In this poker online free learn how to play poker guide we are going to interpret some of the weird names used in poker to name the different cards hand permutations. At the end you will no longer be absolutely perplexed when trying to play poker and words such as Hockey Sticks, Robbins and Maverick (to mention just a few) are being quoted!!
First lets look at individual card names. Next come pocket cards, these are the 2 cards you get at the start of the game that only you can see, I've put these in ranked order of strength.
Pocket card hands are divided into paired (cards that are the same such as Ace-Ace) and unpaired but still playable such as Ace-King. Finally you’ll learn some of more popular and famous hands.
Depending on where you play you may hear the 13 cards used in poker called several different names. A letter or number symbol is also often used to identify the cards.
- Ace - Bullet, Rocket (A)
- King - Cowboy, Monarch (K)
- Queen - Lady, Dame, Dyke (Q)
- Jack - Knave, Hook, Fishhook, (J)
- 10 - Dime (T)
- 9 - Niner (9)
- 8 - Snowman, Fat Lady, Ocho (8)
- 7 - Hockey Stick (7)
- 6 - Boot (6)
- 5 - Spot (5)Jesse James
- 4 - Sailboat, Sharp Top, Four spot (4)
- 3 - Trey, Crab (3)
- 2 - Deuce, Duck (2)
Now when a poker game starts you're given 2 cards known as pocket cards.
Statistically about every 16 times you'll be lucky enough to get a pair with the same value, for example, 2 Kings, such pairs are called pocket pairs.
In order of "power" they are:
- AA - Pocket Rockets, Rockets, Bullets, or American Airlines
- KK - Cowboys, King Kong, Gorillas, Kangaroos, Monarchs, or Krispy Kreme
- QQ - Ladies, Hookers, or Siegfried & Roy
- JJ - Fishhooks, Hooks, Jokers, or Jay Birds
- TT - Dimes or Tension
- 99 - Gretzky, Popeye's, or Phil Hellmuth
- 88 - Snowmen, Fat Ladies, Dog Balls, or Race Tracks
- 77 - HockeySticks, SunsetStrip, or Mullets
- 66 - Route 66, Kicks, or Cherries
- 55 - Presto, Speed Limit, or Nickels
- 44 - Magnum, Sail Boats, or Middle Age
- 33 - Crabs or Treys
- 22 - Ducks, Pocket Swans, or Deuces.
While pocket pairs are great to have they just don't happen often enough to be your only playable hand option.
Unpaired pockets are what you will get 15 out of 16 or 93% of the time so you will be playing with them more often than not, not all unpaired combinations are worth playing, these ones though, in order of potential, are considered playable.
- AK - Big Slick or Walking back to Houston
- AQ - Little Slick, Big Chick, or Doyle Brunson
- AJ - Blackjack, Ajax, or Jackass
- AT - Bookend or Johnny Moss
- A5 - High Five
- A4 - Topped Four
- A3 - Ashtray or Baskin and Robbins
- A2 - Hunting Season or Acey-Deucy
- KQ - Marriage (if suited) or Mixed Marriage (if not suited)
- KJ - Kojak, King John, or Tucson Monster
- KT - Kate or Katie
- QJ - Maverick or Oedipus
- QT - Quentin Tarantino
- JT - Days of Old
- T9 - Paint Plus Connector
- 98 - Oldsmobile
- 87 - RPM
- 76 - Union Oil
- 65 - Medicare
- 54 - Jesse James or Colt.
There are loads of names for larger hand combinations and finishing hands, here are a few of the better known ones.
- KKK - Alabama Night Riders or Three Wise Men
- TTT - Thirty Miles of Bad Road
- 222 - Huey, Dewey and Louie.
- AA88Q - Dead Man's Hand
- AKQJT - Broadway
- A5432 - Wheel
- 3 of a Kind - Set (if you have a pocket pair matched by a 'community card')
- 3 of a kind - Trips (if one is in your pocket and two are 'board cards')
- Full House - Boat or All The In-Laws
- 4 of a Kind - Quads or Quad Set.
