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Play Web Poker online texas hold'em seven card stud poker
Play online poker seven card stud, texas hold'em, on-line poker tournaments, bonus promotions
Players
will place an ante into the pot by selecting “I’m in.” Your ante will be placed
into the pot by default. You may turn off this feature under the settings menu
in the game. The dealer
always deals first to the player closest to the dealer’s left and, moving clockwise
around the table, will “deal-in” each player. The players will be dealt one
card face down, then a second card face down, AND then a third card known as
the “door card” will be dealt face up. A round of betting will occur starting
with the player with the lowest card by value and suit. This is known as the
“force” or “bring-in” bet. The player who has the bring-in bet may choose
between betting a minimum amount or a larger amount. The player with the lowest card value (ace
being high) will be the force. In the event that two or more players hold door
cards of the same rank, then the lowest suit will make the determination. Suits
are ranked, from highest to lowest alphabetically, spades, hearts, diamonds,
clubs (i.e., the two of clubs is the lowest possible card). This is the only
time suits will play a role in the game.” The dealer will burn one card off
the top of the deck and then always deals to the player closest to the dealer’s
left and, moving clockwise around the table, will deal each one card face up. A
round of betting will occur starting with the player with the highest two-card
value. This is known as “having the action.”The player having the best hand on the board
“has the action” and may make the initial bet of the round or check to the next
player. If there is a tie between players as to the best hand, then the player
closest to the dealer’s left will have the action. In fixed
limit stud (i.e., a 4-8 game, as opposed to a 1 to 5 game), if any player
displays an open pair on fourth street, that player may bet the higher amount
of the game limit normally not available until fifth street. If the
player with the action chooses to make the lower limit bet, any other player
still in the hand may choose to make either the lower limit or higher limit
raise. Once any player has made the higher limit bet, all further bets and
raises must be made at the that higher level. Players have 10 seconds to bet, check, raise
or fold. If the player does not make a choice within the allotted time, the
game will place the player all-in. The dealer will burn one card off
the top of the deck and then always deals to the player closest to the dealer’s
left and, moving clockwise around the table will deal each one card face up. A
round of betting will occur starting with the player with the highest
three-card value. Starting with fifth street, and continuing through all
further streets, all bets and raises in fixed limit games are made at the
higher limit. The dealer will burn one card off
the top of the deck and then always deals to the player closest to the dealer’s
left and, moving clockwise around the table will deal each one card face up. A
round of betting will occur starting with the player with the highest four-card
value. Almost
every poker player uses the term “the river” or “river” to describe the last
card players will receive in the game. As always, we start with a burn card.
The dealer will deal a card face down clockwise around the table. If there
are 8 players who played all the way through the sixth card and are now about
to be dealt their final card of the game, our dealer will only have one (1)
card remaining in the deck. That’s because 8 X 6 = 48 cards + the 3 burn cards
that we burned on 4th, 5th and 6th streets will be a sum of 51 cards. Our rule
in the case is as follows: In the event there may not be enough cards
remaining in the deck to deal each player a final card, the dealer will
calculate 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
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and a list of these rankings can be found at the Poker Hand Rankings link.If two or more players tie
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