POKER MANNERS

Whether at home or in a casino there are basic poker manners that poker players should follow. These rules of good behavior make the game run fair and smooth.

1. Wait for your turn

Sometimes some players may be excited about how good their hands are they can`t hardly wait to raise the pot,players have to wait until it's your turn to do so. It is also the same when folding hands,you should wait for your turn. If you play out of turn, It will give the other players information on how they should play their hands even before they make a decision which will make other player confused.

2. Don't Talk About Your Cards.

Once you've folded, it's tempting to chat about what would have happened if you had played your hand, but if anyone who's still playing and hears, it'll give them information that they might use to their advantage. For example,you had a 3-4 as your hand in Hold`em and the flop comes 3-3-4, if you say out loud that you would have had a full house,The players will know that it's unlikely that any player still in the hand has the full house, making it hard to bluff and represent that hand.

3. Don't Show Your Cards unless its a showdown

When you fold, make sure you don't show or flip your cards over as you fold. Again, if players know what you fold, it'll give them information that may affect how the rest of the game comes out. Unless you are all-in and heads-up (only two players playing,no betting round) there is no reason to show your cards.

4. Don't Splash the Pot

One bad betting habit we see in some games is when a player tosses his bet in a big mess in the center of the pot.This is called Splashing the Pot, and it would be hard to tell how much you've bet. A better way is just to stack your chips neatly in front of you to bet.

5. Don't Make String Bets

Another bad habit some players do is the string bet which is when a player says "I'll call your 150....but wait I`ll raise another 250!" You have to say whether you're simply calling or raising at once -- once you say "call," its call. If you're going to raise, say raise and the amount right away. This is important in casinos.

6. Don't Be Rude.

If you're getting bad hands and losing, it doesn't give you the right to curse other players or be rude to the dealer. It will not win you the pot.

7. If You Show One, Show All

If you win the pot before a showdown and want to show your cards,Don`t just show it to the one player nest to you, you have to flip them over for the whole table to see.

8. Do Pay Attention

When playing poker it is verty important to pay attention.Don't make other players remind you it's your turn. Keep up with the action so the game keeps moving. Talking on cell phones is a bad poker manner.

POKER POSITIONS

Dealer Position

At the table your position is always relative to the dealer for that hand's position. This is one reason why the deal goes around the poker table, so that everyone gets equal betting opportunity in every position.
In community games like Texas Hold`em the most desirable position is the "dealer position"/"button position",because after the flop, the person on the "dealer position" is always going to be the last to act in each round of betting.
You can play more marginal hands on the button because of this advantage.

Early Position in Poker

The 3 players to on left of the dealer are the ones who are in "early position." This is said to be the worst position in poker because you have to act first without knowing beforehand how other players are going to bet or play their hands.
Without any information on how the other players will play their hands, you will have to decide if you are going to fold or raise, it's a good move to play only the best cards in this position.

Middle Position in Poker

The players who comes after the players on the "early position" are the players who are on the "middle position". It is what it sounds like.On this position you will be able to see how the players in the early position play their hands before you act.
In general, you can play a little bit looser in middle position than early position, so you need to be careful.

Late Position in Poker

The "late position" is the best position to have in poker, "Late position" is defined as the dealer
and the players to his right.
When you are in the late position you wil have a lot more time to observe and get information about how the other players play their hand becaus you will see how the majority of the players decide how they play their cards before you have to make your own decision to call,raise or fold.
Sometimes if no one has bet in a round, the players woh are in late position may win the pot simply by raising or placing a bet(this is called "betting position") Most poker players know about betting position and may call bets to bluff when one of the players before him bets.

POKER TIPS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Want to become a better poker player, Read these 10 tips and follow them to improve your poker game.

1. Don't Play Every Hand/ Fold more

The most common mistake a poker beginner makes is that they play too many hands. When you're just starting out playing poker, you just want to play poker, and that means staying or betting with hands that aren't very good,just to be part of the round.Playing more does not mean winning more,most of the time it means losing more. If you find that you are betting with all the cards dealt to you, you need to know which hands/cards are good to start with. The most important thing to learn when playing Texas Hold`em is to know which hand/card are worth staying with and which hands you should fold

2. Don't Play when Drunk

It is more relaxing to play while on alcohol,but most of the poker players loose their stack of chips because they had too much to drink,It`s ok if your just playing with friends and having fun,but if you are in a casino and playing with big time money you need to take control of the booze.

3. Don't Bluff Just to Bluff

Bluffing is one of the key elements of poker.It is one of the keys that make poker fun. Bluff means to bet or raise with a weak hand. Bluffing is an fundamental skill for a good poker player. Most beginner's know that bluffing is part of the game of poker, but do not know exactly how to bluff. There really is no exact rule that one must bluff during a poker game,but most players say you have`nt played poker unless you have`nt tried a poker bluff. Bluffs does not work all the time it only works in some situations & against some people, and if you know if a player likes to do the showdown,Most likely it will be hard to bluff that player. It's better not to bluff than to bluff "just to bluff."