I hope this was a fun and useful article, if you are at the stage of learning the card names then I suggest when you play you play free poker online where you can learn without fear of loss.
For even more how to play poker for beginners free poker online guides and to actually play poker online for free go check out the http://www.NoPayPOKER.com free poker online blog and site. At NoPay you'll find free poker online lessons covering beginner to expert levels, and you can play poker online free totally risk free for real cash prizes.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
How To Play Poker For Beginners Help With How To Play A Poker Hand
In the second part of my learn how to play poker online free poker online course we're moving on from the basic game structure outlined in part one.
Where part 1 simply outlined how the game works, in this part you'll learn exactly what you do action by action in a real hand and at the end will be able to go play.
Now you are seated at the table and the Small Blind (SB) and Big Bling (BB) have placed their starting blind bets. Now the cards get into action. If this means nothing to you go back to How To Play Poker For Beginners part 1.
Moving clockwise around the table from the Dealer (DB), each player receives two cards dealt face down, one card at a time. These are also called Pocket Cards or hole cards.
Now the betting begins; and, after all, isn't that why you decided to take up the game of poker? Isn't that why you've entered the multi-table freeroll tournament in the first place? Isn't that betting and winning buzz thing the reason why you've joined a free poker online site?
Of course it is, the game of poker is all about winning money! Nothing more, nothing less (with the possible exception of social interaction in the chat lobby or the table's chat box).
At this point in the hand (holding 2 pocket cards), each player is betting on what hand they feel their pocket cards may lead to.
The betting starts with the player to the immediate left of the Big Blind (BB).
This player is often referred to as the 'Under The Gun' (UTG) position at the table. He's given the UTG label primarily because the Small Blind and Big Blind players were forced to put up bets prior to receiving any cards.
Thus, both the SB and BB are already participating in the hand; albeit not voluntarily, at least not yet; they'll have to wait until the betting comes around to them.
And, with this round of betting, each player has three choices:
1) To fold. You do this if you think you have rubbish cards, also called "rags" cards. You won't lose anything as you have no chips in play but you will now sit out the rest of the hand.
2) To raise. You raise if you think you've got good cards.
3) Or you can call to match the Big Blind bet. Usually when they think that their pocket cards hold some potential.
A 4th option you might have heard of, checking, often available in subsequent betting rounds, isn't a choice at this stage.
Once the betting comes round to the SB (Small Blind) if this player wants to fold then they lose their blind chips, if they have terrible pockets then this may well be the best thing to do. Or, this player can call the Big Blind (by simply putting up the difference between the Small Blind and the Big Blind). Or, this player can call whatever raise has been made, or this player can initiate a raise; or even a re-raise, aa a beginner keep it simple and either just Call the BB or fold, watch and learn othrs to see the raise, new raise and reraise in action.
Then, the Big Blind (BB) player gets to act. If there has been no raise then the BB can Check (do nothing and let the play pass by), or Call, Raise or Re-raise.
About Raises
As this is a No Limit Texas Hold Em tournament, the amount of any one raise is only limited by the number of chips the player who is doing the raising is in possession of. If say the chip stack is 1500 then the player can raise by any amount upto 1500.
If the player uses all the chips then this is the infamous All In bet. It's always an all-in bet any time a player raises by the total amount of chips he currently holds.
And, of paramount importance, especially since you're at the how to play poker online level of the game, make certain that YOUR use of an All-In bet is the minimum.
Please do not become yet another free online poker 'chip-flinger' (someone who tosses chips around without regard to the quality of their cards).
Once the opening round of betting is completed it's time to see 'The Flop'. Things will now start to get really interesting!
The Flop is the set of three cards that are dealt face up in the center of the table by the Dealer.
1) Each player may use these community cards' to build their hand. Be sure you read up on what card hands beat what so you have an idea of what you can build!
