The players will be dealt one card face down, then a second card face down. A round of betting will occur starting with the player seated to the left of the large blind.The player seated to the left of the large blind will always have the action on the opening deal. This player may not check, but rather can only fold, call, or raise the amount of the large blind. The game will now advance to each player seated asking to fold, call, or raise until we reach the large blind for an action decision. If no one has raised by the time the play comes back around to the large blind, the large blind has the option to “check” his own BLIND wager or raise. Once all players have completed the first round of wagering, they will proceed to the flop. The next cards to be dealt into the game will be the third, fourth and fifth cards in the game. These three cards will not be dealt to each player, but rather placed face up in the center of the table. But before we “flop” anything, we must burn a card. The dealer will deal face down one card into the pot. After the burn card, the dealer will deal three cards face up in the center of the poker table. These three cards are called “community cards” which are available to all players for potential use to make a poker hand. The area in which these cards lie on the table is commonly referred to as the “board”. Now the flop has landed on the “board” and all players now have five cards available to make their hand, the two “hole” cards that were dealt on the opening round and now three “community cards” which all players may use. The rule of the determination of the action is as follows. After the opening deal, the player who is seated closest to the left of the button shall have the initial action for the remainder of the game. If the player who has the button folds, then the button is still active and will remain in front of that player’s seat to keep position a constant throughout that game. The player that has the action may check or bet. As soon as one player chooses to bet, then the other players in the hand can no longer check; they can only fold, call or raise the amount that is proper for that round (the lower betting limit on the first round and on the flop, and the higher betting limit on the turn and the river). The “turn” is the fourth card to be dealt onto the board and the sixth card available to the player. Some players call this “fourth street.” However, the most common term used for this round is the “turn”. As always, the dealer will burn a card and then deal one card face up onto the board to the right of the last flop card. At this point the players have access to the four cards on the board and their two hole cards. The game will now declare who has the action, which always begins with the player still remaining in the hand who is closest to the left of the button. The bet on the turn is the higher level of the betting limit. In a $2-4 game, this would be $4. All raise will be in $4 increments with a cap of three raises. If there are just two players remaining, the number of raises is unlimited at our real money tables. However, in tournament play, the three-raise limit applies even if there are only two players left in a hand. The Flop Cards turn River: At this point, five cards are on the board and two hole cards are in the players’ hands. The action again starts with the first player still remaining in the hand who is closest to the left of the button. All checks, bets, raises, and folds will be completed and then a showdown will begin. The determination of which players’ cards will and must be shown first will lie with the player who had initiated the action or with the person who had initiated the last bet, raise or re-raise. This simply means that whoever had the last action on the river must show his/her cards first. Suppose a Player wins by default? A player who has a winning hand does not have to show his/her cards if his/her bet was not called. Does a Player have to show their Cards if they call a bet on the River? A player is not required to show their cards if, and only if, they are not the player who had the last action. If a player calls a bet and sees that he/she cannot win, he/she may fold his/her cards. Players who are curious about the folded hand may request a hand history to learn it. In our poker room, as with all, "cards speak." That means our dealer will find the best five-card hand using the five (5) community cards on the board and the two (2) pocket cards in the player’s hand. The winner will be decided based on the universal poker hand rankings. All players must pay for their blinds in full before they are allowed to get the button. Therefore, the player who had posted the small blind in the prior hand will receive the button on the next deal of any game. If in the event we have a new player to the game, then three (3) actions will occur. If the new player is seated left of the blind, then he/she may choose to “post” the large blind or “wait.” If the player does post, then his/her wager is active. If the new player