How To Play Poker With Your Friends
“How To Have Fun Playing Poker With Your Friends” B y To m D o y l e
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How To Play Poker With Your Friends
Contents
Introduction ................................................................. 3 How To Play Texas Hold Em .......................................... 4 How To Play Omaha ..................................................... 7 How To Play Seven Card Stud ....................................... 9 How To Play 5 Card Stud ............................................. 12 How To Play Omaha Hi-Lo .......................................... 15 How To Play Caribbean Stud Poker ............................. 18 Resources ................................................................... 22
Copyright 2011
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How To Play Poker With Your Friends
Introduction
Due to the popularity of online poker and poker shows on TV, playing cards with your friends and family is seen as a fun and entertaining way of competing with each other. All you need is a pack of cards and a set of poker chips and you’re all set to go. This book is a guide on how to play the most popular games of poker with your friends, like Texas Holdem and Omaha.
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How To Play Poker With Your Friends
How To Play Texas Hold Em
Texas Holdem has become such a popular Game that most tournaments now days are Texas Holdem games, and there are even 2 or 3 television shows dedicated to the game. Texas Holdem is a 5 card poker game, but instead of each layer being dealt 7 cards, the dealer deals 5 cards in the center of the table, these cards are used by all the players to make the best hand possible. To make your hand each player is also dealt 2 cards and the object is to use the cards in your hand and the ones on the table to make the best hand you can.
There are 5 rounds of Texas Hold’em Poker and they are: The Pre-Flop The Flop The turn The River The Showdown
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During a Texas Holdem game between each round there is a round of betting, and is when players with bad hands may fold.
In the game of Texas Holdem the first round is the pre flop. During this round the big and the small blinds place their bets, the big and small blinds are the first two players to the dealers left. Before the players are allowed to look at their cards the small blind must place a bet of half the table minimum and the next player who is the big blind must place a bet of the table minimum and then the dealer gives each player their hole cards. The hold cards is the name of the 2 cards each player has that are exclusively theirs, these cards guarantee that each player has a chance to make a better hand then the other players, without them all you would have is the 5 communal cards.
In Texas Holdem the next round is the flop. This is when the dealer deals out the first 3 of the 5 communal cards. It is during this round that most players will fold; betting in this round is usually very conservative because 2 more cards are still needed and betting big on the chances that the cards you need are the ones that will appear is taking a www.HighStakesRakeBack.com
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big chance with your money, one that can coast you to bust out of the game early.
The third round is called the turn. The turn is when the dealer puts out the 4th communal card. At this point you can get a good idea of your chances of getting a winning hand and now is when the betting starts to heat up, and more people will drop out of the game.
The river is the last of the 5 cards to be turned over by the dealer. At this point all the cards available to make the hands have been put out, this is also the last time to bet before turning over the cards.
The last round of Texas Holdem is the showdown, this is when all players turn over their cards and a winner is declared.You now have all the information you need to start playing Texas Holdem.
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How To Play Poker With Your Friends
How To Play Omaha
Omaha Poker plays the second best in attracting a large amount of people in card games next to Texas Hold’em. Omaha Poker is very similar to Texas Hold’em, with the main difference being that a player can choose his or her hand out of nine cards instead of seven. This is the reason for the growing popularity of the game. Omaha, which has the same structure as Texas Hold’em, is played very similar to Texas Hold'em; the only difference being that each player is dealt four hole cards instead of two. The players post the blinds and then receive their hole cards. After receiving the hole cards, a betting round takes place and then comes the ‘flop’, the ‘turn’ and the ‘river’ with a betting round between each of them. The main difference between Omaha and Texas Hold'em is that each of the players has to form his hand out of precisely two hole cards and three board cards. This is different from Texas Hold'em where a player could use either one or both (or even none) of his hole cards. If a player is trying to win the low hand, he must use two unpaired hole cards that are ranked lower than eight, and three board cards, also unpaired, that are also ranked lower than eight. www.HighStakesRakeBack.com
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How To Play Poker With Your Friends In Omaha, the starting hands should be coordinated, which means that they should fit together. What you really want are cards that are more likely to form into straights, flushes or a full house. It's very rare that a pair would hold up on an Omaha table. Look for doublesuited hands, giving you two chances of a flush and cards that are close together or considered in a run. In playing the game, this is an example where many new Omaha players falter. The players, for instance, see four spades on the board, which are the community cards, and they have the Ace of Spades in their hand. They think they have the nut flush, forgetting that a player must use two hole cards, therefore needing two spades in his hand to make a flush. Omaha is played either Pot Limit or Limit. The game is not played No Limit, as having four hole cards gives so many extra possibilities, chances, and permutations. If playing No Limit, the game would be too wild and without direction.