2) Again, as here-to-fore mentioned, the center of the table where these cards are dealt is typically referred to as 'The Board'.
3) With 'The Flop' exposed, it's time for another round of betting. And, the betting that will occur is based on the 5 cards currently available to each player, i.e., 2 Pocket cards and 3 Board' cards.
The betting commences with the player to the immediate left of the Dealer Button, regardless of whether the Dealer is still active in the hand or not.
The player to the left of the Dealer Button will keep the initial betting action for the rest of the hand. Later, you'll come to learn that this is the worst position to be in at the table.
Apart from that, the betting process is the same as it was in 'pre-flop' betting. However, bear in mind, all of the players who were dealt 'Pocket' cards may not be currently playing the hand as they could have folded during the opening round of betting.
So, whichever remaining player is 'to the immediate left' of the Dealer Button (DB), it is that person who is the first player to act; through the hand providing he doesn't fold.
He is able to check or bet.
A) If he checks, he's simply passing the options of checking or betting to the player who sits to his left.
B) If he doesn't check, and decides to bet, then those that follow will have 3 choices:
1) They can fold
2) They can call
3) Or they can raise. But, since a bet was made, those that follow do not have the option of 'checking'.
Once the round of betting has finished, it's time for another card to be dealt face up on The Board.
This fourth card is called The Turn card, or 4th Street, and, again, the card may be used by all of the remaining players (those players who have not folded). It's another 'community card'.
Thus, each remaining player now has access to 6 cards, 4 Board cards, and 2 Pocket cards. There are 4 cards on The Board, one additional card to come.
It is now time for the fifth and final community card to be dealt: The River, or 5th Street.
And, seeing as all the cards have now been dealt, each player remaining in the hand can see what their best five card hand is. Therefore, it's now time for the final round of betting. And, when the betting ends, the hand is over.
It's time to see who wins.
Each player who has remained in the hand shows their cards, starting with the last person to initiate a bet. At a cash or free online poker site the software will handle the process of showing the cards.
The winner is decided via use of the universal poker hand rankings. You'll find that in subsequent chapter; entitled 'What Beats What'.
If a player wins a pot because every other player has folded, he can decide whether to show his cards or not.
The majority of people don't, and it's typically advised by me to never show your cards. If you're not required to do so; keep 'em guessing!
Yet, when you reach an 'advanced level' of play, you will get an entirely different perspective from me. You see, there are times when 'deceitful strategies' will be added to your acquired set of playing skills. And, a part of the 'deceitful strategies' will have you showing your cards. Not now though.
Summing up How To Play Poker For Beginners Free Online Poker Rules Part 2
In part 1 you learned the bare bones of poker, the structure and concepts of the game. Now that you've read part 2 you ought to now understand the actual mechanics of a hand of poker. In part 3 we will move on to more poker words and terminology, all those crazy card and hand nicknames will be unveiled! But as long as you've understood the first 2 parts now you can go and start to play poker. It's a very good idea though to firstly read and print off a sheet on what card hands beat what! Then you will have some sort of idea whether you should fold, call, raise or check!
At this stage I strongly urge you not to try and play on sites where real cash is involved, you can expect to lose all or most of it 99% certain!
Have patience (by the way that is a key poker skill you must master) and begin out on one of the excellent free poker sites you will find online. Later when you're more skilled there is plenty of time for you to win plenty of cash and the time spent playing free online poker will set you up for this.
Nick runs marketing for leading free poker online site NoPayPOKER.com. NoPayPOKER.com uses a virtual currency, FreeD which makes the poker games totally risk free, this makes NoPay the ideal place to how to play poker online. More experienced players also like it as it's a great place to try new ideas and stategies out, plus the fact that the FreeD can be swapped for real Dollars is a nice touch too!
Where part 1 simply outlined how the game works, in this part you'll learn exactly what you do action by action in a real hand and at the end will be able to go play.
