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!
Showing posts with label how play poker hands. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how play poker hands. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Play Free Poker Games And Destroy Your Opponents When You Get A Big Hand
In this free online poker tips guide you will learn how to recognize and play the poker hand known as the "Big Hand".
The reason why you need to know this is you will simply learn to play poker so much better when you understand the way different hands can play out.
This can then be related to the context of play. From here you can begin to determine the motives of the other players for their actions, based on the cards that fell, your betting patterns, their player types, their chip stacks, the pot size, and many other factors.
Your objective, simply is to be able to play this type of hand with skill rather than the luck alone most players reply upon and so win loads more cash!
For our first reconstruction, this is the Big Hand.
BLINDS 1,000/2,000 - (Pot 5,400)
PREFLOP:
A has Js-9s, calls 2,000
B has Ks-Kc, raises to 14,000
A calls 12,000 (Pot 33,400)
A just initially calls, hoping that there will also be many callers because he has suited connectors and wants to get sufficient pot odds.
B, meanwhile, may interpret the call from early position as A-A or Q-Q, and because he has a big stack (the two are the biggest stacks in the table) he can afford to raise a little bit, because if the other player reraises and he thinks the other one has A-A, he can fold.
Plus, K-K is a little bit more shaky if an Ace falls on the flop, so this can work as a tester raise. A calls, he has a larger stack so he can afford the risk.
FLOP: Kh-9d-Kd
A checks
B checks (Pot 33,400)
Suddenly B has Quad Kings! A checks, because he has only a Nine, and can proceed carefully if B bets. B, hoping to conceal his unbeatable hand, checks too.
Paired boards are generally good bluffing situations. For instance, a 8-8-3 board is good for bluffing because on a, say, J-7-3 board, you'll find three cards which can pair one of them, and a bluff will be less effective.
But on the 8-8-3 board, bluffing has big benefits since there are only two cards which will conceivably help anyone, and also anyone there with a Three will be not as likely to call. (Only an Eight will do.)
However with a board with bigger cards like our Flop, B might have bet, but after that, A will be less likely to put him on a bluff (and more likely on a made hand) because he may have, say, K-10, and we play big cards more than small ones.
B doesn’t want A to back out of the pot. So B just checks.
Also, with two Diamonds B should check in the hope that A will put him on a flush draw so that if the flush doesn’t come, A will bet or raise to push B away, and B can gain extra chips.
TURN: Kh-9d-Kd-5h
A checks
B bets 20,000
A raises to 70,000
B calls 50,000 (Pot 173,400)
B still has invincible Quads, A still has Two-Pair. B could have now put A on the Nine or a draw, so B bets 20,000 so that A will call.
But since during the flop B may have represented a Diamond flush draw in A’s perspective, A raised to 70,000 so that B will move away.
B just calls, since there are two draws already, and B may want to represent one of them again so that A will attempt another bluff on the river.
RIVER: Kh-9d-Kd-5h-9h
A checks
B moves all-in 106,000 (Pot 279,300)
A folds
B still has Quads, but A is now in trouble because he has a bottom Full House. A King can kill him.
What A is hoping, though, is that B back-doored a Heart Flush and just check it along with him.
But B moves all-in. That is a very intriguing move by B. A strong player would value-bet this (sat, 40,000 on a pot of 173,400) and A can just call it.
It is OK to represent a Flush here, since the board is double-paired, which can destroy Flushes since the board is just one card off a Full House.
So what I am thinking is: B moved all-in because (1) he wanted A to think they may have the same hand or that his hand is weaker, like a Flush. B’s play on the Flop and the Turn was weak, so A might not have put B on a King but likely on the Flush draw we are talking about.
B wants a call. B now hopes that A backdoored a Flush too and also that he thinks his all-in is just a bluff, but A is in trouble due to the sudden strong play.
It was psychologically jarring.
Did B hide that King or not? A may think that better hands could come later, so he folds.
Also (2) B may not want a showdown; he did not want to show the two Kings; he wanted to trouble the minds of A and other opponents.
If they saw how he played K-K it will be added information. He wants to have them guessing.
You have to play more unpredictably in order to gain chips later than to gain chips now, but be unable to get some later. I believe this is a brilliant reason.
Concluding the Big Hand
It takes time to learn how to play poker online or offline at a level above the unthinking, uneducated "chip flinging" seen at many tables.
Yes it is mad that so many players play with so little skill, but it is also very good news for you as a player who is learning to play correctly. The reason why is that when you really learn how to play poker well you can turn mercenary and hunt them down in droves in low stakes real money games as well play free poker on line sites that pay out real money like www.NoPayPOKER.com and happily build your skills and bankroll!
