Texas Hold’em

Heard about poker a lot, but still don’t have any clue what Texas Hold’em is? We’re ready to help! It’s actually one of the most popular card game variants of poker. So there are two hole cards, which are dealt face down to each player, and also five community cards dealt face up in three stages: “the flop” (a series of three cards), “the turn” or “fourth street” (an additional single card), and “the river” or “fifth street” (a final card). Your mission is to choose the five best hands from any combination of the seven cards; the five community cards and their two hole cards. So when is the part about winning? Here it goes! The one who wins all of the money must have the best hand and avoid folding by the end of all betting rounds. If you want the pot you have to try hard!

Would you challenge yourself to make a try in a hundred and twenty-year-old game? Born in Texas it’s now available in any Aussie’s home. Think about it, take your time. Don’t rush into the Internet right away just to waste your money because of impatience. We’re here to help and provide you with theory and advice that will certainly come in handy later on. And after that, we’ll gladly suggest you a list of reputable Australian casinos, where you’ll be finally able to try your luck and acquire skills. May fortune smile on you!

The Rules

The rules are quite simple, but still don’t fail to enable an infinite variety of ways to win. Sounds intriguing, right? Here are four main steps that you need to know:

• Players are dealt two cards
• After that five more cards are added (three + one +one)
• The rounds happen before the flop is dealt with and after each following deal.
• Everybody has to put the same amount of chips in the pot to stay in the hand and be able to see the next card
• The pot is won by the best poker hand. Well, if not only you happen to be lucky and the other player has a hand of the same value, then “split-pot” or “tie” (a “chop-pot”) can occur.

And yet again, the rules are great and easy to remember, but you won’t go far without applying creativity and at least running through some common tactics and strategies. A solid foundation combined with the skill to adapt is the best key to success.

Prominent Online Texas Hold’em Strategies

Position Matters

Is there a best position that you can have in Texas Hold’em? Yes, there is one. And it’s called “on the button”. Basically, it means you’re the last person to act in three (out of the four) rounds — after the flop, the turn, and the river. By the time your turn comes, you have quite an extensive knowledge about other players’ situations (how many of them are still in the hand, etc.), and based on this the decision you make is much more on thought out.

There’s the worst position as well. Its name is “small blind”. If you have to act first after the flop, the turn, and the river — guess it’s not your luckiest game. Although sometimes this position can be used to your advantage by playing aggressively.

The total number of players remaining at the table can be an important thing to focus on. A hand for a two-player table isn’t a hand for a seven-player one. Also, the frequency matters! The more you bet – the more aggressive you should be.

Keep an Eye On the Other Players!

Watching is learning. And watch also helps you think of your own strategy, so be careful not to lose sight of the other players. Try to figure out how many chips they have, what cards they possibly hold, and how their best hand could look like, given the community cards you share with everyone else.

The trends among players are also important to track. With time you’ll be able to understand who bluffs and who is easier to read. If someone has never bet more than $20 and suddenly a $100 comes from nowhere, you know you should keep your eye on them.

Always try to evaluate the situation around you. It’s good to have an idea of the game as a whole and not as just your set of cards.

They Shouldn’t See the Flop for Free

If you happen to have a strong enough hand to see the flop — at least raise the minimum bet. Amateurs always want to see the flop as cheaply as possible, but it’s better not to let them do it.

Imagine your hand is an A-K and someone else has a 7-4 and a 10-5. You know you can get both of them out of the hand before the flop, right? But if you let everybody see the flop for the minimal price possible, you shouldn’t be that sure from then on. In a case like this, a 10-9-8 would be the worst variant. Why? Because you have nothing! While one of your opponents has an open-ended straight draw and the other has a pair of 10s. Congratulations! You’ve most likely lost.

Getting Out After the Flop

Sometimes beginners find folding quite difficult. Their logic ties to the money in the pot that it’s always better to stay and see what happens. As you could already guess, in reality, it’s not the best strategy, and they almost certainly are going to lose a lot of chips.

The flop could destroy even a great hand, so better be mindful. For instance, you get an A-K but the flop comes up J-J-5. Not that great, right? And it gets much worse if someone else has a J because you suddenly become a massive loser. Getting out after the flop is usually the best variant of them all. You could think it’s gone your way and it is worth staying, but you still can’t be sure. Well, so what if you stayed in with a Q-6, and the flop is K-10-6? “It’s grand and I have a pair of 6s!” is everything you can think of, but the K and the 10 are very dangerous. Want to know why? It’s quite simple: have the low pair and any other player with a K or a 10 is ahead of you.

The Turn and the River (make your smart moves)

Here are just a few time-tested tips that will help you improve your game:

• Holding a draw after the turn? Try to get to the river without spending an awful load of money.
• Have the best possible hand after the turn? Make it expensive for opponents to see the river.
• Remember that you might be unlucky enough to end up against a full house if the community cards include a pair.
• Does the board show three cards of the same suit? Watch out for other players, as some of them might already be holding a flush.
• You no longer have the potential to improve your hand after the river. From then on, your decision to check, bet, fold, or call can only be based on the realized value of the cards you hold. Think your opponent has a better hand? Well, at this point in time it’s usually foolish to bluff.

The Odds of Online Texas Hold’em

The odds are the core of the poker world. You may have a wish to think again if you were going to go all-in when the dealer hits you one last time is all you have is a pair of 8’s after you realize how hard the odds can stack against you. Of course, with that knowledge, it’s easy to decide to get rid of certain strategies as a whole, but remember that poker is about shifting and adapting. Try to choose the one that fits your situation best and use it to your advantage.