Now you are seated at the table and the Small Blind (SB) and Big Bling (BB) have placed their starting blind bets. Now the cards get into action. If this means nothing to you go back to How To Play Poker For Beginners part 1.
Moving clockwise around the table from the Dealer (DB), each player receives two cards dealt face down, one card at a time. These are also called Pocket Cards or hole cards.
Now the betting begins; and, after all, isn't that why you decided to take up the game of poker? Isn't that why you've entered the multi-table freeroll tournament in the first place? Isn't that betting and winning buzz thing the reason why you've joined a free poker online site?
Of course it is, the game of poker is all about winning money! Nothing more, nothing less (with the possible exception of social interaction in the chat lobby or the table's chat box).
At this point in the hand (holding 2 pocket cards), each player is betting on what hand they feel their pocket cards may lead to.
The betting starts with the player to the immediate left of the Big Blind (BB).
This player is often referred to as the 'Under The Gun' (UTG) position at the table. He's given the UTG label primarily because the Small Blind and Big Blind players were forced to put up bets prior to receiving any cards.
Thus, both the SB and BB are already participating in the hand; albeit not voluntarily, at least not yet; they'll have to wait until the betting comes around to them.
And, with this round of betting, each player has three choices:
1) To fold. You do this if you think you have rubbish cards, also called "rags" cards. You won't lose anything as you have no chips in play but you will now sit out the rest of the hand.
2) To raise. You raise if you think you've got good cards.
3) Or you can call to match the Big Blind bet. Usually when they think that their pocket cards hold some potential.
A 4th option you might have heard of, checking, often available in subsequent betting rounds, isn't a choice at this stage.
Once the betting comes round to the SB (Small Blind) if this player wants to fold then they lose their blind chips, if they have terrible pockets then this may well be the best thing to do. Or, this player can call the Big Blind (by simply putting up the difference between the Small Blind and the Big Blind). Or, this player can call whatever raise has been made, or this player can initiate a raise; or even a re-raise, aa a beginner keep it simple and either just Call the BB or fold, watch and learn othrs to see the raise, new raise and reraise in action.
Then, the Big Blind (BB) player gets to act. If there has been no raise then the BB can Check (do nothing and let the play pass by), or Call, Raise or Re-raise.
About Raises
As this is a No Limit Texas Hold Em tournament, the amount of any one raise is only limited by the number of chips the player who is doing the raising is in possession of. If say the chip stack is 1500 then the player can raise by any amount upto 1500.
If the player uses all the chips then this is the infamous All In bet. It's always an all-in bet any time a player raises by the total amount of chips he currently holds.
And, of paramount importance, especially since you're at the how to play poker online level of the game, make certain that YOUR use of an All-In bet is the minimum.
Please do not become yet another free online poker 'chip-flinger' (someone who tosses chips around without regard to the quality of their cards).
Once the opening round of betting is completed it's time to see 'The Flop'. Things will now start to get really interesting!
The Flop is the set of three cards that are dealt face up in the center of the table by the Dealer.
1) Each player may use these community cards' to build their hand. Be sure you read up on what card hands beat what so you have an idea of what you can build!
2) Again, as here-to-fore mentioned, the center of the table where these cards are dealt is typically referred to as 'The Board'.
3) With 'The Flop' exposed, it's time for another round of betting. And, the betting that will occur is based on the 5 cards currently available to each player, i.e., 2 Pocket cards and 3 Board' cards.
The betting commences with the player to the immediate left of the Dealer Button, regardless of whether the Dealer is still active in the hand or not.
The player to the left of the Dealer Button will keep the initial betting action for the rest of the hand. Later, you'll come to learn that this is the worst position to be in at the table.
Apart from that, the betting process is the same as it was in 'pre-flop' betting. However, bear in mind, all of the players who were dealt 'Pocket' cards may not be currently playing the hand as they could have folded during the opening round of betting.
So, whichever remaining player is 'to the immediate left' of the Dealer Button (DB), it is that person who is the first player to act; through the hand providing he doesn't fold.