As ever practice makes perfect so read, understand and learn to play hold em on the free poker sites tables to get it nailed.
The reason why you need to know this is you will simply learn to play poker so much better when you understand the way different hands can play out.
This can then be related to the context of play. From here you can begin to determine the motives of the other players for their actions, based on the cards that fell, your betting patterns, their player types, their chip stacks, the pot size, and many other factors.
Your objective, simply is to be able to play this type of hand with skill rather than the luck alone most players reply upon and so win loads more cash!
For our first reconstruction, this is the Big Hand.
BLINDS 1,000/2,000 - (Pot 5,400)
PREFLOP:
A has Js-9s, calls 2,000
B has Ks-Kc, raises to 14,000
A calls 12,000 (Pot 33,400)
A just initially calls, hoping that there will also be many callers because he has suited connectors and wants to get sufficient pot odds.
B, meanwhile, may interpret the call from early position as A-A or Q-Q, and because he has a big stack (the two are the biggest stacks in the table) he can afford to raise a little bit, because if the other player reraises and he thinks the other one has A-A, he can fold.
Plus, K-K is a little bit more shaky if an Ace falls on the flop, so this can work as a tester raise. A calls, he has a larger stack so he can afford the risk.
FLOP: Kh-9d-Kd
A checks
B checks (Pot 33,400)
Suddenly B has Quad Kings! A checks, because he has only a Nine, and can proceed carefully if B bets. B, hoping to conceal his unbeatable hand, checks too.
Paired boards are generally good bluffing situations. For instance, a 8-8-3 board is good for bluffing because on a, say, J-7-3 board, you'll find three cards which can pair one of them, and a bluff will be less effective.
But on the 8-8-3 board, bluffing has big benefits since there are only two cards which will conceivably help anyone, and also anyone there with a Three will be not as likely to call. (Only an Eight will do.)
However with a board with bigger cards like our Flop, B might have bet, but after that, A will be less likely to put him on a bluff (and more likely on a made hand) because he may have, say, K-10, and we play big cards more than small ones.
B doesn’t want A to back out of the pot. So B just checks.
Also, with two Diamonds B should check in the hope that A will put him on a flush draw so that if the flush doesn’t come, A will bet or raise to push B away, and B can gain extra chips.
TURN: Kh-9d-Kd-5h
A checks
B bets 20,000
A raises to 70,000
B calls 50,000 (Pot 173,400)
B still has invincible Quads, A still has Two-Pair. B could have now put A on the Nine or a draw, so B bets 20,000 so that A will call.
But since during the flop B may have represented a Diamond flush draw in A’s perspective, A raised to 70,000 so that B will move away.
B just calls, since there are two draws already, and B may want to represent one of them again so that A will attempt another bluff on the river.
RIVER: Kh-9d-Kd-5h-9h
A checks
B moves all-in 106,000 (Pot 279,300)
A folds
B still has Quads, but A is now in trouble because he has a bottom Full House. A King can kill him.
What A is hoping, though, is that B back-doored a Heart Flush and just check it along with him.
But B moves all-in. That is a very intriguing move by B. A strong player would value-bet this (sat, 40,000 on a pot of 173,400) and A can just call it.
It is OK to represent a Flush here, since the board is double-paired, which can destroy Flushes since the board is just one card off a Full House.
So what I am thinking is: B moved all-in because (1) he wanted A to think they may have the same hand or that his hand is weaker, like a Flush. B’s play on the Flop and the Turn was weak, so A might not have put B on a King but likely on the Flush draw we are talking about.
B wants a call. B now hopes that A backdoored a Flush too and also that he thinks his all-in is just a bluff, but A is in trouble due to the sudden strong play.
It was psychologically jarring.
Did B hide that King or not? A may think that better hands could come later, so he folds.
Also (2) B may not want a showdown; he did not want to show the two Kings; he wanted to trouble the minds of A and other opponents.
If they saw how he played K-K it will be added information. He wants to have them guessing.
You have to play more unpredictably in order to gain chips later than to gain chips now, but be unable to get some later. I believe this is a brilliant reason.
Concluding the Big Hand
It takes time to learn how to play poker online or offline at a level above the unthinking, uneducated "chip flinging" seen at many tables.
Yes it is mad that so many players play with so little skill, but it is also very good news for you as a player who is learning to play correctly. The reason why is that when you really learn how to play poker well you can turn mercenary and hunt them down in droves in low stakes real money games as well play free poker on line sites that pay out real money like www.NoPayPOKER.com and happily build your skills and bankroll!
As ever practice makes perfect so read, understand and learn to play hold em on the free poker sites tables to get it nailed.
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