Everyone has heard of poker at least once in their lifetime, but many of you are still confused about how to play or what are the basic rules. Well, today, we would break it all down to you and teach you how to play and win your first pot in poker.
It is a must for gamblers to know how to play poker, because who doesn’t know how? This game is top-rated because it originates from the United States during the early 19th century. Back then, only five hands are dealt with each player form a 25 card pack. Now, we are using a 52 card pack, and the cards dealt may vary from the types of poker you are playing.
Poker can be confusing due to the varieties that it offers. There are many kinds of poker, such as Texas Hold ‘Em, Omaha, 5-Card Draw, 7-Card Stud, etc. But amongst all of the varieties in poker, they all have a common similarity of combining cards. Once they are dealt with maps, there are also community cards in which everyone can use. The goal of poker is quite simple, and it is to beat other players in terms of card standings.
To make it simple for everyone to understand, I would discuss mainly Texas Hold ‘Em poker because this is the most popular type of poker out there. But before diving into the gameplay and the technicalities, let’s learn about the card standings.
So there are different combinations of cards starting from lowest to highest would be singles, pairs, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush, and royal flush. As the name says, pairs, three, and four of a kind simply mean that you own 3 or 4 of the same type of card. For example, you have two kings in your hand, and there is another king in the community card. In total, you have three kings, and that is called as three of a kind.
As for straight, it merely means that you get a combination of card that is in numeral order. And to do so, you need five cards such as 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. For flush, you also need five cards, but in this case, you need the same symbol for it all. So, for example, any five-card with all marked as diamonds on them. The high tiered combinations, such as the full house, is a combination consisting of two and three of the same cards. So that would be 2, 2, 3, 3, and 3.
Moving on, the game-winner cards that are so rare to get are straight and royal flushes. These cards are not only arranged by the same marks such as diamonds, hearts, spades, clubs. The cards are also organized by an increasing arrangement. Such as diamonds of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, hence it is called a straight flush. For royal flush, it is strictly the top 5 cards with the same marks such as 10, jack, queen, king, ace. With this, you will surely play and win big in poker.
Winning big
As beginners, it would seem reasonable if you play slowly and safely. This is because you do not want to run out of money quickly. But one of the best tips out there is to play aggressively but also in a quick manner. When you simply surrender after a few cards have been dealt with, other players would easily read you based on how you react. This means that they can predict your moves and even your card based on your attitude.
Playing and winning big takes some some aggression and risks to bet. Don’t quickly back off or surrender just because the cards do not match the ones you want. You will never know what the community cards have to offer, maybe the cards you desire is dealt at the very last.
Another way to play and win big is to practice bluffing. Bluffing is a very common tactic but useful even in high tier tournaments. Bluffing is basically acting that you have a mighty hand or card at your disposal, but you actually don’t. So it is all about mind games and tricking your enemies.
Last but not least is to take your time and think. Never be too greedy and just fold if you are unsure before you lose more money. When you do have a hand you are sure with, go ahead and keep increasing the blinds but do not make it too obvious. This way, you are guaranteed to win your first big pot.