He is able to check or bet.
A) If he checks, he's simply passing the options of checking or betting to the player who sits to his left.
B) If he doesn't check, and decides to bet, then those that follow will have 3 choices:
1) They can fold
2) They can call
3) Or they can raise. But, since a bet was made, those that follow do not have the option of 'checking'.
Once the round of betting has finished, it's time for another card to be dealt face up on The Board.
This fourth card is called The Turn card, or 4th Street, and, again, the card may be used by all of the remaining players (those players who have not folded). It's another 'community card'.
Thus, each remaining player now has access to 6 cards, 4 Board cards, and 2 Pocket cards. There are 4 cards on The Board, one additional card to come.
It is now time for the fifth and final community card to be dealt: The River, or 5th Street.
And, seeing as all the cards have now been dealt, each player remaining in the hand can see what their best five card hand is. Therefore, it's now time for the final round of betting. And, when the betting ends, the hand is over.
It's time to see who wins.
Each player who has remained in the hand shows their cards, starting with the last person to initiate a bet. At a cash or free online poker site the software will handle the process of showing the cards.
The winner is decided via use of the universal poker hand rankings. You'll find that in subsequent chapter; entitled 'What Beats What'.
If a player wins a pot because every other player has folded, he can decide whether to show his cards or not.
The majority of people don't, and it's typically advised by me to never show your cards. If you're not required to do so; keep 'em guessing!
Yet, when you reach an 'advanced level' of play, you will get an entirely different perspective from me. You see, there are times when 'deceitful strategies' will be added to your acquired set of playing skills. And, a part of the 'deceitful strategies' will have you showing your cards. Not now though.
Summing up How To Play Poker For Beginners Free Online Poker Rules Part 2
In part 1 you learned the bare bones of poker, the structure and concepts of the game. Now that you've read part 2 you ought to now understand the actual mechanics of a hand of poker. In part 3 we will move on to more poker words and terminology, all those crazy card and hand nicknames will be unveiled! But as long as you've understood the first 2 parts now you can go and start to play poker. It's a very good idea though to firstly read and print off a sheet on what card hands beat what! Then you will have some sort of idea whether you should fold, call, raise or check!
At this stage I strongly urge you not to try and play on sites where real cash is involved, you can expect to lose all or most of it 99% certain!
Have patience (by the way that is a key poker skill you must master) and begin out on one of the excellent free poker sites you will find online. Later when you're more skilled there is plenty of time for you to win plenty of cash and the time spent playing free online poker will set you up for this.
Nick runs marketing for leading free poker online site NoPayPOKER.com. NoPayPOKER.com uses a virtual currency, FreeD which makes the poker games totally risk free, this makes NoPay the ideal place to how to play poker online. More experienced players also like it as it's a great place to try new ideas and stategies out, plus the fact that the FreeD can be swapped for real Dollars is a nice touch too!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Free Online Poker Guide To Basic Poker Rules
In this learn how to play poker for beginners lesson you will learn the basic rules of poker. I know that at first look poker seems incredibly complicated but good news, it's not. We'll start by using free online poker tournament freerolls as the example, you should start with this type of game so they are the perfect example.
free online poker tournaments can have anywhere from 20 to 250 players at the start, and, more good news for you, the the quality of the competition you'll come up against in these games is far from, shall we say, "elevated"; the vast majority of free online poker players exist in a world dominated by relatively average play.
So, to start, you login to your free online poker site and go join a game. Each tournament has multiple tables of 10 players each. You can divide the number of players by 10, and you'll know how many tables are a part of the tournament. You round up to eliminate the decimal point, if any; e.g., 68 players divided by 10, equals 6.8, rounded up, means there are 7 tables in the tournament.
Now the online poker software of the site you play at will seat you at a randomly selected table and seat. There are loads of games running daily round the clock on good free online poker sites so don't worry about your success (or lack of!) initially, there are always more games to enter.
Who Wins and How?
Fundamentally, the winner of any 1 hand will be the player who has the best cards.
The outline of the game process is this:
You take your seat and the game starts. The software selects the "Dealer Button" (DB) and the "Blind" players make their blind bets (don't worry this is covered below!)
The games first action is to give 2 cards to each player that only the player can see, these are called pocket cards. Next there is a round of blind betting, it's called blind as there is no way to guess or infer what cards other players have, no more than 3 raises to the first blind bet are allowed which is a rule that remains so in future rounds.
After the first round of betting is done the dealer lays 3 cards on the table for all to see. These are called community cards, and can be used by all of the players who are participating in the hand.
At this point, another round of betting occurs.
Then the Dealer will add another card to the community cards; there are now 4 cards that can be used by all of the players who remain in the hand.
This is followed by another round of betting.
Last, the Dealer will add a 5th card to the community cards. Again followed by another round of betting.
Now lets look at this in more detail:
The first two cards you get that only yoiu can see are called Pocket Cards or just Pockets for short. They are dealt out, one at a time, left to right, to everyone at the table. You only see your own pocket cards.
The Dealer then exposes 3 "community cards" to all players on the table. This stage is known as "The Flop".
When he exposes the 4th "community card", it's known as "The Turn" (or, 4th Street).
And, when he exposes the 5th "community card", it's known as "The River" (or, 5th Street).
All 3 to 5 "community cards" that are exposed on the poker table at any one time are known as "The Board".
Every player who is participating in the hand through the process of betting (if you "folded", you're no longer in the hand), attempts to make the best possible five-card hand.
They can use any 5 of the 7 cards that are available to them; one, both, or none of their pocket cards, together with 3, 4, or 5 of the "community cards".
The player with the best 5 card hand wins all of the money that has been bet (The Pot).
The "Dealer Button" is involved in every hand to be played. One of the game's participants gets the Dealer Button (DB); the selection of the player who first receives the DB is done by the free online poker software.
If you are playing at a live game such as in a casino then the DB is a round disc, normally with a D printed on it. At a paid or free online poker site, the software will automatically place a symbol of sorts on your PC screen to identify the DB.
And, the position of the Dealer Button on the poker table is important since the 2 players to the left of the DB are forced to place the blind bets.
The DB is the best position to have and blind the worst, no something to worry about now, the NoPayPOKER.com intermediate level article series Building A Bankroll goes into great depth on this subject. However everyone gets a go as the DB moves to the next player to the left after each hand round so everyone will get the best and worst places during a game.
Blind Bets? What are they?
This is how the game starts.
The player to the immediate left of the Dealer Button (DB) is compelled to put up the Small Blind (SB).
The player to the immediate left of the Small Blind (SB) is compelled to put up the Big Blind (BB).
These "blind bets" are placed in the pot, in front of the dealer. This essentially kickstarts the betting, and, it"s all done before anyone has gotten any cards!
This, for the lack of any other rational reason, means that the winner of the hand that's about to be played, will, at a minimum, collect the small amount of money that has been "forced" into the pot by the blind bets.
In a multi-table freeroll, or any No Limit free online poker tournament game, the size of the Small Blind (SB) and the size of the Big Blind (BB) are very low at the start of the game. And, every player in the game begins the game with the same amount of free online poker faux-money; or, for practical purposes, poker chips.
Usually, in 15 minute intervals, the size of the "blinds" increase.
As an example, if the beginning "blinds" were $10 (SB) and $20 (BB), within 15 minutes the "blinds" would change to $20 (SB) and $40 (BB).
And, thereafter, as the game progresses, the "blinds" continue to go up every 15 minutes.
In the end, at the final table in a tournament (the last remaining 10 players), the "blinds" could easily reach the point of being $2,000 (SB) and $4,000 (BB).