is seated in the large blind, then he/she is treated as such. If the player is seated between the button and any blind, then he/she must wait for the button to pass. Missed Blinds rules and Procedures: Missed large blind. If a player misses the large blind for any reason, then that player may not play in any hands until the sum of all blinds are made up. The game will place a “ML” button in that seat to declare the missed large blind. The game will ask the next active player to the left to post the large blind for the hand. If the missed player returns to the game before the large blind comes back to his/her seat, the player is required make up the sum of all blinds. “Post all.” The small blind portion is dead and must be put into the pot before the hand is dealt. However, a player may avoid posting dead by waiting for the large blind to arrive at his/her seat naturally. Missed small blind. If a player misses the small blind for any reason, then that player may not play in any hands until the small blind is made up. The game will place a “MS” button in that seat to declare the missed small blind. The game will ask the next active player to the left of the large blind to post a large blind for the hand as well. The original large blind player will “catch a break” and get the button on the next hand. The player who had missed the small cannot return until after the button has passed. If the missed player returns to the game before the large blind comes back to his/her seat, the player is required make up the small blind. The small blind is dead and must be put into the pot before the hand is dealt. However, a player may avoid posting dead by waiting for the large blind to arrive at his/her seat naturally. There are two definitions: A bet that a player makes that uses up all of the chips he has remaining at the table. For example, in a 15-30 game, a player who only had $7 left at the table would be allowed to use that $7 to call or bet. If there is only one other player left in the hand at that point, the betting has ended for that hand, and the system will deal out the remainder of the cards quickly and automatically. If there are three or more players remaining in the hand when someone runs out of money and goes all in, a “side pot” is created, which is contested only by the players who still have money. It is possible, in multi-way hands, for more than one side pot to be created, if more than one player runs out of money at different times. If you are involved in a side pot, you may win that, even if you cannot beat the all-in player for the main pot. Note that even if you have more chips in your account at the cashier, you cannot add more money in the middle of a hand. We suggest, if your funds run very low, that you add more chips to those you have at the table before the next hand begins. Finally, note that using an all-in in this manner—running out of money in the middle of a hand—does not use up one of the two all-ins you are allowed per day, as explained below. Type 2 all-ins are used up only by a failure to respond, not by running out of money.If a player fails to act in time—for example, if an emergency calls him to another room in the house, or if he loses his connection—he is treated as if he were all-in for that hand. This feature protects the money the player already has in the pot in case of a bad connection or a home emergency. Players in TotalPoker games are given two “emergency” all-ins per 24 hour period. If you use up your two all-ins, TotalPoker strongly suggests that you not play until you have sent an email to TotalPoker support explaining why you used up two all-ins, and requesting an all-in reset. If you play with zero all-ins in your account, you could lose the money you have in a pot if you lose your connection. $20-40. Maximum number of players: 10. Minimum Buy-in: $200. Small Blind: $10. Mock Hand on Texas Hold'em: Basic Strategy and the Importance of Position: In home poker games, the deal rotates from individual player to individual player; each player deals one game from start to finish, and then passes the deck to the player on his left, so the deal moves around the table clockwise. The player to the dealer's left must act first, and the dealer acts last. Usually it is a big advantage to act last, because you have more information available to you-the other players may all fold, or several may raise. In casino games, a professional dealer is used, and so the casino must do something to make sure that all the players get a chance to play a hand while acting last. If they didn't, everyone would fight over the right to sit just to the dealer's right, and no one would want to sit just to the dealer's left. The game would never start.The Button: Casinos solve this problem by representing the dealer position with a small plastic disc that says "dealer" on it. This disc is called "the button." The player holding the button is considered to be the dealer for that hand, even though the professional dealer actually deals the cards. After each hand is completed, the