Poker odds are figures that tell you how likely it is that you will make a certain hand. In Texas Hold’em probability is important, because you can use the poker odds to decide whether calling a particular bet will give you value for money.

For example; if you have four cards of the same suit after the flop and you need one more for a flush, the poker odds of you hitting a card of the required suit on the turn are 4.2 to 1. Hold’em probability therefore suggests that if the pot will pay you more than those odds merit, you should stay in the game. If the pot is lower than the poker odds suggest is appropriate, folding might be the most sensible option.

Texas Hold Em Probability

Odds Against Improving a Hand

How To Play

Without mincing words, Texas Hold’em is the daddy of all poker games. And the good news is that you don’t have to be brainier than Stephen Hawking to play.

Texas Hold’em is a fast-paced 7-card game that’s the most popular, and most exciting, form of poker played today. If you’ve ever watched poker on the TV, chances are that you’ve seen Texas Hold’em. The all important aim of the game is to make the best 5 card hand that you can, using both the two cards that you’re dealt face down and the five community cards dealt face up in the middle of the table. But more of that a little later.

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The Dealer Button

Every hand, one player will get the dealer button (a small disk marked with a D). The position of the dealer is important, as the two players to the dealer’s left post the blinds. The dealer button moves to the left after each hand, so everyone actsas the virtual dealer and everyone is required to post blinds.

Blinds

The player to the immediate left of the dealer posts the small blind, and the player to their left posts the big blind. The blinds are placed in the pot to kickstart the betting and give players an incentive to enter the hand. They also mean that the winner of hand can never walk away completely empty-handed.

The size of the blinds are dictated by the stakes of the table that you’re playing at. The small blind is typically half the minimum bet of the game, while the big blind is typically the same as the game’s minimum bet. It’s probably best illustrated by an example: if you’re playing at a $2/$4 table, the small blind will be $1 and the big blind $2.

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The Opening Deal

Once the blinds have been posted, it’s time for some cards. Moving clockwise round the table from the dealer, each player receives two cards dealt face down that only they get to see. These are also called pocket cards or hole cards. It’s now time to start some betting. That is why we’re here after all.

Betting Following the Opening Deal

At this stage, each player is betting on what hand they feel their pocket cards could lead to. The betting starts with the player to the immediate left of the big blind.

For this round of betting, each player has three choices: to fold, raise, or call the big blind. As the players who posted the blinds have effectively opened the betting, each player has to at least call this bet to stay in the hand, so checking isn’t an option at this stage.

The betting goes round the table in a clockwise direction until each player has either called, folded or raised. If no-one has raised by the time the betting returns to the person who posted the big blind, this player may check his own blind, fold or raise.

The first round of betting is at the lower level of table stakes, so in a $2/$4 game all raises are increments of $2. Once the betting is completed it’s time to see the flop. Just a quick note on betting before you move on. The betting can’t go on for ever, as we use the standard bet and three raises model. That is, for any round of betting there can be an opening bet and no more than three raises. After the third raise betting is said to be capped.

The Flop

Right, now the first round of betting is out of the way, it’s time for the flop (things start to get really interesting now). The flop is the set of three cards that are dealt face up in the middle of the table, and each player can use these community cards to build their hand. The middle of the table where these cards are dealt is commonly known as the board.

Now it’s time for another round of betting, again at the lower levels of the table stakes. This time, the betting starts with the player to the immediate left of the dealer, regardless of whether the dealer is still active in the hand or not. The player to the left of the dealer will keep the initial action for the rest of the hand. Apart from that, the betting process is the same as pre-flop betting.

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The Turn Card

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, and again can be used by all players to construct their hand.

The betting after the turn is now at the higher level of the table stakes, so in a $2/$4 game all bets will now be increments of $4.

The River

Four down, one to go. It’s now time for the fifth and final community card to be dealt: the river. Now that all the cards have been dealt, each player remaining in the hand can now see what their best five card hand is. It’s now time for the final round of betting, again at the higher level of the table stakes.

The Showdown

Ta da! It’s now time to see who’s the daddy and takes the pot: the showdown. Each player who’s remained in the hand shows their cards, starting with the last person to bet and so on. The winner is decided using these Poker Hand Rankings.

If a player wins a pot by default, that is every other player has folded, there is no showdown and the winning player can decide whether to show their cards or not. Most people don’t, it’s always nice to keep people guessing.

A Final note…

If that all seems rather complicated and likely to last an eternity, don’t worry. It really is quite simple, and despite a few stages in each hand it passes very quickly. And if you’re worried of getting stung while you’re still learning how to play, make sure that you take full advantage of the play money tables. You can bet, call, raise and bluff to your heart’s content, and it won’t cost you a penny.

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Expanding your poker repertoire is always a good thing (like knowing how to change a wheel, knowing the various forms of poker always come in handy at some stage). And, if you’re in the dark about how to play Omaha, then you’re in the right place. Read on to become an Omaha superstar.

The Differences between Omaha & Hold’em

What’s the Difference?

To be honest, if you can play Hold’em, you’ll pick Omaha up in no time at all. If your Hold’em is a little rusty, we suggest a quick refresher course by using our in-depth how to play Texas Hold’em guide. You should then come back to this page to find out the variations in Omaha.

