Speaking of moving on, let me give you a quick explanation of how to play Hold ‘em poker. While each poker room may have some slight variations (and you should thoroughly read the rules at whichever poker room you visit), generally it goes like this:
Any number from 2 to 10 players may be at the table.
Although the casino deals the cards, the “dealer” for each round of play is designated by a button, marked “dealer” and that person will act last.
Before any cards are dealt, the player to the immediate left of the dealer must post a bet called the “small blind”, which is typically one-half of the minimum bet for the game ($5 in a 10/20 game, for example).
The player to the immediate left of the “small blind” also must post a bet. It is typically equal to the minimum bet for the game ($10 in a 10/20 game, for example). This is called the “big blind.”
The two players making the blind bets, all of the other players and the dealer are then dealt two cards face down, which are called “hole” or “pocket” cards.
The player to the immediate left of the big blind begins the general betting by either folding (at no cost), calling (matching the $10 “big blind” bet), or raising the big blind’s bet ($10 in a 10/20 game, for example). If this player folds, all of the others must all either fold, raise or call. There are no “free rides” to the next card.
The betting action continues around the table, clockwise, until it reaches the player who made the small blind bet. That player may, at his option, fold (thus forfeiting the bet), call or raise (assuming the raising limit hasn’t been reached; usually 3 or 4 raises are the limit). If the decision is to call, this player receives credit for the small blind bet that he or she placed, so in a 10/20 game where no other player has raised, the small blind may call for $5 or raise for $15.
It’s now time for the player that made the big blind bet to act and his or her situation is just like that of the small blind; only the bet sizes are different. If no one has raised, then the big blind can just “check” to be in the pot. However, the big blind may choose to fold because there was a raise, thus forfeiting the bet, or raise, (assuming the raising limit hasn’t been reached) by betting an additional increment ($10 in a 10/20 game, for example). All of the bets are then pulled to the center of the table by the casino’s dealer and, in the case of Internet poker, a “pot” total is displayed.
When this “pre-flop” betting is completed, three community cards are dealt and turned face up in the center of the table. These cards, called the “flop” are community cards, in the sense that all the players still in the game may use them in combination with their two pocket cards to make the best hand possible. The general betting at this point is begun by the player that made the small blind bet and he or she may check, fold (foolish, because checking costs nothing at this point) or bet. If this player bets, it’s for the minimum amount of the game ($10, for example in a 10/20 limit game). The play now proceeds clockwise around the table to the player who made the big blind bet and he or she must either check (only if the small blind checked), call, raise or fold and that’s true of every other player. The two players “in the blind” must call any raises to stay in the pot or they must fold.
Once the flop bets are all made, they’re pulled to the center of the table and another community card is dealt. This card is known as the “turn” or fourth street card. It’s placed face up in the center of the table, next to the flop and is available for the use of all the players remaining. Then, another round of betting begins with the first remaining player on the dealer’s left, which may or may not be the player who made the small blind bet. On this round if that player wishes to bet, it must be for the maximum bet in a limit game ($20 in a 10/20 game, for example), although he may check, if desired. If the player does not check, the other remaining players must either call, raise or fold to stay in the pot. Again, the betting goes in order around the table, all of the bets are pulled to the center and a fifth card, known as the river or fifth street card is placed face up in the center of the table, next to the others.
When the river card, which is the last to be dealt for a round has been placed, the fourth and final round of betting begins with the first player to the left of the dealer. This player may check or bet, as desired. If he decides to bet, it must be for the maximum bet ($20 in a 10/20 limit game). Should this player check, then all others may check until someone bets. If a player does bet, then all the players that checked must either call, raise or fold. I emphasize this because a lot of “newbies” to the game will fold when the bet has been checked to them and that’s a big mistake, because checking is free. No matter how bad your hand may be, you can always fold it if someone acting after you bets or raises, but you just might check yourself into a winner.
