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| 28 Apr 2006 01:43:21 am |
 Pot Odds! |
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“Pot Odds!”. I hear someone say this every time I’m at the poker table, but very few people are clear on when exactly they have pot odds. Pot odds are defined as “the odds you get when analyzing the current size of the pot vs. your next call”. I’d like to clear up a few misconceptions about pot odds, and let everyone know when the odds are in your favour and when they’re not.
Scenario #1 – Flush Draw
You have 2 pocket cards that are suited and flop four to the flush. Therefore there are 9 cards left in the deck that will make your hand. There are 47 other cards besides the 2 in your hand and the three on the flop, so you have a 9/47 or 19% chance that the next card will be your suit. This means that it is only worth calling a bet approximately 1/5 the total of the pot in order to catch a flush on the turn. For instance if the pot is $100 it is only worth calling a bet of around $20 or less to try to make your flush.
Scenario #2 – Open-ended Straight Draw
You might have a hand like 10-J and the flop comes Q, 9, 5. You’ve just flopped an open ended straight draw. You can catch any 8 or any K to make your hand. Therefore you’ve got 8 outs with 47 cards remaining. This means you have an 8/47 or a 17% chance of turning a straight. Similar to the flush draw situation above you should only call a bet that is, at most, this percent of the pot (ie. $17 into a $100 pot).
Scenario #3 – Gutshot Straight Draw
There is rarely a bet small enough to call for a gutshot draw. On this type of draw you have only 4 outs in the deck, and therefore a 4/47 or 8.5% chance of making your straight on the next card. Unless someone bets less than $8 into that pot of $100 its not worth your money. But if someone is betting only $8 into a $100 pot perhaps they deserve to lose, so by all means call for your ugly draw.
Other Odds
Chance of your pocket pair making a set on the flop = 1 in 9
Chance of being dealt pocket aces = 1 in 220
Chance of a Royal Flush appearing on the board = 1 in 77,968,800
Calculating Outs
courtesy of texasholdem-poker.com |
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Category : Poker Lessons
| Posted By : Dave |  Comments[0]
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| 13 Apr 2006 12:43:28 pm |
| The Rules of Texas Hold'em |
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I've had a lot of people who don't know poker that well asking about the rules of the game. So, below I will describe the most basic rules of Texas Hold'em (currently the most popular form of poker in North America), so that even those that have never played any type of poker game before can easily learn the game in no time.
NO LIMIT TEXAS HOLD'EM - BASIC INSTRUCTIONS
1. Texas Hold'em can be played with as few as two players, or as many as ten, at a single table.
2. The game begins with two players, left of the dealer, placing an initial bet. This is called posting the blinds. In Texas Hold'em, there are no antes but forced bets, or blinds, are used.
3. The person to the left of the dealer posts a bet called the small blind, which is usually equal to half of the minimum bet.
4. The person to the left of the small blind posts the big blind, which is equal to the full minimum bet.
5. The dealer shuffles one full deck of 52 playing cards. (In a Texas Hold'em game, a disc or other marker is used to indicate which person is the "dealer" for the round.)
6. Each player is then dealt two cards face down. These are called your hole or pocket cards.
7. Next is a round of betting starting with the person to the left of the two who posted the blinds. This round is usually referred to by the term pre-flop. Much like most games of poker, players can check, raise, or fold.
8. Players can bet, raise or re-raise any amount equal or greater than the minimum bet, which should also equal the amount of the big blind.
9. In No-Limit Hold'em, the number of chips you have in front of you determines the maximum bet. A player can go "all-in" by pushing all their chips toward the center of the table. At this point, either the player or the dealer should "count them down", or calculate the amount of the player's all-in bet. To call, the other players at the table must match the value of the chips.
10. In the event a player cannot match the value of another player's bet, but would like to call, he or she can go all-in and play for a portion of the pot. Should this happen, the dealer should divide the original, larger bet into two stacks: the first stack should match the amount of the caller's all-in bet. This stack is pushed into the original pot along with the caller's all-in bet. The second stack is placed into a side pot - for which the all-in caller is not eligible. This enables the rest of the table to continue play - raising and re-raising as they normally would. At the conclusion of the hand, the all-in bettor is eligible to win the original pot, but not the side pot.
11. After the initial betting round ends, the dealer discards the top card of the deck. This is called a burn card. This is done to prevent cheating.
12. The dealer then flips the next three cards face up on the table. These cards are called the flop. These are communal cards that anyone can use in combination with their two pocket cards to form a poker hand.
13. Next is another round of betting - starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
14. After the betting concludes, the dealer burns another card and flips one more onto the table. This is called the turn card. Players can use this sixth card now to form a five card poker hand.
15. The player to the left of the dealer begins another round of betting. In many types of games, this is where the bet size doubles.
16. Finally, the dealer burns a card and places a final card face up on the table. This is called the river. Players can now use any of the five cards on the table or the two cards in their pocket to form a five card poker hand.
17. There is now a final round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
18. After this round of betting, all of the players remaining in the game begin to reveal their hands. This begins with the player to the left of the last player to call. It's called the showdown.
19. If two or more players have the same hand, the next highest card in the player's hand is used to break a tie. This is called the kicker.
20. If there is no kicker card and the tied players have used both hole cards, or have the exact same hand, then the pot is split between them.
21. The dealer position then moves clockwise to the next player and another round of play begins. |
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Category : Poker Lessons
| Posted By : Dave | Comments[0]
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