4. Don't Stay in a Hand because you`ve place your bet

Another mistake of beginners make is to think that if they have placed their bets already they need to commit to the hand. No! You can't win a pot just throwing all your chips in. There are some cases when pot odds needs a call, but if you're know you beaten, and there's no way you can improve you hand, you must fold right away. The money that you have place as your bet is already part of the pot,you can`t get it by playing all the way to the end without good hands

5. Don't Play When in a Bad Mood

When playing poker, you should`nt play to be free being stressed or having a bad day. You start out playing emotionally, not rationally and you won't play your best. Likewise, if during a poker game, you lose a big bet and feel yourself going on tilt, its ok to stand up & take a break until you feel relaxed and composed to be able to play again. Most of the other players will watch your mood & take advantage of it.

6. Pay Attention to the Cards on the Table

When you start playing, it's always good to remember how to play and pay attention to your hand. But once you've seen your hand, it is important to look at what's happening on the table. Texas Hold`em figure out what the best possible hand would be to fit the flop(1st 3 cards dealt on the table) Make sure you notice all card possibilities;straight,flush,three of a kind etc.

7. Pay Attention to the Other Players

When you are playing poker, one of the best things you can do or learn is to study your opponents, even if your not part of the round. If you know how a player raises in a certain position, & another has a poker tell when he bluffs you can use that information to help you decide how to play against them. Once you know how other players play that's when you can bluff & steal a pot.

POKER SLANG

Hear are the slang or nicknames of poker cards in Texas Hold`em

A-A – American Airlines, bullets, pocket rockets
A-K – Big Slick, “Walking back to Houston”
A-J -- Ajax
K-K – Cowboys
K-Q – Marriage
K-J – Kojak
K-9 -- Canine
Q-Q – Dames, divas, ladies, the Hilton sisters, Siegfried & Roy

Q-J – Maverick, Oedipus Rex
Q-7 -- Computer Hand
Q-3 – A San Francisco Busboy (a queen with a trey – har har)
J-J – Jokers, hooks
J-9 – T.J. Cloutier.
J-5 – Jackson Five, Motown
10-5 – Five and dime
10-2 – Doyle Brunson. (He won two World Series of Poker titles with this hand.)
9-9 – Meat hooks
8-8 – Snowmen, Octopuses
7-7 – Hockey Sticks, walking Sticks
7-2 – The Hammer
5-5 – Nickels, presto, speed limit
5-4 – Jesse James, for his Colt .45
4-4 -- Sailboats
2-2 -- Ducks

POKER RULES

POKER RULES

Basic Terms:

Hand: Hand is the combination of cards a player holds.

Play: A single game, from one shuffle to the next is called a play.

Pot: The pot is the total amount of money placed by players as a bet over the course of a game. A round of poker is a battle for the pot, and the winner of any round wins it as a prize.

Split Pot: If two players have the same hand then they divide the pot equally between them. When the pool is not exactly divisible then the left over amount goes to the player who called the highest bet.

Ante: An enforced bet that must be made by all players before any cards are dealt. An ante encourages action in a game.

Rake: A commission charged by a poker room for every hand played. The rake is usually taken as a percentage of the pot in a given hand. For example, if the rake is 10%, and a pot reaches a final of $10, the rake will be $1. Poker rooms generally use rake as their sole source of revenue.

Showdown: After the last round of betting in a round of poker, a showdown occurs- players must turn over their cards, and compare their five-card poker hands.

Texas Hold`em Rules

Texas Hold'em is the most popular variation of poker, Of all poker games it is considered to have the most strategy of all poker games, yet the rules are quite simple. Here is how a hand of Texas Hold'em is played:

1. Hole Cards. Each player is dealt two cards face down.
2. The Flop. Three cards are dealt face up on the table.
3. The Turn. A fourth card is dealt to the table.
4. The River. Finally, a fifth card is dealt to the table.

The five cards that are dealt on the table are called community cards. Your hand is formed by taking the best hand you can form by using any five out of the seven cards (5 community + 2 hole cards). But remember, all the players have access to the community cards. When played for money, there is a round of betting after a round of cards is dealt so that would be a total of 4 rounds of betting.

POKER HAND RANKINGS

In poker, players construct hands of five cards according to predetermined rules, which vary according to the precise variant of poker being played. These hands are compared using a standard ranking system, and the player with the highest-ranking hand wins that particular deal. Although used primarily in poker, these hand rankings are also used in other card games, and with poker dice..

The strength of a hand is increased by having multiple cards of the same rank, all the cards being from the same suit, or having all the cards with consecutive values. The position of the various possible hands is based on the probability of being randomly dealt such a hand from a well-shuffuled deck.

POKER

Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and mostly,but not always hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown some variations of poker games the pot is split between the high and low hands, There are limits on bets and on how many rounds of betting are allowed. In most modern poker games, the first round of betting begins with some form of forced bet(Small and Big blind). The action then proceeds to the left. Each player in turn must either match the maximum previous bet or fold, losing all further interest in the hand. A player who matches a bet may also raise, increasing the bet. The betting round ends when all players have either matched the last bet or folded. If all but one player fold on any round, the remaining player collects the pot without showing his hand. If more than one player remains in contention after the final betting round, the hands are shown and the winning hand takes the pot.

Players feel that this betting system distinguishes poker from gambling games. With the minor exception of initial forced bets, money is only placed into the pot voluntarily by a player who, at least in theory, rationally believes the bet has positive expected value. Thus while the outcome of any particular hand is determined mostly by chance, the long-run expectations of the players are determined mostly by their actions chosen based on probability and psychology.