• 1% (1-in-100): nobody at the table has an Ace or a King
• 1% (1-in-100): a hand with two cards of the same suit can get a flush on the next turn
• 6% (1-in-20): you’ll get a pair in your hand before the flop
• 8% (1-in-12): a hand with a pair upgrades to tree-of-a-kind on the flop
• 12% (1-in-8): a hand with the same suit in the pocket pair will get another two of the same suit on the flop
• 19% (1-in-5): one of the community cards adds the third to the pair in your hand
• 32% (1-in-3): at least one card on the flop gives you a pair
• 33% (1-in-3): with a three-of-a-kind on the flop, you’ll get a full house
• 35% (1-in-3): if after the flop you have four cards of the same suit, you get a flush by the end of the game

What type of Online Texas Hold’em fits you best?

Try to experiment and search. Only time and practice will show you the most fitting variation. Don’t be too quick with betting big sums of money or playing without any theoretical foundation. It’s better to play with no charge for some time. You’ll always have time to waste money, but learning is a longer and harder process. But please don’t let it stop you from getting to the top! Be mindful and it will certainly pay off. Choose the type that will make you feel the luckiest. Don’t miss it!

Betting Limits

Multiple variations of Texas Hold’em games have different betting limits. And you must already know that betting is crucial to any game of poker. Hence the differences in betting limits actually matter.

There are 3 betting formats in Texas Holdem:

• Limit
• Pot limit
• No limit

Limit Hold’em

When joining a game, one must agree on the size of the bets before the start.

There are over 4 betting rounds, and the first 2 rounds are worth half the size of the bets on the final 2 rounds in Texas Hold’em.

Imagine you’re playing in a $10/$15 game. After you get your cards, the bets are made in $10 increments. You have to bet in $10 on the flop as well. Although the turn and the river require a bet in $15 increments.

This variant has the lowest level of instability, so if you want to become a professional and make most of your profit in a calm, but calculated manner, pick it. Sometimes you will come across big pots, but they can’t provide you with a stable money income or be considered a professional success. They’re more about fortune, while you seek calm and beneficial game.

Pot-Limit Hold’em

The size of the pot limits the sizes of the bets. As simple as that! Raise or bet the size of the pot, if you like, but don’t count on more than that. This game is something in between no limit and limit. It is great to experiment and try your luck if you aren’t ready for bigger risks of no-limit tables or tired of monotonous limit ones. Choosing this variant means you like the spirit of adventure and the taste of danger, but still don’t want to lose the ground under your feet.

No-Limit Hold’em

There are no limits for betting or raising other than the size of the stack of chips in front of you. And even if you can cover the action from the cash in your wallet, you can’t raise more than the amount of money you already have.

Let’s say you’re in a pot that has $35 in it, but you have $100 in chips. You don’t have an option to be all in, because that raises the bet to a total of $100. But what you can do is bet any increment between the amount of money and the total value of the chips in your possession.

It’s better to raise a minimum amount, by the way, as it might be quite low (even the size of the big blind). You’ll have to raise the amount of the previous bet if the minimum was changed. The only thing preventing you from this is a lack of chips.

Pick this variant if you like to risk, already gained some experience, and have enough money. Don’t bet more than you can afford and you’ll always come out winning.

Pineapple Hold’em vs Crazy Pineapple vs Lazy Pineapple

These variations are played just like Texas Hold’em, with the only difference in getting 3 hole cards instead of 2. You also have to discard one of those 3 cards before the flop in regular pineapple, while in the crazy variant it’s usually done after. Finally, Lazy Pineapple doesn’t require you to discard a hole card just until all the cards have been dealt.

Fascinating how many variations are there!

Other Variations of Texas Holdem

Those mentioned before are just the tip of the iceberg, but if we try to name all of the variants, the list is going to take several hours to read. We want you to have a general idea of some of them though, so here are some honourable mentions that might just hit the spot:

• 3 Card Hold’em: A lot like Pineapple, but you have an option to use all 3 hole cards to make up your final hand (usually Pineapple offers you to only use 2).
• Double Flop Hold’em: Here, you get 2 flops, 2 turns, and 2 rivers. 2 separate hands are the ones that you’ll be finishing the game with. Most of the time the pot is split, but it’s possible to win it entirely. One day it might be you who’ll get really successful in it.
• Irish Poker: Feels a lot like Omaha. You have to choose 2 out of 4 hole cards to discard before the flop.
• River of Blood: Hello-hello, regular Texas Hold’em, BUT with one exception. Another betting round and another river happens if the first river was a red card. The game will continue until a black river card appears.
• Two-Time Hold’em: After getting 4 hole cards, you’ll have to split them into 2 separate hands. You can decide which hand to play during the showdown. Omaha/Omaha 8: There are just 2 major differences to regular Texas Hold’em: 4 hole cards instead of 2. 2 cards are combined from players’ hands and 3 cards from the board.

Glossary

• Hole Cards – first cards dealt face down to players
• The Flop – three cards placed afterwards, face-up on the table
• The Turn – the fourth card placed face-up
• The River – the fifth card placed face-up
• Pot – the total amount of money possible to win
• Raise – increase in the amount of money other players have no choice, but to pay to stay in the hand
• Rags – a really weak hand with a great probability of loss
• Bluffing – manipulate other players to make them fold when you have rags
• Bad Beat – losing when you have a really strong hand
• Pocket Pair – two-hole equally valuable cards
• Suited – a pair of the same suit
• Boat – full house (7, 7, 7, 10, 10)
• Trips – three of a kind (8, 8, 8)
• Flopped a Hand – a good hand with only a flop
• On A Draw – when you need a good card on the turn or river to make a hand stronger
• Flush Draw – when a fifth of one suit is needed on the turn or river for a flush