Check The Nuts Poker
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If you want to learn how to play Texas hold'em games, then you need to start from the basic rules and hands. That's exactly what you'll find on this beginner's guide to the game.
Let's have a look at all the different key aspects of a Texas hold'em game, including the different positions at the table and the betting rounds featured in the game. Discover what is PLO poker with this beginner's guide to Pot-Limit Omaha strategy! Find amazing Omaha poker tips to win and become a great PLO player. Check Out 888Poker! Draw to the nuts. Supports over 300 online poker rooms. Click Here for the complete list. Spyware/Adware Free! Download Holdem Indicator Poker Calculator and start winning more hands today! Check out Omaha Indicator and Stud Indicator, the ultimate poker odds calculator for Omaha and Stud games. Poker Calculator for Mac OS - iHoldem Indicator, iOmaha Indicator. Texas Holdem poker tournaments might be the greatest innovation in poker in the past half-century. With a small (and pre-determined) investment poker players can experience the unique thrill of running deep, stacking up chips and ultimately playing for both a life-changing payday and the title of sole survivor.
Texas hold'em is a simple poker game, but it can be daunting to get to grips with.
But don't let that put you off. By the time you are down with this beginner's guide to Texas hold'em, you will know:
1. What Is Texas Hold'em Poker?
Texas Hold'em is the most popular of all poker variations.
All of the marquee tournaments around the world (including those played at the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour, the and the European Poker Tour) feature the no-limit variation of this game.
Texas hold'em is so popular that is the only poker game many players will ever learn.
It takes a moment to learn, but a lifetime to master.
Discovering how to play Texas hold'em poker is not difficult and the simplicity of its rules, gameplay, and hand-ranking all contribute to the popularity of the game.
However, don't let the simplicity of the game mislead you.
The number of possible situations and combinations is so vast that Texas hold'em can be an extremely complex game when you play at the highest levels.
If you are approaching the game of Texas hold'em for the first time, starting from the basic rules of the game is key. Not only these are the easiest ones to learn, but they are also essential to understand the gameplay and, later on, the game's basic strategy.
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'>2. Texas Hold'em Rules
So how do you play Texas hold'em?
The goal of a Texas hold'em game is to use your hole card and in combination with the community cards to make the best possible five-card poker hand.
Hold'em is not unlike other poker games like five-card draw.
However, the way players construct their hands in Texas hold'em is a little different than in draw poker.
It's always possible a player can 'bluff' and get others to fold better hands.
- In a game of Texas hold'em, each player is dealt two cards face down (the 'hole cards')
- Throughout several betting rounds, five more cards are (eventually) dealt face up in the middle of the table
- These face-up cards are called the 'community cards.' Each player is free to use the community cards in combination with their hole cards to build a five-card poker hand.
While we will see each betting round and different phase that forms a full hand of a Texas hold'em game, you should know that the five community cards are dealt in three stages:
- The Flop: the first three community cards.
- The Turn: the fourth community card.
- The River:The fifth and final community card.
Your mission is to construct your five-card poker hands using the best available five cards out of the seven total cards (the two hole cards and the five community cards).
You can do that by using both your hole cards in combination with three community cards, one hole card in combination with four community cards, or no hole cards.
If the cards on the table lead to a better combination, you can also play all five community cards and forget about yours.
In a game of Texas hold'em you can do whatever works to make the best five-card hand.
If the betting causes all but one player to fold, the lone remaining player wins the pot without having to show any cards.
For that reason, players don't always have to hold the best hand to win the pot. It's always possible a player can 'bluff' and get others to fold better hands.
READ ALSO: Common Poker Tells: How to Read People in Poker
If two or more players make it all of the way to the showdown after the last community card is dealt and all betting is complete, the only way to win the pot is to have the highest-ranking five-card poker hand.
Now that you know the basics of Texas hold'em and you start to begin gaining an understanding of how the game works, it's time to get into some specifics.
These include how to deal Texas hold'em and how the betting works.
Basic Rules Key Takeaways:
- A game of Texas hold'em feature several betting rounds
- Players get two private and up to five community cards
- Unless all players abandon the game before the showdown, you need the highest poker hand to win
How to Play
Let's have a look at all the different key aspects of a Texas hold'em game, including the different positions at the table and the betting rounds featured in the game.
The Button
The play moves clockwise around the table, starting with action to the left of the dealer button.
The 'button' is a round disc that sits in front of a player and is rotated one seat to the left every hand.
When playing in casinos and poker rooms, the player with the dealer button doesn't deal the cards (the poker room hires someone to do that).