Now don't be alarmed, the dollar amounts tied to the Small Blinds (SB) and Big Blinds (BB) in the preceding paragraph, during all freeroll games played on free online poker sites are "fictional" amounts of money. It's not real money. It's merely a "tournament representation" of money; it's free online poker faux-money, they're poker chips, not real dollars.
This is one reason why it is a very good idea to learn to play poker as a beginner on free poker sites, it can get very expensive very quickly if you start on a real money site!
Winning and Money
The good news with a poker tournament is that the 1st place player doesn't take all the money. Yes, the absolute winner does get a lions share but other players do get a cut too. How many players and how much is determined by the number of players who enter and the size of the pot. You an find out this information before the game starts.
As the game progresses players are knocked out and tables amalgamate. At some point only those who will share the money are left. If you are still in at this stage then you are now "in the money" or "in the bubble" as it is also commonly called.
When just 10 players are left you will be on the "Final Table", typically to win any decent amount you need to be here even in very large poker tournament though places lower than this can often at least pay back your cost of joining the game if it is a buy in game.
Right at the end with just 2 players left you will be "head to head"...but that is a story for another day!
Summing up How To Play Poker For Beginners Part 1
In this stage we looked at basic game processes. In part 2 we'll get into more detail on the stages described and look at what you actually physically do and consider some essential basic free online poker strategy.
Nick is from top free online poker site NoPayPOKER.com. NoPayPOKER.com uses a virtual currency, FreeD which makes the poker games totally risk free, this makes NoPay the ideal place to learn how to play poker for beginners. More experienced players also like it as it's a great place to try new ideas and stategies out, plus the fact that the FreeD can be swapped for real Dollars is a nice touch too!
free online poker tournaments can have anywhere from 20 to 250 players at the start, and, more good news for you, the the quality of the competition you'll come up against in these games is far from, shall we say, "elevated"; the vast majority of free online poker players exist in a world dominated by relatively average play.
So, to start, you login to your free online poker site and go join a game. Each tournament has multiple tables of 10 players each. You can divide the number of players by 10, and you'll know how many tables are a part of the tournament. You round up to eliminate the decimal point, if any; e.g., 68 players divided by 10, equals 6.8, rounded up, means there are 7 tables in the tournament.
Now the online poker software of the site you play at will seat you at a randomly selected table and seat. There are loads of games running daily round the clock on good free online poker sites so don't worry about your success (or lack of!) initially, there are always more games to enter.
Who Wins and How?
Fundamentally, the winner of any 1 hand will be the player who has the best cards.
The outline of the game process is this:
You take your seat and the game starts. The software selects the "Dealer Button" (DB) and the "Blind" players make their blind bets (don't worry this is covered below!)
The games first action is to give 2 cards to each player that only the player can see, these are called pocket cards. Next there is a round of blind betting, it's called blind as there is no way to guess or infer what cards other players have, no more than 3 raises to the first blind bet are allowed which is a rule that remains so in future rounds.
After the first round of betting is done the dealer lays 3 cards on the table for all to see. These are called community cards, and can be used by all of the players who are participating in the hand.
At this point, another round of betting occurs.
Then the Dealer will add another card to the community cards; there are now 4 cards that can be used by all of the players who remain in the hand.
This is followed by another round of betting.
Last, the Dealer will add a 5th card to the community cards. Again followed by another round of betting.
Now lets look at this in more detail:
The first two cards you get that only yoiu can see are called Pocket Cards or just Pockets for short. They are dealt out, one at a time, left to right, to everyone at the table. You only see your own pocket cards.
The Dealer then exposes 3 "community cards" to all players on the table. This stage is known as "The Flop".
When he exposes the 4th "community card", it's known as "The Turn" (or, 4th Street).
And, when he exposes the 5th "community card", it's known as "The River" (or, 5th Street).
All 3 to 5 "community cards" that are exposed on the poker table at any one time are known as "The Board".
Every player who is participating in the hand through the process of betting (if you "folded", you're no longer in the hand), attempts to make the best possible five-card hand.
