Online Texas Holdem
Online poker is great. It took me years to learn what players can learn now. They spend only one year on the things I had to learn for 10 years, once said Brad Daugherty, one of the most famous poker authors and a very successful Texas Hold’em player. Online games appeared in recent years so only the new generation of poker players has the ability to play poker at any time without going to a casino.
However, the players of the “old school” enjoy online games and do not miss a chance to participate in online poker tournaments. Now you can find a great number of sites offering you online poker games. There’s severe competition between different sites so each of them tries to make some promotions, and bonus programs and hold free-roll tournaments to draw the players. There are a lot of advantages of online poker rooms. The possibility of playing at home has been already mentioned. The fact that there are almost no chances for your opponents to cheat is a very remarkable advantage. The software is usually secure and is constantly being improved.
However, there are rumors that sometimes online casinos can play dirty tricks on you. The electronic dealer has the ability to rig the deck to reward new players with better luck to keep them coming back and also of other shady dealings. But these are only gossip and no sites were caught doing it.
Texas Holdem rules
Texas Holdem is the most exciting poker game. However, the game’s rules are quite easy and can be explained in less than half-page. It goes exactly like this:
Every player’s aim in the game is to make the best five-card combination. First of all, to enter the game each player should make a bet. The first to make it is the Small Blind, the first person to the left of the button. There is a new button during each new game this position moves around the table clockwise. So, there is also a new Small Blind during every new casino game. After the small Blind bets, the Big Blind should make his contribution. Big Blind’s bet should be twice bigger as Small Blind’s.
As soon as the forced bets are made, all the other players can bet. Then everybody is dealt two cards face down. These are called hole cards and can be observed only by those who hold them. After the third betting round goes, the flop. The flop consists of three cards face-up. They can be observed and used by all players at the table and that’s why they are called community cards.
Then the fourth betting round goes and one more community card is dealt. It is called the Turn. Another betting round is done and the last community card, the River, is revealed. Then goes the last betting round and there is a showdown. The showdown is the last stage of the game when everybody opens his cards and the best hand is estimated. During the betting rounds, players can call (to make a bet, equal to the one, made by the previous player), raise (to make a bet, higher than the one, made by the previous player) and check (to make no a zero bet in case there were no bets before in this round). In No Limit games, players also have an option of going all-in, which is to put all their chips in the pot. If this bet is called, the game stops and all the remaining cards are revealed, no matter what stage it was. Players also can fold at any stage. In this case, all the player’s chips remain in the pot.
