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Posts Tagged ‘holdem’

For those that do not know the basics, here are the ways the hands and cards are ranked in poker.

Number of cards in the deck: 52.

Number of suits: 4 (Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, Clubs)

Number of cards in each suit: 13 (In order of rank; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2)

Number of cards in a poker hand: 5 (even in games where you are dealt more than 5 cards, only 5 cards count as your poker hand.)

Rank of poker hands from highest to lowest:

1. Royal Flush; (ace, king, queen, jack, ten, all the same suit.)

2. Straight Flush; (5 cards in sequence of the same suit. see “straight” below for explanation of in sequence) (The lowest ranking straight flush is the wheel-flush, ace, 2, 3, 4, 5. 5 is considered the top card, not the ace.) (if two players have a straight flush, the one with the higher top card wins.)

3. Four of a kind; 4 Kings, Queens or other cards. (Of course the higher ranked 4 of a kind wins, such as 4 kings beats 4 queens)

4. Full House; This consists of 3 of a kind, (see below) and a pair all in one hand. (example; you have 3 fours and 2 kings. That would be fours over kings, while having 3 kings and 2 fours would be kings over fours.) (If 2 players each have a full house, the better three-of-a-kind part of the hand wins. example; you have 3 eights and two aces, your opponent has 3 nines and 2 twos. Your opponent wins. Their nines beat your eights.)
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If you ever see an angry poker player carrying on and throwing a fit about a hand, you can generally assume this player has taken a bad beat. “Bad beat” is a poker term referring to having a strong dominating hand lose to a much weaker hand held by another player.

If you’ve read my previous uplifting article about bad beat jackpots, you might be excited about the possibility of experiencing a large bad beat in a brick-and-mortar casino, but most players hope they can defy the laws of the universe and never have to experience bad beat poker.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing online poker or brick-and-mortar poker, players are constantly getting frustrated and complaining about bad beats. If I had a dollar for every bad beat story I’ve heard in my life, I wouldn’t be sitting here playing a $20 online multi-table tournament; I’d be vacationing at the beach.

Generally it’s the better and more experienced players who are amazed at losing to large underdog hands. Newer players often don’t realize the odds of a bad beat poker hand like pushing all in with AdJc and miraculously beating AsKs by spiking a Jack on the river.

Experienced and educated poker players need to take a step back and realize that bad beats will always happen when playing poker. Most decent poker players always talk about how amazed they are when they experience a bad beat, and they try to claim that it always happens to them. One thing that experienced players don’t realize is that if they are constantly playing with weaker opponents and experiencing bad beats, it’s because they always have the dominating hand.
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If you’re new to the world of poker, you want to play desperately but you don’t want to look too “green” then you should probably brush up on some poker terminology. You don’t have to learn how to speak a new language to look like a pro because learning just a few terms can make a few fear you at the table!

Some of the most common terms like trips, quads or ole one eye are pretty obvious pointing to three of a kind, four of a kind and the notorious one eyed jack. When you’re looking to impress some avid poker players, brushing up on a few terms that aren’t so common will do the trick.

Let’s look at a few hands you may have and the correct terminology of portraying a big boy at the table. After all, the last thing you want to say when you see two aces in your hand is, “I have a pair” so let’s look at the terminology for pairs.

A-A= these are called “Pocket Rockets”.
K-K= these are called “Cowboys” or “Elvis Presley’s” and some times “Penn & Teller”
Q-Q= often called “The Twins”, “The Ladies”, “The Hilton’s” or “The Dirty Duo”.
J –J = sometimes Jacks are called “Jokers”, “Hooks” or “Jerky Joe’s”.

These valued cards often have some wacky names and it may seem hard to keep up with some of them but you’ll soon realize that’s not so bad compared to some others. For instance, take a look at the slang on these babies.

2-2= “Ducks” or “Deuces”
3-3= “Prom Night” or “Crabs”
6-9= “Top or Bottom”, “Delight” and “Big Lick”.
K-J= “KoJak”
A-J= “Apple Jacks” or “Apple Fritter”

The terminology listed above can help you but only to an extent.
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Getting involved in online poker games is a wonderful way of enabling you to play a great card game in the privacy of your own home. There are so many tremendous advantages to playing these poker games via the internet. First of all, it is convenient in that you do not have to drive a long distance or even short distance to a gaming facility as you will most likely only need to walk into the other room where your computer is set up. A second reason why online poker games are a great way to enjoy your card games is that the stakes may sometimes be a bit lower than if you were to proceed to gamble at a physical establishment. A third advantage of playing poker games online is that concentration is more readily available as you are not playing poker in a distracting atmosphere where other players are sitting to the left and right of you in sometimes overly close quarters. A fourth and important advantage to playing poker online is that you can play this fun game 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without ever having to leave the comfort of your own home. Lastly, as gaming tables at casino establishments can sometimes be largely filled up, by playing online poker you will ultimately eliminate the wait that often exists at gaming tables in casinos.

Convenience for the seasoned or beginner poker player is one of the many advantages of playing online poker. Even though gaming institutions are popping up in more and more places these days, it is still likely that you will have to drive a good distance to reach a casino. As a number of casinos will usually have ample parking, there will still be those instances where you will have to look around for awhile for a parking spot and sometimes even pay for your parking while you are inside the casino. By playing poker online at home you are able to completely disregard the notion of driving anywhere at all and can use your time more wisely as opposed to wasting it by driving to and from the gaming facility. Another plus with not having to drive to a gaming establishment is that you will save money on gasoline. Online poker is definitely for the convenience-lover.
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