After the betting has been completed, it’s time for the “showdown” and this is where the Internet casinos have a huge advantage over the brick-and-mortar casinos. Because you may use any 5 of the 7 cards you’ve seen (your 2 pocket cards and the 5 community cards) to make your final hand, it sometimes is confusing as to what the best hand is. At a brick-and-mortar casino, you may display your hole cards to the dealer and he or she will figure out where you stand, but that also gives your opponents a lot of valuable information that they can use against you: do you draw to inside Straights, did you raise with a weak hand and so forth. Plus, you might look downright stupid showing a four-card flush that you thought was a winner, but that won’t happen at an Internet poker room because the computer already knows where you stand. If you’ve lost, most of the software programs will tell you so and you can “muck” the hand without showing your hole cards, plus – and I guarantee this will happen one fine day – if you have a winner that you thought was a loser, the computer will tell you that, too. There’s no doubt in my mind that players who are new to the game throw away hole cards that are actually winners because they’re too embarrased to ask for help. This happens a lot with hands that have multiple winners, such as when the 5 community cards make a Full House or Straight Flush. That simply cannot happen in an Internet poker room, assuming you’ve stayed in until the showdown, of course. However, one thing the computer can’t do for you is give you back the cards once you’ve folded your hand.
Following the showdown, the chips are distributed to the winner(s), the deck is shuffled, the dealer “button” is moved one player to the left, blind bets are placed, the pocket cards are dealt and it starts all over again. Hopefully this made the procedures of the game a little more clear to you, but it’s really just the tip of the iceberg.
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In poker, a “live” game played with “real” chips and money, usually with no predetermined end time. Players may freely buy into or cash out of a ring game between hands.
In “no limit” poker ring games, there is normally a maximum buy-in for ring games that prevents players from buying a chip stack size advantage. In limit poker games, there is seldom a maximum buy-in because betting limits on each hand already limit the advantage of having a larger chip stack.
Contrast this to a poker tournament, which is played with tournament chips (worth nothing outside the tournament) with a definite end condition (usually, only one player left).
In a casino, rake is usually taken from a pot if the player is in a hand while a flop is shown.
In the card game Poker the buck or button is a marker used to indicate the player who is the dealer or, in casino games with a house dealer, the player who acts last on that deal (who would be the dealer in a home game).
When Poker became a popular saloon game in the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century the integrity of the players was unreliable and the honor codes that had regulated gambling for centuries became inadequate. Because the dealer has the greatest opportunity to cheat (by manipulating the specific cards that players receive and by seeing the faces of the dealt cards) the players took turns in this role. To avoid arguments about whose turn it was to deal, the person who was next due to deal would be given a marker. A knife was a common object used as such a marker, and the marker became generally known as a buck as an abbreviated reference to the buck’s horn that formed the handle of many knives at that time.
When the dealer had finished dealing the cards he ‘passes the buck’. According to Martin, the earliest use of the phrase in print is in the July 1865 edition of Weekly New Mexican: “They draw at the commissary, and at poker after they have passed the buck.”. The phrase then appears frequently in many sources so it probably originated at about this time.
The use of other small disks as such markers led to the alternative term “button”. Silver dollars were later used as markers and it has been suggested that this is the origin of “buck” as a slang term for “dollar,” though by no means is there universal agreement on this subject.
US president Harry S. Truman’s use of the slogan “the buck stops here” in speeches, and on a sign on his desk, derives from the adoption of the phrase “passing the buck” as a metaphor for avoiding responsibility.
In the game of poker, the term cards speak (“for themselves”) is used in two contexts:
First, it is used to describe a High-low split game without a declaration. That is, in a cards speak game, players all reveal their hands at the showdown, and whoever has the highest hand wins the high half of the pot and whoever has the lowest hand wins the low half.
The other context is a key rule in casino poker rooms. “Cards speak” means that any verbal declaration as to the content of a player’s hand is not binding. If Mary says she has no pair, but in fact she has a flush, her cards speak and her hand is viewed for its genuine value, that of a flush. Likewise if John says he has a flush, but in fact he does not, his hand is judged on its actual merits, not his verbal declaration. At the discretion of management, any player miscalling his hand may have that hand fouled, but this is not required.
The “cards speak” rule does not address the awarding of a pot, player responsibilities, or the one player to a hand rule. It merely means that verbal statements do not make a hand value. The cards do.
Casino poker chips are special tokens representing a fixed amount of money. Especially in cardrooms and casinos, poker chips are also known as checks.
Construction and design
Poker chips are fabricated with complicated graphics and edge spot patterns intending to make them difficult to counterfeit. The process used to make these chips is a trade secret and expensive – typically done on high pressure compression molding machines.
The typical material of construction is not clay as is sometimes believed, but a ceramic material with clay added for texture and weight. The breakable, clay chips of the 1960s and 1970s are no longer manufactured. The clay composition of modern chips varies by manufacturer, and is typically very slight (1-10%).
The chips used in American Casinos generally weigh between 9.5 grams and 10 grams each. The chips sold for home use vary much more, depending on manufacturer and construction.
Common designs for home use depict the six faces of a dice or the suit symbols around the edge of the chip. They are typically manufactured with injection molding technology using ABS plastic. Some chips are molded around a small metal disc, called a slug, for weight.
Cigar Aficionado article on Collecting Chips includes more on their manufacture;[1]
A set of injection molded ABS poker chips “hot-stamped” with denominations 100, 50, 25 & 10
Colors
The most common colors used at United States casinos to differentiate between chip denominations are:
White or blue, $1
Pink, $2.50
Red, $5
Blue, $10
Green, $25
Black, $100
Purple, $500
$2.50 chips are almost exclusively used for blackjack tables, since a natural typically pays 3:2 and most wagers are in increments of $5. However, the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey has used pink chips in $7.50-$15 and $10-$20 poker games. Low-denomination yellow chips can vary in value: $20 by statute in Atlantic City and Illinois (which, oddly, also uses “mustard yellow” $0.50 chips [2]); $5 at most Southern California poker rooms; $2 at Foxwoods’ poker room in Ledyard, Connecticut and at Casino del Sol in Tucson, Arizona; and $0.50 at Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Blue chips are occasionally used for $10, most notably by statute in Atlantic City. In Las Vegas and California, most casinos use blue or gray for $1 chips.
Chips are commonly available in $1000 denominations, depending on the wagering limits of the casino in question. Such chips are often yellow or orange and of a large size. Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and other areas which permit high wagers typically have chips available in $5000, $10000, $25000, and higher denominations; the colors for these vary wildly.
European casinos use a similar scheme, though certain venues (such as Aviation Club de France) use pink for €2 and blue for €10. European casinos also use plaques rather than chips for high denominations (usually in the €1000 and higher range).
Casino-style chips can be bought for home games, but the price is approximately $1 per chip.
Generic poker chip sets can be bought at a much lower price, less than $0.20 per chip. These simulate the weight and feel of casino chips, but are of a very inferior quality.
A standard 300 piece set of ABS plastic chips
Security
Each casino has a unique set of chips, even if the casino is part of a larger company. This distinguishes a casino’s chips from others, since each chip and token on the gaming floor has to be backed up with the appropriate amount of cash. In addition, with the exception of Nevada, casinos are not permitted to honor another casino’s chips.
The security features of casino chips are numerous. Artwork is of a very high resolution or of photographic quality. Custom color combinations on the chip edge (edge spots) are usually distinctive to a particular casino. Certain chips incorporate RFID technology, such as those at the new Wynn Casino in Las Vegas.
Counterfeit chips are rare. High levels of surveillance, along with staff familiarity with chip design and coloring, make passing fake chips difficult. Casinos, though, are prepared for this situation. According to wizardofodds.com, on one such occasion, the casino removed all chips from the gaming floor and replaced them with new sets with alternative markings, which resulted in the arrest of the attempted counterfeiters.
Casino chips used in tournaments are usually much cheaper and much simpler in design. Because the chips have no cash value, usually chips are designed with a single color (usually differing in shade or tone from the version on the casino floor), a smaller diameter, and a basic mark on the interior to distinguish denominations; however, at certain events (such as the World Series of Poker or other televised poker), chips approach quality levels of chips on the floor.
Authentic clay chip manufactured by Blue Chip Co for home use
People can play poker at public cardrooms. While the rules of the tables can change from casino to casino, most have similar rules and regulations.
Records
Some casinos keep records of the players at each table. This is done to help manage limited table space. During peak periods (Friday night), there may be a waiting list for poker seats. Players can get on multiple waiting lists (different types of games and money amounts) to help secure a space.
Chips
Some casinos will players buy their chips at the table, while others require players to have them already exchanged from the cashier elsewhere in the casino.
Betting
Betting rules at each casino vary based on blinds and antes. In some games, not everyone antes every hand, thus making it possible to fold early for “free”.
The betting system used by most casinos is what is commonly called “blind tiger”. In hold’em, the player to the left of the imaginary dealer (signified by a button) places a small blind bet regardless of his hand. Then, the player to the left of the small blind places a big blind bet. The blind amounts vary: an example would be $3 for the small blind and $6 for the big blind. The person to the left of the big blind would then start the betting; he would have to either match the big blind bet or raise to a larger amount.
In Stud, everyone places a small ante after getting their starting cards. Then, the player with the low exposed card usually has a forced initial bet. The ante is a smaller amount than the bet of the person with the low card (about 40% of a betting unit). Resulting players would have to match that bet or raise to a larger amount.
