I learned how to play poker from my mom. She was deathly ill by the time I was five, so we spent a lot of time hanging out on the couch and in hospital rooms. She taught me all kinds of card games; rummy, poker, spades... as well as how to shuffle properly. They're precious memories, so maybe it’s not so weird that I love poker as much as I do.
Basics
Poker is amazing. There are a myriad of different kinds of poker games, and they're rooted in the same basic rules. Here are the general rankings of hands:
High card (Highest cards being Ace, then King, Queen, etc)
Pair (two of the same number - 44, JJ)
Two Pair
Three of a kind (AKA 'trips'; 888, 222...)
Straight (3,4,5,6,7, for instance)
Flush (cards are the same suit; hearts, diamonds, clubs or spades)
Full House (three of a kind AND a pair, AKA a 'boat')
Four of a kind
Straight Flush (Straight in the same suit)
Royal Flush (A,K,Q,J,10 of the same suit)
Let's Play!
Of course you're reading this because you want to play on the upcoming Scorum Poker League site, and/or you'd like to start immediately on the Lucksacks (Steem-based) site. Or perhaps you simply don't know how to play Texas Hold'em at all and less about how to play online, so here, check out our Lucksacks table:
Texas Hold'em
Texas Hold’em is a five card poker game. You will be dealt two cards, called your 'hole' cards. Five cards will eventually be placed face up in the middle of the table. Those are called the 'community cards' and everyone plays with them; they’re shared. The goal is to make the best poker hand you can - pairs, trips, straight, flush, full house etc., using at least one of your hole cards plus the community cards, making a total of five cards per hand.
Once everyone is dealt their hole cards, the first round of betting begins.
Let’s look at our table again:
Notice that white, round thing with a 'D' in front of @inthenow? That's the Dealer Button, or simply 'the button'. Whoever has the button is considered the dealer. The ‘action’ (start of play, checking, betting, raising) begins at the button and moves clockwise around the table. Everyone will be the button at some point.
The person just to the left of the button is called the 'small blind'. This person will put chips into the center to start the 'action'. (You can't escape the blinds; you don't get to play unless you pay them.) The person to the left of the small blind is the big blind, and they will pay twice what the small blind is. In my screenshot, for instance, the small blind is 20 and the big blind is 80.
Shuffle Up and Deal!
After the blinds put in their chips, everyone is dealt their hole cards. In the screenshot, my good friend @inthenow is the button, so he will act last. In the beginning, the first player to act is the person to the left of the big blind. This player decides if they want to 'call' the big blind - meaning to match the big blind - to raise; meaning to add more chips to the big blind, or to fold; to stop playing and 'muck' their cards.
Everyone has the same options, depending on their place in relation to the dealer button:
Call - whomever has bet the most, you are choosing to **_match_** their bet amount
Bet - add money to whatever the last, biggest bet was
Check - if you already have the same amount of chips as the biggest bet, you can choose to not bet any more by ‘checking’, and
Fold - throw your cards away. Only do this if your only other option is to put more chips in and you don’t want to. It's important not to fold when you can check.
Action goes around the table until the "pot is right”... this means that everyone has called, bet, checked or folded and the table is ready for the first 3 of our Community Cards.
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Viva la Comunidad!
Flop
The first three community cards are dealt. They are placed face up in the middle of the table. This is called the 'flop' and the betting starts again, this time starting with the small blind. Let's say everyone checks until the button. inthenow decides to bet, and throws 100 chips in. The action goes around the table again, with everyone either calling that bet, folding or raising - adding money to Steve's initial bet. If someone raises, everyone else now has to call or raise THAT bet, until it gets back around to the bettor/raiser.
Turn
Once the pot is right yet again, it's time for another card. This one, the fourth community card, is called the 'turn'. Betting/checking/folding commences just like the first round. Once the pot is right again, the fifth card is dealt.
River
The fifth community card is called the 'river'. If you are a 'river rat', it means you have won your hand because of the card dealt on the river, which is considered chasing, which is dangerous and I will call you a donkey and a river rat and curse your name if you beat me on the river. I kid. (not really)
Once the River is dealt, action goes around the table again, checking, betting, raising, calling. Once the pot is right, your cards are flipped over and you see who wins! However many chips are in the pot is how much you win, and it starts all over again!
Have a lucky day!
this post was originally posted on the SPL blog on Steemit. I've re worded most of it to share with you here!
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