button is moved one player to the left. As a result, everyone at the table gets an equal chance to "hold the button" and thus hold the advantageous position of going last. Betting Structure: Except in high stakes no-limit games filled with professionals, hold'em is played with what is called structured betting. That is, the bets are always a specific size. This allows players to choose a game that is appropriate to the amount of money they wish to risk. I will use a "10-20 game" as an example. In a 10-20 game, the bets are always either $10 or $20, depending on whether it is early in the hand or late in the hand (more on this in a moment). You can't bet $16, or $34, or $2. If you are going to bet, your bet must be $10 or $20. In a 2-4 game, your bets must always be $2 or $4. Beginning hold'em players should certainly be looking at playing 1-2 or 2-4 games, until they learn more.How The Cards Are Dealt: In hold'em, each player is dealt two cards face down. These cards belong to him, and only him. After a round of betting at the $10 level, the dealer turns three cards face up in the middle of the table. These three cards are called "the flop," and they belong to EVERYONE at the table. They are "community cards." So if Player Number One holds a Jack and a King in his hand, and the flop is A-Q-10, Player Number One now holds an ace-high straight (A-K-Q-J-10). If Player Number two is unfortunate enough to hold a good hand like an Ace and a Queen in his hand, Player Number Two is probably going to lose a lot of money, because Player Two has "flopped" an excellent-looking hand: two pair, aces and queens. After those players who called pre-flop sees the three-card flop, and examines how well the flop does or does not "fit" with the cards they hold individually, there is another round of betting, again at the $10 level. Then the dealer turns a fourth community card up in the middle. This fourth card is usually called "the turn" or sometimes "fourth street." There is another round of betting, but now it is at the $20 level. When that round is completed, the dealer turns a fifth and final card up in the middle. This card is usually called "the river," or sometimes "fifth street." There is now a final round of betting, again at the $20 level.Completing Your Hand With Zero, One or Two Cards To make one's final 5-card hand, each player may use both of the cards in his own hand, just one, or none! When would you use none of the cards in your own hand? Supposed the five cards on the board were the 3-4-5-6-10 of diamonds, for a flush. If you did not have a diamond in your own hand, nothing you had in your hand could improve the board. Even if you had a pair of Tens in your hand, and thus "could" say your hand is three Tens, you would be making a mistake, because the flush available to you is better than your three Tens. In this situation, you are hoping that no one else has a diamond either, and so you would split the pot. If someone else had, for example, the eight of diamonds in his hand, you would lose, because your 10-6-5-4-3 flush would lose to his 10-8-6-5-4 flush. At the table, they would say his "10-8 beat your 10-6." So in our hypothetical 10-20 game, you see that there are two rounds of betting at the $10 level, and two rounds at the higher $20 level. The Blinds To start our 10-20 game, the player sitting to the left of the button must place $5 in the pot before any cards are dealt, and the player sitting to HIS left must place $10 into the pot before any cards are dealt. These sums are called "the blinds," because you must put the money in before you "see" any cards. The $5 is called the "small blind" and the $10 is the "big blind."Why force players to bet blind? For the same reason players must put an "ante" into the game in seven card stud. Unless there is something sitting there to be won, there would be no good reason to ever enter a hand unless you had the absolute best possible cards, and poker would be very boring. By forcing players to put some money in at the start, the players have something to shoot at. Hold'em thus begins as a battle for the blind money. Players For a Hypothetical Hand Now lets fill our hypothetical 10-20 hold'em game with nine players:Seat 1 (the button): Andy Seat 2 (the small blind): Bob Seat 3 (the big blind): Chuck Seat 4: Dave Seat 5: Ed Seat 6: Frank Seat 7: Greg Seat 8: Hal Seat 9: IggyThe dealer will now deal two cards, face down, to each player. He deals them one at a time, starting with Bob. These two cards belong only to the player to whom they are dealt, and that player should take care to avoid letting anyone else see them. The cards dealt are:Andy: King of hearts and Jack of hearts (Kh-Jh) Bob: Four of spades and Six of diamonds (4s-6d) Chuck: Seven and Eight of diamonds (7d-8d) Dave: Seven of clubs and the Seven of spades (7c-7s) Ed: Ten of hearts and Two of clubs (10h-2c) Frank: Nine of diamonds and Four of hearts (9d-4h) Greg: Queen of spades and Two of hearts (Qs-2h) Hal: Ace of spades and Queen of diamonds (As-Qd) Iggy: Jack of clubs and