In when you play poker home games with friends the player with the button usually deals the hands.
The button determines which player at the table is the acting dealer.
The first two players sitting to the immediate left of the button are required to post a 'small blind' and a 'big blind' to initiate the betting.
From there, the action occurs on multiple streets:
- Preflop
- Flop
- Turn
- River
Each one of these moments (or 'streets' in the game's lingo) is explained further below.
The button determines which player at the table is the acting dealer.
In Texas hold'em, the player on button, or last active player closest to the button receives the last action on all post-flop streets of play.
While the dealer button dictates which players have to post the small and big blinds, it also determines where the dealing of the cards begin.
The player to the immediate left of the dealer button in the small blind receives the first card and then the dealer pitches cards around the table in a clockwise motion from player to player until each has received two starting cards.
READ ALSO: Poker Positions Explained: the Importance of Position in Poker
The Blinds
Before every new hand begins, two players at the table are obligated to post small and big blinds.
The blinds are forced bets that begin the wagering.
Without these blinds, the game would be very boring because no one would be required to put any money into the pot and players could just wait around until they are dealt pocket aces (AA) and only play then.
The blinds ensure there will be some level of 'action' on every hand.
In tournaments, the blinds are raised at regular intervals. In cash games, the blinds always stay the same.
In tournaments, the blinds are raised at regular intervals.
- As the number of players keeps decreasing and the stacks of the remaining players keep getting bigger, it is a necessity that the blinds keep increasing throughout a tournament. [*]In cash games, the blinds always stay the same.
The player directly to the left of the button posts the small blind, and the player to his or her direct left posts the big blind.
The small blind is generally half the amount of the big blind, although this stipulation varies from room to room and can also be dependent on the game being played.
In a '$1/$2' Texas holdem game, the small blind is $1 and the big blind is $2.
First Betting Round: Preflop
The first round of betting takes place right after each player has been dealt two hole cards.
The first player to act is the player to the left of the big blind.
This position referred to as 'under the gun' because the player has to act first. The first player has three options:
- Call: match the amount of the big blind
- Raise: increase the bet within the specific limits of the game
- Fold: throw the hand away
If the player chooses to fold, he or she is out of the game and no longer eligible to win the current hand.
Players can bet anywhere from the amount of the big blind (the minimum bet allowed) up to the total amount in the current pot.
The amount a player can raise to depends on the game that is being played.
In a game of no-limit Texas hold'em, the minimum opening raise must be at least twice the big blind, and the maximum raise can be all of the chips a player has in his or her stack (an 'all-in' bet).
There are other betting variations in hold'em poker.
In fixed-limit hold'em (or just 'limit hold'em), a raise is always exactly twice the big blind.
In pot-limit hold'em (played much less often than the other variations), players can bet anywhere from the amount of the big blind (the minimum bet allowed) up to the total amount in the current pot.
After the first player ('under the gun') acts, the play proceeds in a clockwise fashion around the table with each player also having the same three options — to call, to raise, or fold.
Once the last bet is called and the action is 'closed,' the preflop round is over and play moves on to the 'flop.'
Second Betting Round: The Flop
After the first preflop betting round has been completed, the first three community cards are dealt and a second betting round follows involving only the players who have not folded already.
A check simply means to pass the action to the next player in the hand.
In this betting round (and subsequent ones), the action starts with the first active player to the left of the button.
Along with the options to bet, call, fold, or raise, a player now has the option to 'check' if no betting action has occurred beforehand.
A check simply means to pass the action to the next player in the hand.
Again betting continues until the last bet or raise has been called (which closes the action).
It also can happen that every player simply chooses not to be and checks around the table, which also ends the betting round.
Third Betting Round: The Turn
Call – match the amount of the big blind
The fourth community card, called the turn, is dealt face-up following all betting action on the flop.
Once this has been completed, another round of betting occurs, similar to that on the previous street of play.
Again players have the option to options to check, bet, call, fold, or raise.
Final Betting Round: The River
Fold – throw the hand away
The fifth community card, called the river, is dealt face-up following all betting action on the turn.
Once this has been completed, another round of betting occurs, similar to what took play on the previous street of play.
Once more the remaining players have the option to options to check, bet, call, fold, or raise.
After all betting action has been completed, the remaining players in the hand with hole cards now expose their holdings to determine a winner. This is called the showdown.
The Showdown
Players construct their hands by choosing the five best cards from the seven available
The remaining players show their hole cards, and with the assistance of the dealer, a winning hand is determined.
