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Beginner's Guide to Texas Hold'em

Introduction
A Beginner's Guide to Texas Hold'em is not an introduction to the basic rules of Texas Hold'em. To find detailed information on how Texas Hold'em is played, please visit our rules page. Instead, this guide is focused on helping you understand the game better and give you some tips on how to become a better Texas Hold'em player. We hope you'll find it intriguing.

Texas Hold'em is the king of all poker games. And it requires a ton of skill. But still the most skilled player in the world can't beat a lucky strike. So anything can happen. But we thought we'd guide you through the most essential strategy assessments.

Start at the Bottom
Even if you turn out to be the biggest poker talent the world has ever seen, you are best off starting at the bottom. Playing low stakes limit games or tournaments is a good way to get a lot of hands under your belt without taking too big a risk. Sure limit games can be tricky and lacks the element of bluffing, but as a newcomer bluffing is probably not the thing to try. Limit games are much more controlled and less risky to experiment a little with. And as in all things, experimentation is a good way to learn fast.

Don't trust your HUGE Play Money Stack!
If you've won a ton of money playing with play money you probably got what it takes to become a good real money player too. But the games differ a lot. So don't jump into a high stakes real money game expecting to kick butt. But you are probably set to take on a low stakes game. Because sometimes they are even wilder than play money games!

Starting hand Value
Your two pocket cards, or hole cards, are the only factors that separate your hand from the other players' hands. So learning how to play them is vital. An AA (ace-ace) combo simply has a much greater chance of winning than say a 7-3 combo. Play the good starting hands. Fold the bad.

Position Play
Being seated in late position in a poker game is a huge advantage since you then get to see your opponents make their moves before you have to act yourself. To become a good player, one must understand, and learn to take advantage of this advantage. A good starting hand in an early position may actually be a worse hand to play than a bad hand in late position.

Folding
No matter the betting round, if you have nothing and can't draw to anything, fold faster than Superman on laundry day. It's as simple as that.

Hand Nicknames
AA Pocket Rockets, Bullets, American Airlines
KK Cowboys, King Kong
QQ Double date, Canadian Aces, Siegfried and Roy
JJ Fish hooks
99 German virgin
88 Snowmen
77 Sunset strip
66 Route 66
55 Speed limit
44 Magnum, Sail boat
33 Crabs
22 Ducks
AK Big slick
AQ Big chick
AJ Black Jack, Jack-ass
KQ Royalty, Marriage
KJ Kojak
J5 Jackson five
Q3 Gay waiter
95 Dolly Parton
A8 Dead man's hand (Made famous by Wild Bill Hickok who was shot in 1876)
K9 Canine
J4 Flat tyre

Beginning Holdem Strategy
It's true that in Texas Holdem any two cards can be a winner. But it's cards, not dice, and although luck plays a part in every hand, strategy can make you a long term winner.

Texas Holdem is a game where you should pick and choose your battles wisely. Playing every hand will of course lead to winning more pots. But in between those wins will be more losses as well. Playing the right hands, at the right time will leave you with more chips in your stack.

That leads us to seat position. Timing is everything in some cases, and in poker it certainly counts for something. While some cards are playable under some circumstances, they aren't under others. Seat position is a key part of the circumstances that dictate whether you should play a hand, or wait for a better opportunity to present itself.

Professional poker players can sense what their opponents have in their hands. When just beginning you may not be able to read your opponents with that level of skill, but if you can take a moment to read the cards on the board, you can tell with certainty what they do not have. Reading the board lets you know what hands are possible, and from there you can use other information from your opponents to gauge what hands are probable. And act accordingly.

Often players will find themselves in need of a card to complete their hand. These hands are known as drawing hands. When on a drawing hand, it's nice to know what the odds of your ship actually coming in are. Armed with those odds, you're better able to play your hand correctly. So, see the drawing odds page for a chart that will tell you the odds of completing your gutshot straight, flush, or three-of-a-kind. Information is power at the table, and this information is part of the basic skills that winning poker players possess.