Five of spades (Jc-5s)Since Bob and Chuck already have blind money in the pot, Dave is the first to act. Dave has three choices. He can CALL, which means he will put $10 into the pot, matching the size of the previous player's bet. He can RAISE, which means he will put $20 into the pot, matching the $10 that had already been bet with another $10 increase. Or he can FOLD, throwing his hand away. Let's assume that after looking at his two cards, Dave calls. There is now a total of $25 in the pot.Ed now must act, facing the same choices that Dave did. Let's say he folds, as do Frank and Greg. Hal now decides to raise, and puts $20 into the pot.Now it's Iggy's turn. He too can call, fold, or raise, but now the numbers have changed. It will cost Iggy $20 to call or $30 to raise. He decides to fold.Now Andy, holding the button, must act, and now perhaps you start to see why holding the button is considered a big advantage. Unless Dave is being tricky, Andy now has some pretty useful information at his disposal. He knows1) That Bob and Chuck had to put their money into the pot without ever looking at their cards. While they MIGHT have good hands, the odds are against it. 2) That Dave probably has a good but not great hand, because he only called, rather than raising. 3) That he will not have to face Ed, Greg, Frank, or Iggy in the hand, because they have all folded. Compare this to what Dave knew when he called the original $10. Dave knew nothing about the strength of these four players' hands. 4) That Hal probably has a fairly strong hand, because he raised. Again, there was no way that Dave could have known this when he called the $10.Andy looks at his hand and decides it is pretty good, and decides to call the $20. Now it is Bob's turn. Bob already has $5 invested in this pot, via the small blind. He too can fold, call or raise, but because he was forced to put the original $5 in, the amounts are a bit different. It will cost him $15 to call, or $25 to raise. He looks at his cards, realizes that both Hal and Andy probably have good hands, and also realizes that he will be in the uncomfortable position of having to act first on each and every betting round of the game. He folds.Chuck looks at his cards. He faces a decision similar to Bob's, but not quite identical. Because Chuck was forced to put $10 in before he ever got his cards, it will cost him only $10 more to play on. He also raise, if he wants, but he sees that his hand isn't very good and decides just to call, and see if the cards to come improve his hand.Dave, who called early, must now call another $10 (Hal's raise) if he wants to play. Because someone raised after Dave called the original $10 bet, Dave is also allowed to raise, but decides to call. This completes the pre-flop betting. There is $85 in the pot: $20 each from Chuck, Dave, Hal and Andy, and $5 from Bob. Hal can't raise again because he was the player who raised originally, and no one raised him.The Players Remaining After the Pre-Flop BettingThe players now contesting the pot are: Chuck, in seat 3 (7d-8d) Dave, in seat 4 (7c-7s) Hal, in seat 8 (As-Qd) Andy, in seat 1 (Kh-Jh)The dealer now deals out the flop: The Ace of diamonds, the Queen of hearts, and the Ten of diamonds (Ad-Qh-10d). Let's see what this flop did for, or to, everyone.Chuck, who was in the big blind, has flopped two diamonds to go with the two diamonds he has in his hand. He is said to have a "flush draw," because he needs one more diamond to make that powerful hand. If one more diamond arrives on the turn or the river, Chuck will be in good shape, but at the moment, he has nothing but possibilities.Dave, who held the highest hand before the flop with his pair of sevens, is now losing, because there are many high cards on the board, and players tend to call in hold'em with big cards in their hands. So even without seeing the other players' cards, Dave is pretty sure he is trailing.Hal, who held a good hand with two high cards in it before the flop, is thrilled, because he has flopped two pair. Although someone else COULD have a straight, the odds against it are long. Andy, whose hand was worse than Hal's before the flop, has improved to a terrific hand, a straight. If there were no more cards to come, Andy would win, but as it is, he must survive two more cards. He does not know that Hal has two pair or that Chuck has a flush draw. At the moment, Andy has the best possible hand, which is usually called "the nuts." Let's see how it works out.Hypothetical Betting After the FlopChuck, as the first player to the left of the button still in the game, must act first. He has two options. He can CHECK, meaning "I pass but retain the option to stay in the game if someone else bets," or he can BET, in this case, $10. Theoretically he could also fold at this point, but even if he thinks his hand is hopeless, he loses nothing by checking. He can always fold later. So Chuck looks at his promising but not yet complete hand, and decides to check, hoping that no one else will bet and that he will get a "free" chance