The player with the best combination of five cards wins the pot according to the official poker hand rankings.
3. The Hands in Texas Hold'em
These hand rankings aren't specifically part of Texas hold'em rules, but apply to many different poker games.
- Royal Flush — five cards of the same suit, ranked ace through ten; e.g., A♥K♥Q♥J♥10♥
- Straight Flush — five cards of the same suit and consecutively ranked; e.g., 9♣8♣7♣6♣5♣
- Four of a Kind — four cards of the same rank; e.g., Q♣Q♥Q♦Q♠4♦
- Full House — three cards of the same rank and two more cards of the same rank; e.g., J♣J♥J♠8♦8♥
- Flush — any five cards of the same suit; e.g., A♠J♠8♠5♠2♠
- Straight — any five cards consecutively ranked; e.g., Q♣J♦10♥9♠8♦
- Three of a Kind — three cards of the same rank; e.g., 8♣8♠8♦K♣4♥
- Two Pair — two cards of the same rank and two more cards of the same rank; e.g., A♠A♣J♦J♣7♠
- One Pair — two cards of the same rank; e.g., 10♥10♣9♥4♦2♦
- High Card — five unmatched cards; e.g., A♣J♦10♠5♣2♥ would be called 'ace-high'
Players construct their hands by choosing the five best cards from the seven available (their two hole cards and the five community cards).
If the board is showing 9♣5♠K♦3♠A♥, a player with the two hole cards 9♠ would have two pair (aces and nines) and would lose to a player who has 9♦9♥ for three of a kind (three nines).
The Nuts Poker League Company Check
Learning hold'em poker begins with understanding how hands are dealt and the order of play as described above.
Of course, learning Texas hold'em rules is just the beginning, as the next step is to learn strategy which involves understanding what constitutes good starting hand selection, the odds and probabilities associated with the game, the significance of position and getting to act last during those post-flop betting rounds, and many other aspects of the game.
4. How to Play Texas Hold'em Games Online
Now that you know how Texas Hold'em works, it's time to put the theory into practice and play your first games.
The best way to start playing Texas Hold'em is to start from these free poker games available online and then move up to the real money action only when you feel comfortable enough to do so.
All the 'must-have poker rooms' below offer free games to practice online.
If you are completely new to the game, you should go for play money options, first. These risk-free games with fake money are an excellent way to familiarise with the different moments of play and the betting rounds.
The play money games are a great way to learn more about the hand rankings and begin to read the board fast enough to take all the right decisions at the right time.
After that, you should more to the poker freerolls. These are free poker tournaments with actual prizes on tap that range from free money to free entries into more expensive real money games.
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Table Of Contents
Omaha hold'em, often called simply Omaha, is an exciting poker game that is strikingly similar to Texas hold'em, although it does have a number of differences to set it apart.
Unlike Texas hold'em, a game in which the preferred betting structure is no-limit, the most popular betting structure of Omaha games is pot-limit.
Games of this type are referred to as pot-limit Omaha, abbreviated as PLO poker.
The first major difference you'll instantly be aware of when playing PLO poker instead of hold'em is that each player is dealt exactly four hole cards instead of two.
However, players don't use all four hole cards to make a hand because they can only use two of them.
Check The Nuts Poker Tournament
In fact, players must use exactly two of their hole cards along with three of the community cards to make a five-card poker hand.
Let's see an example:
- A player holds — a strong starting hand in pot-limit Omaha.
- The five community cards read
In a pot limit Omaha game, the player does not hold a flush despite holding the .
Neither does the player have a Broadway straight.
The player actually only has a pair of kings with an ace-kicker.
This may seem a little confusing when you first sit in a PLO game, but it quickly becomes second nature. You just need to play enough Omaha hands to get used to this and to learn how to read the board correctly.
SEE ALSO: Learn Omaha Poker at GGPoker with Daniel Negreanu
What is Pot-Limit Omaha?
To know more about the basics of the game, you can visit these pages:
- How to play Omaha poker: the official rules of the game explained in the easiest way possible.
- Why You Are Losing at Pot-Limit Omaha (With Ryan Laplante): Poker poker pro Ray Laplante helps you become a better player in a 2-minute video lesson.
- Eight Common Mistakes Beginners Make in Pot-Limit Omaha: 888poker ambassador Vivian Saliba shares her thoughts on the most common mistakes beginners make when they approach Omaha poker.
- Best Free Poker Sites in 2020: a list of the top sites to practice Omaha poker for free or play real money games with bonuses.
Main Differences Between Omaha Poker and Texas Hold'em
Besides starting with four hole cards rather than two, there are a few more differences between Texas hold'em and Omaha games.
