So far you've learned about hand strength and the importance of bluffing from the previous two articles. Now we'll talk a bit about when it’s your turn; known in the poker world as when to "act". The phrase “act” is appropriate since poker is 99% psychological (in my opinion). The poker world is filled with players wearing dark glasses to avoid giving anything away. Some believe the “eyes” never lie. Others will sigh or roll their eyes after looking at their cards as if the world has just come to end. There are many false signs, or “tells”, poker players will deliberately make that are meant to be deceptive. We’ll talk more about tells in the next post. For now, take my advice and don’t trust anyone when you’re at the poker table.
Now back to how a hand flows in Texas Holdem poker.
Let’s get the simple stuff over first.
The game is dealt clockwise. After each player is dealt their hole cards, depending on where each person is relative to the "button" will determine who goes first. The button is simply the starting point of the deal and is located in front of one player at a time. The button rotates clockwise after each hand is completed. The two players directly to the left of the button will need to put up what’s called blind bets before receiving their cards. The player who acts first will put up a “small blind” the second player the “big blind”. How much each blind will cost is determined by the betting structure.
Also known as the dealer button whoever has it in front of them will act last. So now, can you guess who goes first? No, not the player directly to the left of the button (small blind) not even the player second to the button (big blind). The first player that will need to make a decision is the person to the left of the big blind. There are 3 options this and the rest of the players up to the button will have. To either call (place the equivalent amount of chips/cash as the big blind), to raise (in a no limit structure at least half or up to all-in front of them) or to fold (discard the cards and wait for the next hand). The players on the blinds have the same options except they have already invested a blind bet. If they choose to raise they can. The small blind will need to “finish” the bet in order to call. If there are no raises, the big blind can simply check or has an option to raise.
Above was the first round of betting. There are actually 4 betting rounds in total. The second occurs after the “flop”. The flop is a set of 3 cards revealed that all players can use. The only difference between the first betting round and the second is the 2nd betting round starts with the player directly to the left of the button. The 3rd round of betting starts the same way and begins after a single card is revealed known as the “turn”. The final round of bets start after the 5th card is revealed known as the “river”.
Summary:
1. A round of betting before any community cards revealed.
2. The flop - 3 community cards revealed followed by a round of betting.
3. The turn - a 4th card revealed followed by a round of betting.
4. The river - a 5th card revealed followed by the last round of betting.
Be careful not to act out of turn. It will happen by mistake form time to time. Try to pay attention to how a person bets when it’s his/her turn. We’ll get into more about what to look for in a players behavior that may give you an advantage during a hand.
Next post - “Poker Tells” on 6/17/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment