Rules of Texas Hold'em Poker

Now that you know the rules of Five Card Draw, Let It Ride and Pai Gow, it’s time to learn the most popular community poker game: Texas Hold’em. It has grown exponentially with tournaments like the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour. It has grown even more online with young people.

Texas Hold’em uses a standard 52-card deck with no Jokers. You form the best five-card poker hand from seven total cards. You bet chips into a pot and standard hand rankings apply. This poker game has four rounds of betting and you start with two hole cards dealt face down. A series of five community cards are dealt face up in the center of the table with a round of betting in between each deal. Hold’em has different varieties like limit, no-limit, Omaha and antes. Hold’em using blinds is the most popular.

With blinds, you have a small blind (person to the left of the dealer) and a big blind (person to the left of the small blind). As you might expect, the big blind is double the size of the small blind. The blinds are thrown in before the hole cards are dealt. The player to the left of the big blind starts each round of betting. They can call the big blind, raise or fold. No Limit Hold’em has no maximum on the amount of raises. Limit has a maximum of twice the big blind.

The first three community cards are known as the flop. This is followed by a round of betting, then the turn (fourth community card), another round of betting, then the river (final community card), and another round of betting. The river decides the outcome of those left in the hand. If there are only two players left, it’s called going heads-up. The pot gets bigger as play progresses, so it’s important to practice proper poker strategy. I will go over more on that in my next post.

Video Poker Games to Know

There are a lot of different types of video poker games. Each have different rules and wild cards but most are based on standard poker hand rankings. These are the eight most common types of video poker games.

Aces & Faces – the most played single-line video poker game. For hand rankings, a four of kind of Aces or face cards is better than a Straight Flush. The lowest payout is a pair of Jacks.

Joker – Joker and a standard deck give a total of 53 cards. The best payouts are Natural Royal
Flush (no Joker), Five of Kind (with the Joker) and a Joker Royal Flush.

Double Joker – same rules as the Joker game, however, two Jokers the wild cards.

Deuces Wild – 2’s are wild cards. Since your odds of winning are better, the payouts start at three of a kind instead of a pair.

Deuces & Joker – similar to Deuces Wild but brings a Joker into the concept. The 2’s and the Joker make up five wild cards. Payouts begin at three of a kind with the best payout at four deuces and the Joker. Four deuces is a better hand than a Wild Royal Flush with the Joker.

Jacks or Better – favorable player odds for a single or multi-line game. The lowest payout is a pair of face cards, where you break even. Bets range from $0.05 to $100 per hand on the multi-line games.

Tens or Better – pretty much the same as Jacks or Better but the lowest payout is a pair of 10’s.

Progressive –progressive jackpot increases each hand just like a slot machine. The pot increases since each player gambles on the same virtual machine. The pot resets after every jackpot. These games use 52 cards and several Jokers.

Rules of Video Poker

Now that you know all about the different forms of poker like Pai Gow and Let It Ride, you should learn about video poker, which is basically an electronic version of Five Card Draw with variations.

Video poker is played against the dealer and has better than other electronic games like slots. Since it is just you and the dealer, you have plenty of time to make a decision. There isn’t the pressure of the action falling on you like in poker. Though there are many different video poker games, they all stem from standard hand rankings. The value of some cards change with each video poker game so read up before you start playing. Begin your video poker conquest for free with fun money at an online casino.

With some hands, you may have to discard everything if you have no high cards or possible straights. Avoid inside straight draws like 2, 3, 5, 6. There are only four possible winning cards, plus the wild cards if there are any. You have better odds with an outside straight draw like 3, 4, 5, 6. This gives you eight possible cards for a win in addition to the wild cards.

Always keep a pair over a single high card because you have a chance at a bigger payout like three of a kind. Always keep a winning hand unless you’re going after a Royal Flush, which is the best hand in video poker. Don’t fall for the bonus games. They are just like slot bonus games and based entirely on luck. Video poker is a strategy game so you don’t need to risk your win on luck.