The Action Preflop
One such difference is that preflop hands in pot-limit Omaha run much closer in terms of poker equity than they do in hold'em.
- In Texas hold'em, a hand such as is an 82.36% favourite over before the flop hits the board.
- In Omaha poker a hand such as will only beat 59.84% of the time.
This closeness in preflop hand strength is one factor leading to players playing more hands, seeing more flops, and PLO being more of a drawing game than hold'em is.
This creates larger pots with the majority of the chips often going into the pot after the flop is dealt.
Hands Strenght
Another key difference is the fact you generally need a stronger hand at showdown to win at pot-limit Omaha than you would in a Texas hold'em game.
In hold'em, it is not uncommon to win a hand with two pair or even a single pair. In Omaha poker, these hands are rarely the best by the river.
The Betting Structure
The other significant difference between pot-limit Omaha and no-limit Texas hold'em is the betting structure.
In no-limit hold'em, players can bet any amount they wish, up to the size of their stack.
Omaha poker, however, is 'pot-limit,' meaning players can only bet the total size of the pot including their call.
Need help to understand the concept of pot-limit games? Let's look at another example.
Imagine a PLO poker hand that is contested between two players.
The pot has $100 in it, which means the maximum the first player can bet is $100.
When it is the second player's turn to act, that player can only bet a maximum of $400.
This is worked out by adding the initial size of the pot ($100), plus the size of the opponent's bet ($100), plus the second player's call of the first bet ($100).
This equals $300, which when added to the $100 call makes the maximum bet $400.
Betting is easier when you play online
While this can be confusing until you are used to playing the game regularly, betting in pot limit Omaha poker is a lot easier if you play online.
When playing Omaha games online you can simply click the 'pot' button and the software figures out the correct amount for you.
SEE ALSO: Want to Play Omaha Games Online? Check Out 888Poker!
Need help? Ask the Dealer to count the chips for you
In a live pot limit Omaha game, if you announce 'pot' before betting the size of the pot, the dealer will assist with the calculations.
Basic Pot-Limit Omaha Strategy
Pot-limit Omaha poker is a complex game, which makes it difficult to come up with the perfect strategy for playing it.
There are a number of pointers that you can remember that can form the basis for a solid pot limit Omaha strategy:
- Be patient with your starting hand selection. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that any four cards are worth playing.
- A bare pair of aces isn't as good as in hold'em. Two aces can help form a strong preflop hand in PLO poker, but unless they improve on the flop you're unlikely to win the pot, especially in a multi-way contested pot.
- There is less bluffing in PLO poker. While bluffing does occur, it's less prevalent in most players' PLO strategy than happens in hold'em; a show of strength in PLO is likely to be a strong hand.
- Draw to the nuts. Although there are times when you can play a weaker draw aggressively, drawing to the nuts is the best idea.
Stop thinking like a hold'em poker player. Many Omaha poker players come from a no-limit hold'em background and play the game as such. They'll overvalue one-pair and two-pair hands, as well as open-ended straight draws (with eight outs).
The latter is particularly problematic since in PLO poker it is possible to have 'wrap' draws with up to 20 outs with the perfect hole card and community card combination!
SEE ALSO: Dealing With Variance in Pot-Limit Omaha
Quick Strategy Tips to Be a Good Omaha Player
While Omaha might not be as 'straightforward' as Texas hold'em, these are some simple strategy tips that will help you get better results at the table — faster.
Go through this list of essential Omaha poker tips, memorise them, and you'll know what to do to become a better player right.
Know what hands to play / fold. The nature of PLO requires you to be smart and take a holistic approach to the cards that compose your starting hand.
Avoid the danglers, for example.
Whenever you decide to play a hand with a 'dangler' (a card that doesn't connect to any of the other cards in your four-card starting hand), you force yourself to play with three cards.
Why is this bad, you ask?
You might think this isn't too bad, especially if the other three cards that compose your hand seem promising.
Think about your opponents, for a moment.
If they go for a 'more conservative' pot limit Omaha poker strategy, they stay in the hand only if they can still play with all four cards, not just three.
By entering the hand with three cards, you are giving others an advantage they shouldn't have.
READ ALSO: You Play Too Loose in These 3 Preflop PLO Situations
Don't play too many hands. Note: this is not only the most important Omaha poker tip you can ever learn — it is a lesson that you should keep for all the poker games you'll ever play in your life.
Once you realize that Omaha poker games have good hands (a few) and bad hands (a lot more), you need to accept the consequences of that.