Related to drawing odds is the concept of pot odds. When you know you're waiting on a card to complete your hand, and there's a bet before you, you'd like to know if calling that bet is a good idea or a bad idea. If you're familiar with the concept of pot-odds, you'd be informed enough to make that decision. When you're ready to have that kind of power at the tables, read the primer on pot odds.

Omaha & Omaha Hi/Lo Basics

One of the most profitable variations of poker today, especially online, is Omaha high low split eight-or-better, mercifully reduced to the more common name Omaha/8. The main reason for this profitability is not only are there many poor poker players who play Omaha/8, but there are just as many who don't even understand the rules and hand values. Another reason is that Omaha/8 is a very straightforward and mathematical game. It has much less short-term variance, or luck, than holdem.

The good news is you have come to the right place to start maximizing your chance at this profit. Starting below you will learn the basics such as how to play and how to read both high and low hands. After you have a solid understanding of the rules, continue with the Omaha/8 strategy sections. They cover basic and advanced strategy for both limit and pot limit Omaha/8.

Omaha/8 can be played with anywhere from 2 to 10 players with most rooms running full tables of 9 or 10 players. The player to the left of the dealer or button places a forced bet called the small blind and the player to the small blinds left places a forced bet called the big blind. The big blind is equal to the lower betting limit of the game, for example in a 10/20 game the big blind is 10. The small blind is half the big blind, or 5 in our example.

Each player then receives four cards face down, often called hole cards. The first round of betting starts at this time with the player to the big blinds left, who can fold, call or raise. Play continues to the left until it reaches the big blind, who may check if the pot hasn’t been raised, or raise. Three cards are then placed face up in the center of the table. This is called the flop and these cards are community cards, which can be used by every player to form their best hand.

The second round of betting starts at this time with the first person still involved in the hand to the left of the dealer. A fourth community card, often called the turn, is placed face up in the center, followed by a third round of betting. This and the last round are at the upper limit, 20 in our example, in limit play. The last community card, called the river, is now placed face up in the center of the table and the last round of betting is conducted.

The pot is awarded based on the following rules
If there is not a possible low hand, the high hand wins the entire pot. If two players tie for the best high hand, then the pot is split between both players.

If one or more players have a qualifying low hand the pot is split. Half the pot is awarded to the best high hand and the other half is awarded to the best low hand. In the event of a tie, the half of the pot awarded is split between the two ties, or they each receive one-fourth of the pot. This is often called "getting quartered".

The single most important rule to remember in Omaha/8 is that you must use exactly two cards from your hand and three from the board, or community cards, to form your best hand. If you have both a high and low hand, you can use two different cards from your hand to form them, but you still are required to use exactly two. The number of players who don't understand this rule will surprise you.

Another major problem area for many players, particularly holdem players, is playing too many hands. Players assume incorrectly that because they start with four cards instead of two, that they can play a higher percentage of starting hands. This is completely wrong and can make even a great player lose money. Just like most forms of poker, tight and aggressive play is the path to profitability. This means playing around 25% of your starting hands.

When I was learning Omaha/8, the strategy I quickly was forced to adopt was looking for reasons not to play a hand instead of reasons to play it. This may sound like a small thing, but by evaluating the shortcomings of a hand you will quickly become a tighter and better player.

A challenge that everyone faces when learning Omaha/8 is correctly reading low hands. Remember that because each player must use two hole cards and three from the board, the only hands that can be split are the ones with three unpaired cards eight or below on the board.

The fastest way to read low hands
The fastest way to read them backwards as a number. When comparing two or more hands this way, the lowest number wins. Here is an example, with the lowest hand first and highest hand last.

A 2 3 4 5 - 54,321
A 3 4 5 7 - 75,431
2 4 5 6 7 - 76,542
A 2 3 4 8 - 84,321

Playing Tournaments

Introduction
This section will not give you an introduction to playing tournaments if you have never played a tournament before. It will neither make you an expert in tournament poker winning the WSOP bracelet.

It will, however, point out a few issues to make you a better tournament player. Please read through, remember and reflect over it the next time you play a poker tournament at PokerDream.com and you will be able to improve your game.

Tips, tricks & more

Relying on Luck
To win a large multi table tournament you will have to play for a long time. If you're relying on chance, eventually your luck will run out! