Aug 28 2011

Texas Hold’em Poker Hands

One of many things that a beginner should know when starting with online poker is how to defend their poker hand. Most people prefer to start with Texas Hold’em Poker.

In loose limit games you always get the right odds to call with a draw and not even a check-raise can beat that. In No-Limit you can define the pot odds with the size of your bet and defend your poker hand by doing that. This is one of the main things in No-Limit Hold’em and to use it in order to maximise your profits is crucial.

Another way to maximize your profits is rakeback. This is something that most beginners are not aware of . Rakeback gives back a certain percentage to the player of the poker room fees called „rake“. With rakeback you can have profits even if you have lost a little during the week. 

Lets look at how to defend your hand. You have Ac-Kh and the flop is Ks – 7s – 3h. This lesson has only one opposer who is likely on a flush draw. Your pair of kings has to be protected with a proper bet now. General understanding of this is that you should win the pot right away. In other words, you have to bet so much that the person with the draw is forced to fold. It is wrong and because of two reasons  .

In poker, like in other games, you want to play for the maximum profit and with best strategy  . Since some of the cards are concealed and info is based on assumptions, it is not possible. Even if all of your cards would be open and everyone would be playing „correctly“ it would not really be the way of poker. It would be like a lottery and everyone would lose in the long run with poker rooms rake. In reality the goal is to play with a good poker strategy against weaker players . As an experienced player you should give your opponents the chance to play differently from usual poker strategy – chance to play wrong.

In reality you can never be 100% sure about what hand your opponent has. Instead of your opponent having a flush draw, like in the previous example, he could have a set and having that against your pair of kings is quite good for the opponent. If you bet too much against an opponent with a draw he will fold but he will re-raise with a set . You win less and risk more with a very big bet, but poker should be played in the opposite way. Risk less and win more.

When looking for best rakeback deals then a beginner should also consider the factor of unexperienced players. Perfect places to look for would be Noxwin Rakeback and 888 Poker Rakeback. These suggestions are good for beginners due to their high number of unexperienced players and good promotions. Make your choice in the online poker world and start learning!

May 28 2008

Poker Hands What Beats What – Good Poker Hand Guide with List of Poker Hands in Order

Poker standard 52-card deck is made up of four suits: spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. Each suit has thirteen ranks. Ace is the highest-ranking card, then go the king, queen, jack, and ten through deuce, in descending order. But an ace can be used as the lowest-ranking card for a low straight or a low hand.

Hand rankings depend upon the order of probability to appear in the hands of the players. That is why the rarer the hand, the more valuable it is.

These are the rankings in descending order:

style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Royal flush

Simply an ace-high straight flush (more details below) and is best possible hand in poker. There are only four of them – A-K-Q-J-T of the same suit.

Straight flush

Five sequenced cards, all of the same suit, such as 8-7-6-5-4 or Q-J-T-9-8.

Four-of-a-kind

Four-of-a-kind, is made up by a five-card hand with four cards of any rank, plus one unrelated card, such as 7-7-7-7-3. Of course, the higher the rank of these four-of-a-kind, the better the hand.

Full house

Three cards of any given rank and a pair of another. The rank of a full house is determined by the three-card grouping. For example, J-J-J-4-4 is better than T-T-T-5-5

Flush

Any five cards of the same suit make a flush, these cards should not have to be sequenced. If there are two or more flushes at showdown, the winning hand is determined by the rank order.

Straight

Five sequenced cards, not of the same suit. A 9-high straight beats a 6-high straight.

Three-of-a-kind

Three cards of the same rank plus two unrelated cards, also called trips or a set.

Two pair

Two cards of one rank, two cards of another, and one unrelated.

If two players each have two pair, the highest ranking pair held shows the winner. If the same high pair, the rank of the second pair is used to determine the winner. If both hold the same two pair, the rank of the unrelated sidecard determines the winner. If all elements are the same players split the pot.

One pair

One pair is two cards of one rank and three unrelated cards.

No pair

No pair is five unrelated cards. The rank order shows the winner. For example, A-K-8-7-3 and Stan has A-J-8-7-3 then A-K beats A-J.

A very useful thing for most of the players (with the exception of poker gurus) is poker hand calculator. This like having in your hands a tool that tells you ‘Well, this very poker hand that you have at the moment has XYZ chances to win against this hand, and this hand, and this hand.’

Of course, this poker hand calculator has nothing to do with what happens in every particular case. Even if the winning odds are 60% or 70% (which is very nice), that does not guarantee that you are going to win right now.

So, if poker hand calculator is just about stats, then what’s the point of using it?

Because smart poker playes do not make money from one game. A good player is the one who will pass through the bad hands with minimum losses, and through the great hands with maximum gains.

And when we are talking about a big number of game in a row, this is already the field of statistics and statistics is the mother of all chances and odds calculators.