The Allure of Poker - Getting to Grips with the Game

09.03.2022

Poker has gained massive worldwide popularity, and most people became aware of it thanks to its inclusion in many famous films and TV shows. Be it the fresh-faced Matt Damon in Rounders or the tough-as-nails Daniel Craig in his first outing as James Bond, watching some amazing characters play with ease made many of us think we could achieve great success at the poker table also. However, there are some basics we need to cover before committing to playing some serious games.

The Basic Rules of Poker

If you’re eager to learn how to play poker as soon as possible, here are some core concepts you should be aware of that are common to almost all the variations out there:

The Dealer

Whether you are playing in a real casino or just a casual game at home, the role of the dealer is to control in which order the blinds are put up as well as when the players can make their moves. Usually, the game takes a clockwise direction starting from the dealer’s position. The dealer is rarely one of the players, so generally, there is a token that determines a specific dealer for each hand, rotating the participants in each subsequent round. 

Hand-Rankings

A poker hand almost always consists of five cards, and the player’s success depends on different combinations that range from five of a kind which holds the highest value, to no pair or nothing, which holds the lowest one. Some other interesting and important variations are straight flushes where the player holds a sequence of five cards in the same suit, four of a kind where they hold four matching cards, and three of a kind where the player holds three cards of the same rank and two others, each of a different rank. Mastering the rankings will set you up to understand the core of the game at the very beginning.

Bluffing

Since poker is a game of skill, it is possible for a player to win a set of hands even with poor cards, if bluffing effectively. Great bluffers project confidence by suggesting they’re holding a solid hand, hoping that the opponents will trust their attitude and fold instead of taking the risk, although their card combination may be significantly better.

Different Types of Poker

Now that we mentioned some of the basic concepts, we can dive into the most popular variants of this world-famous card game:

Texas Hold ‘Em

Texas Hold ‘Em is surely the most popular variation of the game today, played passionately all over the world,  both online and offline. The players initially get two “hole cards” or “pockets, and then they wait to see five other community cards revealed. The players can bet in four different rounds during the game: after the dealing of the hole cards, after revealing the first three community cards (“the flop”), right after revealing the fourth community cards (“the turn”), and after the flipping of the fifth community card (“the river”). The player with the highest-ranked cards is the winner.

Omaha

Just like Texas Hold ‘Em, Omaha also involves four betting rounds and a total of five community cards, but in this variation of the game the community cards start at the beginning, and each participant now gets four pockets cards instead of just two. The five-card hand is then formed out of the five community cards and the four pocket cards. There is also a subtype called Omaha hi/lo where each participant forms a set of five cards that is high and another one that is kept low.

Badugi

Badugi is an interesting variation of poker that keeps the same ranking structure as traditional poker, but with an exciting twist that transforms the aces from high-value cards to low-value ones. The players are issued four cards instead of five, and when the first draw round begins, they can draw up to four new cards at once. After that, they go through two more rounds before entering the final round and the showdown where the best four-card hand wins.

Chinese

Chinese involves two to four players and each one of them is given 13 cards in total, but each player splits the cards into two hands of five and one hand with the last three cards. Each hand has its own name: the two five-card hands are known as the middle and the back, while the three-card one is named the front. Each participant’s goal is to keep the back strong and let the front hand remain the lowest ranking one. Whenever someone decides to play their hands, they need to announce the royalties involved, and the points are earned based on the hands revealed and royalty units collected.

Supported by the exciting presentation in all sorts of media and the international craze that has been following it for decades, poker’s fame is unlikely to fade. Now that you understand some of the game’s basic concepts and the most loved varieties, you can start practicing your skills and readying yourself for some real games.

Poker in Las Vegas

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More interesting and useful articles from the world of poker you can read in our blog. Also search for poker clubs in the country or city, get to know about upcoming poker tournaments or cash games at PokerDiscover.com

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