to complete his flush. Dave is pretty sure his pair of sevens is no longer in the lead, and so he checks also, hoping that no one will bet and so that he will get a "free" chance to catch a third seven. This is not an impossible hope. Often flops containing three high cards scare everyone, even those who have made strong hands, and so the weaker hands get a shot to improve without paying for it. That won't happen here, though. Hal looks at his very strong hand and decides to bet. He could try to be tricky and check, hoping that by indicating weakness he will get other players to call his bets later, but with all the high cards on the board, as well as two diamonds, he is worried that someone else will improve to a better hand, so he bets to try to win the hand right now, or at least to make the players who are drawing "pay for the privilege." He doesn't want to give the other players a "free" card.Andy would like to lick his lips, clap his hands, and laugh, but this is poker and he knows it is important to disguise his hand's strength. He has "the nuts," at the moment. He certainly could raise, and many players in his position would raise, but he decides just to call, because his hand is so strong, he wants to lure the other players into a false sense of security, and hopefully to keep them in so he can win bets from them at the higher $20 level.Chuck, who might have hesitated at calling $20, sees that he has a fairly inexpensive chance to catch a big hand, and calls $10. Dave decides his pair of sevens is hopeless, and folds. There is now $115 in the pot. This completes the betting on the flop.Hypothetical Play After the Turn Card (4th Street) With the flop betting completed, the dealer deals the turn card, which turns out to be the Six of clubs. The board now shows Ad-Qh-10d-6c. What has this card done? Let's review the players' holdings:Chuck, in seat 3 (7d-8d) Hal, in seat 8 (As-Qd) Andy, in seat 1 (Kh-Jh)Chuck has not made his flush, although he still can do so on the river, and he has also picked up a chance to make a straight if a Nine hits on the river. He has no idea that the Nine would not help him; although it would give him a straight, Andy already has a bigger straight. So while a Nine on the river might seem like a dream card to Chuck, it would actually be a nightmare.Hal likes this Six of clubs, because it doesn't help any of the flush draws that might have been out there, and can't give anyone a straight either.Andy is even happier, because his straight is still "the nuts."Chuck is still first to act, and he checks, hoping to get a free card. Hal decides it is time to show everyone who is boss, so he bets $20. Andy thinks briefly about calling, just to suck everyone in until the river, but sees the two diamonds on the board and decides the time to act is now. He raises $20, which means that it will now cost Chuck at least $40 to draw to his flush (the $40 he faces immediately, plus the possibility that Hal will re-raise Andy). Chuck, like many poker players, can't bear to throw away a potential flush, so he calls. Hal is now a bit worried. His original $20 bet was raised and that raise was called. He probably has the best hand-Andy could be raising with something like Ace-King or, better yet, Ace-Ten, or could even be bluffing-but Andy could also have a straight, three Queens, three Tens, or even three Aces. Nonetheless, Hal decides he wants to find out what is happening now, rather than waiting. He raises again by putting $40 into the pot-the $20 Andy raised, and $20 more of his own. Andy tries to contain his delight. He raises again, knowing he holds the best hand. Perhaps Hal has the same hand as him, but no one can have a better hand, at least not yet. Chuck is now not happy at all. He knew he was trailing before the betting action started, knew that he held a "drawing hand," but had hoped to be able to make his draw inexpensively. He has only two consolations. First, the strong betting by both Hal and Andy makes it likely (although not a certainty) that neither is drawing at a flush with a hand like Kd-9d; they each probably already have some sort of "made" hand. If one or the other did hold Kd-9d, that would be a disaster for Chuck because even if he made his flush, he would lose to a higher flush. Because it appears that no one else is "drawing," Chuck can feel fairly sure that if he makes his flush, it will win. The second consolation is that if Chuck calls, he can't be raised again, because there is a limit of three raises per round (the limit is four in some casinos, but because most casinos use the three-raise limit rule, we're using that rule here). If Chuck had known it was going to cost him four big bets (one bet and three raises) when the 4th street betting began, he probably would have dropped out. As it is, he already has two big bets in the pot, which is now quite large. So he calls. Hal is now fairly sure he does not hold the best hand. He calls, though, because the pot is now quite large, and it only costs him $20 to see the last card. If the last card is an Ace or a Queen, Hal will have a full house. If the last card doesn't help, Hal can still hope that Andy has been pushing Ace-Ten, and that Chuck has been hoping to make a straight or a flush. We had $115 in the pot before the 4th street betting frenzy began, and the players have now shoved $80 each in, a total of $240 more for a pot of $355. Hypothetical Play After the River Card (5th Street) The dealer deals out the river card: the nine of spades. The board now shows: The player holdings are: Chuck, in seat 3 (7d-8d) Hal, in seat 8 (As-Qd) Andy, in seat 1 (Kh-Jh)Chuck gets excited. With a six, nine, and ten on the board, plus the seven and eight in his hand, Chuck has a straight: 6-7-8-9-10. The only way anyone can beat him is if he holds K-J. Chuck forgets how aggressive both other players have been during the hand, and just looks at how good his own hand is. He bets $20. $375 is in the pot.Hal is now VERY unhappy. Chuck has been sitting there meekly calling all hand long, and now suddenly has come out firing. He couldn't have 7-8, could he? Probably Chuck has been slow-playing a strong hand like three Tens. And there is still Andy to think about. Does he have A-10, or one of the hands Hal can't beat, like K-J, 10-10, Q-Q, or A-A? But maybe Andy will be scared by Chuck's bet too. Hal calls the $20. The pot sits at $395.Andy pauses, stares at the board is if he is trying to see how he can win, while knowing that he cannot possibly lose, only tie. Eventually he realizes that it is hard to act sad believably while raising, and goes ahead and raises, bring the pot to a total of $435.Chuck is tempted to raise again-after all, he has a straight, doesn't he? But he remembers how Andy kept raising the last time, and sees how the possible straight with 7-8 does not seem to have scared Andy. So Chuck shows some moderation and calls. Now there's $455 in the pot.Hal sighs and throws his hand away. Even though it only costs $20 to call this last bet, and even though the pot is now fairly large, Hal decides that he cannot beat BOTH Andy and Chuck. If Chuck's bet on the river was a bluff, it didn't scare Andy. If Andy's raise on the end was a bluff, it didn't scare Chuck, at least not much. Against just one player, Hal would probably call. But he is sure his hand can't beat both of them.Note that many (perhaps most) players would call in Hal's position, especially at lower limits, and that calling could easily be the right play. It depends a lot on how much Hal knows about how Andy and Chuck play. If he knows them to be loose players who bluff a lot or who overvalue their hands, calling is certainly correct. If he knows them to be very solid conservative players, folding is probably better. If Hal doesn't know much about Andy or Chuck, it is probably worth $20 more just to be sure. is very likely that Hal will lose, he would be getting excellent odds on his call. He would be risking $20 to win $455. If he has even a one in twenty-two chance of winning, his call is correct. Although it turns out that Hal has made the correct play by folding, Aces and Queens-the "top two pair"-is a fairly strong hand. Given how loose most 10-20 games are, I would say Hal's decision to fold is wrong, unless he really knows Andy and Chuck to be tight, conservative players-and if he does know that, he probably should have slowed down the betting action earlier.Andy and Chuck now turn their cards over, and Chuck sees that the "lucky" straight he made on the end cost him an extra $40. If the dealer had just turned over some worthless card, Chuck could have thrown his hand away. But instead, Chuck found himself in the worst possible position: second place. He made a straight, and now finds himself much poorer than Ed, Frank, Greg, and Iggy, all of whom just threw their hands away before the flop.The large pot goes to Andy, who started the hand in the best position (the button), and because of that position was able to call a raise when he didn't hold the best hand (pre-flop). Chuck, who started the hand in a poor position (holding a drawing hand in the big blind), lost a lot, because the hand he was drawing to wasn't "the nuts." Ideally, if you are in a hand you know you are trailing, you would like to be sure you will win if you hit your card. If not, your dream card can turn into a nightmare pretty fast… one of those classic cases of "be careful what you wish for, you might get it!" Welcome to Texas Hold'em. Official House Rules: In all disputes in which a ruling, interpretation, clarification or intervention is required, all decisions made by PlayWebPoker management are final and binding.Management has the right to close any game at any time.Management has the right to remove a player for a time period to be determined by management for a violation of a house rule.In the unlikely event of a software error which subsequently rewards a pot to the wrong player, PlayWebPoker has the right to adjust players’ account balances to correct any and all errors. 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