Like Texas Hold’em, Omaha is a community card game where your one and only aim is to make the best five card hand that you can from the cards you’re given and the cards that are dealt face up in the centre of the table. So far so good, just like Hold’em you say. But whoa, hold on there, as this is where it all gets a little bit different…

As you’ll know, in Texas Hold’em each player receives two cards that only they can see (their “hole cards”) before the five community cards are dealt face up. In Omaha, each player is dealt four hole cards. Before you think whoopy-do, there’s a catch. Unlike Hold’em, where you can use any combination of hole and community cards to make your best five card hand, in Omaha you must use two of your hole cards and three community cards when making your hand. So, just to recap, as this is important: when making your five card hand, you must use two of your four hole cards, and three of the five community cards. Voila!

Apart from that, the game follows the same patterns as Texas Hold’em, with the same blind structure and betting rounds.

How To Play Stud Poker

7 Card Stud is the variation of poker that has been around for a while, longer than Omaha and Texas Hold’em, you’ve probably played it at home and is still popular in casinos throughout Vegas.  And now we’ll teach you how to play.

Skill, memory and strategy are three poker talents you’ll have to perfect if you want to master 7 Card Stud.  In this game 3 cards get you started on your way to a poker variation that’s exhilarating and rewarding.

More cards in the hole, extra betting rounds, no community cards and opponents cards on display are all exclusive challenges within our this demanding poker variation that takes minutes to learn and a lifetime to master.  Patient Texas Hold’em players with a solid grasp of poker odds should undoubtedly give this game a go.

7-Card Stud is essentially a Limit game. Initially, every player posts an Ante. This is a forced bet to get money in the pot before any further betting takes place.

Each player is then dealt one card at a time, until every player has 3 cards. The first 2 cards are dealt face down and the 3rd card is dealt face up. This face up card is known as a Door Card.

NB: All dealing and betting run in a clockwise direction. There are five rounds of betting in 7-Card Stud. The first two rounds use the lower limit bets and the last 3 rounds use the higher limit bets – similar to Limit Hold’em. The exception here is that if a player holds a pair, or better, on the 4th Street. This exception may be seen below:

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Stud Poker Rules

First round of betting: “Opening the Betting” / The “3rd Street”

Betting starts with the player holding the lowest-valued Door Card. This first bet is known as the “Bring in” or the “Opening Bet”.If two players hold the same-valued Door Card, then the Bring in is decided by suit, in alphabetical order (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades).

At this point, each player has may call, raise or fold as they see fit.

Second round of betting: The “4th Street”

Every player still involved in the pot is dealt another card face up (an Up card). Betting at this round begins with the player holding the two strongest  Up cards. The strongest hands are determined by regular Poker hand rankings, i.e. high card, pair, two pair etc. If a player holds a pair they can       make a double bet (A bet that doubles the minimum bet, or which counts, essentially, as two bets). Betting then continues around the table as normal.

Third round of betting: The “5th Street”

Every player still involved in the pot is dealt another Up card. The player with the strongest Up card combination starts the betting at this round. From this point on, all bets are Big bets.

Fourth round of betting: The “6th Street”

Every player still involved in the pot is dealt another Up card. The player with the strongest Up card combination starts the betting on this round.

Fifth round of betting: The “River”

Each player still involved in the pot is dealt one final card face down. At this point, each player is holding 4 Up cards and 3 Down cards. Once more, betting may begin with the player holding the 4 strongest Up cards, and continues clockwise around the table.

Showdown:

Once all the betting is complete, players may reveal their Down cards. The player who made the last bet reveals his/her hand first. However, if there is no betting on the last round, then the player with the highest value of Up cards reveals first. The player with the best 5-card hand wins.

In the case of two or more players holding similar winning hands, the regular split-pot rules may apply.

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5 Card Stud

5 Card stud is very similar to 7 Card Stud. In fact, it’s played by the same rules, but with up to 10 players. The only difference is that only one card is dealt face down to each player instead of two and there are 2nd, 3rd and 4th streets, plus the River.

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The hardest thing about playing poker is learning the poker hands. If you can learn these or have them close to hand then you are 90% of the way there. Here’s a list of the possible hands and how they rank, together with a short definition. If you’re not confident yet why not have this page printed out or open while you play.

Royal Flush

The daddy of all poker hands, a royal flush is a straight flush involving the 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace.

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Straight Flush

A straight with all the cards in the same suit.

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Four of a kind

Four cards of the same rank, for example four Queens.

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Full House

A combination of a pair and three of a kind.

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Flush

Five cards of the same suit, for example five diamonds.

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Straight

Five cards in sequential rank order, for example 8, 9, 10, Jack and a Queen. An ace may be used as both a high and a low card.

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Three of a kind

Also called trips, this is where you have three cards of the same rank, for example three sevens.

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Two Pair

Two sets of cards of the same rank, for example two queens and two sixes.

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Pair

Any two cards of the same rank, for example two Queens. The ranking of pairs mirrors that of the cards in general, so the strongest pair is a pair of Aces and the weakest a pair of 2s.

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High card

The highest ranked card is an Ace, and the ranking runs from the Ace down through the picture cards all the way to 2.

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