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How To Play Poker With Your Friends
How To Play Seven Card Stud
One of the most popular variations of Poker, the 7 Card Stud Poker game is played at every Vegas casino and in all internet casinos. The popularity of 7 Card Stud Poker is eclipsed only by a variant of the game called Texas Hold ‘Em, which is the main format of the World Series of Poker, the largest professional tournament in the world.
Once you know how to play 7 Card Stud Poker, it is an easy step to learn Texas Hold ‘Em, Omaha, or other popular variants.
The hand ranking order is the same for 7 Card Stud as it is for just about every one of the hundreds of Poker variations played around the world.
The highest possible hand is a Royal Flush, and after that in descending order are the Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, and Straight,
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Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, and High Card.
The odds of being dealt a high hand in 7 Card Stud are lower than those in Texas Hold ‘Em because you must construct the hand using only the cards you receive. There are no community cards in traditional 7 Card Stud. As with every Poker game, play in 7 Card Stud begins with the ante: each player pays a small amount to the pot in order to participate in the game. There are six stages in 7 Card Stud Poker; known as third street, fourth street, fifth street, sixth street, the river, and the showdown. After the ante, each player is dealt two face-down cards (called hole cards) and one face-up card. This initial deal is third street. The player with the highest card showing initiates the betting, and will either check (not raise the pot), or bet. Then, each subsequent player can either call (match the first player’s bet), raise (increase the bet amount), or fold (withdraw from the hand). Three more face-up cards are dealt to each player, one at a time, with a round of betting after each deal pass--these stages are fourth, fifth and sixth street. www.HighStakesRakeBack.com
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The seventh card is known as “the river,” and is dealt face-down. One final round of betting ensues, after which those players who have not folded enter the last stage, called “the showdown.”
At this point, beginning with the last player to call the bet, each player shows their respective cards and names the best five-card hand they can make with their cards (full house, two pair, etc.). The pot is given to the player with the highest ranking hand, and then the next hand begins. Now you know how to play 7 Card Stud Poker!
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How To Play Poker With Your Friends
How To Play 5 Card Stud Five Card Stud is similar to Five Card Draw, the difference being that you do not ever get a chance to replace cards in your hand and therefore do not get a chance to improve that hand. As in Seven Card Stud you get a hole card and 4 open cards for all to see. Most versions play the final card as a community card. Since there is no chance to improve your hand, the winning hands tend to be either pairs or high cards and it is hard to string people along to the final street. Some variations on Five Card Stud alleviate this by making the last card a pocket card allowing for some raises.
The Open The hand starts with the dealer handing each player 2 cards. First cards dealt are a hole card and then the dealer follows up with an open card for each player. Wagering then begins, usually with the high open card going first and then following clockwise. This www.HighStakesRakeBack.com
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continues until betting is over. These are the first two “Streets�.
Third Street The dealer then hands out a third card, which is another open card. This is followed by another round of betting. Betting begins again with the highest open card opening and continues until there are no more bets made. Then it is time for the Fourth Street.
Fourth Street Again the dealer hands out an open card, which is then followed by another round of betting. Betting again continues until all call and then it is on to the Fifth Street.
Fifth Street The Fifth Street is the final card. Usually this is an open card but some variations play this as a hole or pocket card to make the game more interesting. This variation creates more uncertainty about which www.HighStakesRakeBack.com
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cards your opponent’s hole cards could be and allows for more interesting betting opportunities. Bluffs and more creative betting make this variation more interesting than four straight open cards.
Another variation is to have both the first and second cards remain hole cards, for much the same reasons as making the fifth card a hole card. The problem with having only the first card as a hole card is that even beginning players get a feel for the odds of any particular player having a better hand than theirs, based on their open cards. Therefore it is difficult to have an interesting hand of cards as betting tends to be rather a bit more conservative as a result.
