Poker has always been a popular game of cards and a good way of gambling to the amounts you can afford. Some play for thousands of pounds or dollars a hand, others, myself included started off playing for 1 pence ante. Most people start at home then graduate to online poker, those who play poker online seem to enjoy it more, probably because of the possibility of winning more money though you can find some free poker games. One last thing you should know, if you learn poker here then it will also teach you how to play video poker, another popular past-time.
There are a few variations of the games of poker. I’ll list some here to give you an idea, the most popular now seen on television is Texas Hold em all, then there’s Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo and 5 Card Draw.
Before I go into the different games I’d like to go over a few terms that will apply in these games but first a quick explanation. Betting is different on a lot of these but some things are constant. After someone has bet you get the option to call, raise or fold.
CALL: If anyone before you has bet an amount more than you have, ie a raise, then you have to put the difference into the pot to call. The players following either have to match the bet, raise or fold.
RAISE: This is when you want to force the other players into either putting more money into the pot because you have a good hand or force them to fold.
FOLD: This is when you throw your hand in and have lost the pot. Sometimes called passing.
CHECK: This one is used when you are first to bet and basically means you are calling nothing. No-one has raised yet so you are staying in the hand without betting. However, if someone behind you then raises then when the bet comes around to you then you have to match.