The maximum betting or raising amounts depend on the limits placed in. In limit poker, a player can only raise the amount of the big blind initially. The maximum amount of raises per street (card placed by dealer) is usually 3 to 4. The betting or raising amount usually doubles in later streets.
With no-limit poker, a person can bet the total number of chips he has at the table at any time. In pot-limit poker, a person can bet as much as the amount of chips at the pot.
Profitability of poker for casinos
Casinos make a relatively slim profit margin on the game. Whereas slot machines provide a substantial house percentage, poker tables require dealers, waitresses, cigarette girls, and a manager to keep everything running smoothly. The house supports this with a “rake” (a percentage taken from every pot). This can range from 5%-10%; usually with higher rake games, a limit is placed on how much the house can rake (10% with a limit of $5).
With the recent upsurge in poker’s popularity, more casinos offer live poker. They make money both from the rake and from attracting people to the casino, where they may play other games (craps, roulette, etc.)
Celebrity Poker Club is a British television show featuring celebrities playing poker. The program debuted on Challenge TV in 2003 as a spin-off to the popular Late Night Poker series. “Gentleman” Liam Flood is the casino manager for the program, and Cayt Dear is the producer.
Other celebrities featured have included Dave Gorman, Rory McGrath, Dexter Fletcher, Dennis Taylor, Louise Wener, Nick Leeson, Howard Marks, Charles Ingram, Martin Amis, Al Alvarez, Phil Taylor, Raj Persaud, Hattie Hayridge, Johnny Vegas, Darren Campbell, Phil Daniels, Graham Linehan, Ally McCoist and Michael Praed.
A poker tournament is a tournament at which the winners are decided by playing poker, usually a particular style of poker.
Contrast this to a ring game, where the game is ongoing with no formal structure to determine a single winner in a certain length of time.
Types of poker
While some tournaments offer a mix of games, like H.O.R.S.E. events which combine Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, Stud and Stud Eight or Better and Dealer’s Choice events, at which one may choose from a similar menu of games, most tournaments feature one form of stud or community card poker, such as seven-card stud, seven card high-low stud, Omaha Hold ‘em or Texas Hold ‘em. Both Omaha and Texas Hold’em tournaments are commonly offered in fixed-limit, pot limit, and no limit forms.
Tournament venues
Informal tournaments can be organized by a group of friends; for example, most colleges feature poker tournaments. Casinos and online gaming sites often offer daily tournaments.
However, these are not the only venues. Several World Poker Tour venues are cruise ships at sea. The 2005 World Series of Poker primarily took place in the conference hall of the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas.
Major tournaments
The two largest and most well-known tournaments are the World Poker Tour championship event and the World Series of Poker, held at Binion’s Horseshoe casino in Las Vegas. The World Series has traditionally been featured on ESPN.
The 2005 World Series of Poker was the first held outside of Binion’s Horseshoe Casino, though the final few days of the main event were held in the legendary Benny’s Bullpen. Future tournaments will be held at one of the Harrah’s Entertainment properties; 2005 saw the Rio as primary venue.
Arguably the most publicised European tournament is the Poker Million, which began in 2000 on Sky Sports, following on from the success of the Late Night Poker television show.
A casino is a building that accommodates certain types of gambling games and activities. Customers may gamble by playing slot machines or other games of chance and some skill (e.g., craps, roulette—for more see casino games). Game rules usually have mathematically-determined odds that ensure the house retains an advantage over the players. This advantage is called the edge. Payout is the percentage given to players. In statistically-even games, such as poker, the house takes a commission (a “rake”) on bets customers make against each other. Casinos are often placed near or combined with hotels, restaurants and other vacation attractions to encourage long stays.
The term originally meant a small villa, summerhouse or pavilion built for pleasure, usually on the grounds of a larger Italian villa or palazzo. There are examples of such casinos at Villa Giulia and Villa Farnese. During the 19th century, the term casino came to include other more public buildings where pleasurable activities, including gambling and sports, took place. An example of this type of building is the Newport Casino. Eventually this term in Italian now designates a bordello (also called “casa chiusa” literally “closed house”), while the gambling house is spelled casinò with an accent.
One dollar chips from various Las Vegas casinos.
A set of injection molded ABS poker chips “hot-stamped” with denominations 100, 50, 25 & 10
A standard 300 piece set of ABS plastic chips
Authentic clay chip manufactured by Blue Chip Co for home use