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How To Play Omaha Hi-Lo When you are learning how to play Omaha high-low you need to learn some special approaches with starting hands. It is also important that you concentrate in comparing your hand with the community card for a poker when you are learning how to play Omaha highlow as a beginner or amateur. Never forget the 2 from the pocket card and 3 from the board card concept in Omaha.
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How to play Omaha high-low explained in a nutshell:•
Forced blinds are made.
• Four down cards are dealt – bet follows from player left to blind (4 pocket) •
Burn
• Three face up community cards - bet follows – from remaining players (3 flop cards) • Another face up community card - bet follows from remaining players (1 turn card) • Last community card face up - bet follows from remaining players (1 river card) •
Showdown, high and low shares the pot
How to play Omaha high-low and finalize on pot splitting? • If the same player has both the high and low the pot is taken by the single player. • If one player has high and other has low (8 or better) the pot is split in to half
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• If one player has high and 2 have equally ranked lows, half pot goes to the high rank and the remaining half pot is split between the two lows • If one player has high and lows and another has equal lows, the high low player takes three-fourth of the pot and the one-fourth is taken by the player with equal low.
A strong starting can be a monstrous luck. If you happen to have the following, you have most probabilities of winning:• AAKK, AAQQ, AAJJ, AATT, AAJT, AA99 or AAXX are the best of the hands regardless of double suits. • KKQQ, KKJJ, KKTT, QQJJ, QQTT, KQJT, JT98, KKAQ, KKAJ, KKQJ, KKQT, KKJT, QQAK, QQAJ, AAKJ, QQKT, QQJT, QQJ9 are also best hands.
When you learn how to play Omaha high-low the most of the trick lies in:• Pocket card versus community card considering the 2 from pocket and 3 from board requirement.
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• Above all learn to read the 8 or better low card versus the low nuts!
When you learn how to play Omaha high-low you need concentrate on how to read the low nuts, if possible try to mug up the series of nut lows.
How To Play Caribbean Stud Poker Caribbean Poker, often called Caribbean Stud Poker, started gaining popularity on cruise ships and later on in South Pacific clubs. It made it's way to Vegas casinos quickly and is now a very popular game at casino all over the world. Caribbean Poker is dead easy to learn, and is very similar to 5-card stud. Needless to say, most online casinos offer a variation of Caribbean Stud Poker, and some even have a progressive jackpot attached to the game.
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Game Basics
The game starts with an ante bet from each player seated at the table (typically up to 6 players are seated at a table). The antes will vary at online casinos. Each player is dealt five cards, face up, and the dealer also received five cards but only one is turned face up. Now each player can make a bet, depending on their hand. This is referred to as the "call bet". The table will have a maximum you can bet. You may also elect to surrender, in which case you lose your ante bet. .
Once you have decided to call, the dealer turn over their cards. The dealer has to qualify, meaning he has to hold an Ace-King combination or better. In the case of the dealer not qualifying, you win the ante bet, but your call bet is simply return4ed to you.
If the dealer in fact qualifies, it becomes a simple showdown for the best hand. If your hand wins with a pair, you get paid even money on your ante bet. If you win with a hand better than a pair, you get paid a multiple of your call bet, based on a game payout table. The better your hand on the rankings, the higher your payout.
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Always remember that if you elected to not call, you will lose the ante.
Payout Table Here is a basic payout table. Remember these may vary from casino to casino, and the same applies online. these payouts are multiples of your call bet.
Hand Payout
Royal Flush - 100:1 Straight Flush - 50:1 4 of a Kind - 20:1 Full House - 7:1 Flush - 5:1
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Straight - 4:1
3 of a Kind - 3:1 2 Pair - 2:1 1 Pair - 1:1
If you lose against the dealer you forfeit both your bets.
Conclusion
Caribbean Stud Poker is a lot of fun to play, and very popular. Be aware that the house edge on this game is around 5.22% which is higher than blackjack but much lower than many other casino games
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Resources
www.highstakesrakeback.com Sign up to online poker sites through HighStakes Rakeback to receive a rebate on the amount of rake you’ve paid. www.amazon.com Buy all your poker cards, chips and tables from the biggest online supermarket
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