Select the hands you play and go only for the premium hands.
Omaha, like hold'em, is a game where you need to know when it's time to play and when it's best to fold your cards.
Be patient. Wait until your starting hand fits the range you should play, use the information you have to read your opponents and decide whether you should continue or not.
Know how to read the board and assess the other players' hand strength. Unless you are so good at detecting poker tells that the police use you as a real-life lie detector…be careful.
Omaha poker can become a very expensive game and one where the players don't bluff as much as in hold'em.
If a large bet comes on the board, you better save your hero call for another poker game and fold. Most Omaha players use big bets to protect their hand. Calling their alleged bluffs can be very, very costly.
Understand How Odds and Outs Work. The concepts of odds, outs, and equity are important in all poker games, including pot-limit Omaha.
If you struggle to do the math and understand how everything works, you better rely on the usual beginner's formula.
Start with a free odds calculator and continue using the tool until you learn how to do the calculations in your head.
Three Things NOT to Do in Pot Limit Omaha Poker
While in Sochi, Russia, for an 888poker Live event, PokerNews'own Tiffany Michelle approached 888poker ambassador Vivian Saliba to talk about Pot-Limit Omaha.
With more than $100,000 in PLO tournament winnings and an 11th-place finish in a PLO event at the World Series of Poker, Saliba is known (and respected) to be a good Omaha poker player — perhaps even the best one in the 888poker team.
In her conversation with Michelle, Saliba touched on the three most common mistakes she sees poker players make at the table when they play Omaha poker.
Don't Freak Out When Short Stacked
'When you have seven or 10 big blinds (BB) you are not that short. You still have a lot of room to pick your spot and to pick your right hand,' Saliba explains.
Check The Nuts Poker
Confirming one of the Omaha tips we shared earlier, patience is the key. 'You need to be very patient. I see too many people just going crazy [because] they think they are super-short.'
'Poker is about survival,' Saliba continues. 'Tournaments are about survival. PLO is like that, too — just perhaps at another level. You need to learn to manage risks all the time..'
Don't Play a Lot of Hands
If you thought our list of Omaha strategy tips was the only one mentioning the sheer volume of hands beginners play — think again.
'You have four cards,' Saliba explains. 'I know they look pretty — but this is the same for your opponent.'
If you plan on staying in the hand and invest your stack, 'you really need to have strong high cards, high pairs, drawing for the nuts.'
'You shouldn't be playing multi-way pots with weak draws or [small] pairs. You have to select the hands you play.'
Don't Assume It's Just Like No Limit Hold'Em
It's no secret that the majority of players that get into Pot Limit Omaha poker come from Texas hold'em.
According to Saliba, many of them make one common mistake: 'they think Omaha poker is simply hold'em with four cards.
'There are a lot of differences between the two games in terms of hands, of strength, theory, approaches, and more.'
'There are so many things that before you start playing PLO you should stop and study the game. Omaha is not as simple as people think.'
Best Starting Hands in Pot-Limit Omaha Poker
Like other variants of poker, pot limit Omaha success begins with solid starting hand selection.
The very best Omaha poker players in the world play a wide range of poker hands, but those new to the game should stick to hands that are stronger and therefore easier to play.
The best PLO poker starting hands are those that have a big pair in them and some connectedness that allows them to improve post-flop.
Ideally, your hands will be what is known as 'double-suited,' meaning you have the chance to flop two different flush draws.
E.g., is a nice double-suited starting hand with a big pair.
Computer simulations show that double-suited is the best pot-limit Omaha starting hand.
Flopping a set with this hand means you'll always have top set, while any flush draw will be to the nuts.
Other strong hands containing a pair of aces include and , while double-suited run-down holdings such as are also very playable.
SEE ALSO: You Can't Play Them All: Evaluating Starting Hands in Pot-Limit Omaha
Final Considerations
As you have probably gathered, pot-limit Omaha poker is an exciting game that creates big pots, and sees players make big hands regularly.
As great as this is, the big thing you need to consider is playing Omaha poker requires a larger bankroll than hold'em variants mostly because of the closeness in the strength of hands both preflop and postflop.
It's common to not have more than 60% equity on the flop against a single opponent, which can and does lead to some crazy swings!
When you run good at pot limit Omaha, you usually run very good, but the flipside is also true. Remember it when you play!
Top Omaha Poker Sites
This article was originally published on March 1, 2016. The last update includes new info, including a list of practical Omaha strategy tips and Vivian Saliba's insights on the most common mistakes beginners make when they play Omaha poker.
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