They can use any 5 of the 7 cards that are available to them; one, both, or none of their pocket cards, together with 3, 4, or 5 of the "community cards".
The player with the best 5 card hand wins all of the money that has been bet (The Pot).
The "Dealer Button" is involved in every hand to be played. One of the game's participants gets the Dealer Button (DB); the selection of the player who first receives the DB is done by the free online poker software.
If you are playing at a live game such as in a casino then the DB is a round disc, normally with a D printed on it. At a paid or free online poker site, the software will automatically place a symbol of sorts on your PC screen to identify the DB.
And, the position of the Dealer Button on the poker table is important since the 2 players to the left of the DB are forced to place the blind bets.
The DB is the best position to have and blind the worst, no something to worry about now, the NoPayPOKER.com intermediate level article series Building A Bankroll goes into great depth on this subject. However everyone gets a go as the DB moves to the next player to the left after each hand round so everyone will get the best and worst places during a game.
Blind Bets? What are they?
This is how the game starts.
The player to the immediate left of the Dealer Button (DB) is compelled to put up the Small Blind (SB).
The player to the immediate left of the Small Blind (SB) is compelled to put up the Big Blind (BB).
These "blind bets" are placed in the pot, in front of the dealer. This essentially kickstarts the betting, and, it"s all done before anyone has gotten any cards!
This, for the lack of any other rational reason, means that the winner of the hand that's about to be played, will, at a minimum, collect the small amount of money that has been "forced" into the pot by the blind bets.
In a multi-table freeroll, or any No Limit free online poker tournament game, the size of the Small Blind (SB) and the size of the Big Blind (BB) are very low at the start of the game. And, every player in the game begins the game with the same amount of free online poker faux-money; or, for practical purposes, poker chips.
Usually, in 15 minute intervals, the size of the "blinds" increase.
As an example, if the beginning "blinds" were $10 (SB) and $20 (BB), within 15 minutes the "blinds" would change to $20 (SB) and $40 (BB).
And, thereafter, as the game progresses, the "blinds" continue to go up every 15 minutes.
In the end, at the final table in a tournament (the last remaining 10 players), the "blinds" could easily reach the point of being $2,000 (SB) and $4,000 (BB).
Now don't be alarmed, the dollar amounts tied to the Small Blinds (SB) and Big Blinds (BB) in the preceding paragraph, during all freeroll games played on free online poker sites are "fictional" amounts of money. It's not real money. It's merely a "tournament representation" of money; it's free online poker faux-money, they're poker chips, not real dollars.
This is one reason why it is a very good idea to learn to play poker as a beginner on free poker sites, it can get very expensive very quickly if you start on a real money site!
Winning and Money
The good news with a poker tournament is that the 1st place player doesn't take all the money. Yes, the absolute winner does get a lions share but other players do get a cut too. How many players and how much is determined by the number of players who enter and the size of the pot. You an find out this information before the game starts.
As the game progresses players are knocked out and tables amalgamate. At some point only those who will share the money are left. If you are still in at this stage then you are now "in the money" or "in the bubble" as it is also commonly called.
When just 10 players are left you will be on the "Final Table", typically to win any decent amount you need to be here even in very large poker tournament though places lower than this can often at least pay back your cost of joining the game if it is a buy in game.
Right at the end with just 2 players left you will be "head to head"...but that is a story for another day!
Summing up How To Play Poker For Beginners Part 1
In this stage we looked at basic game processes. In part 2 we'll get into more detail on the stages described and look at what you actually physically do and consider some essential basic free online poker strategy.
Nick is from top free online poker site NoPayPOKER.com. NoPayPOKER.com uses a virtual currency, FreeD which makes the poker games totally risk free, this makes NoPay the ideal place to learn how to play poker for beginners. More experienced players also like it as it's a great place to try new ideas and stategies out, plus the fact that the FreeD can be swapped for real Dollars is a nice touch too!
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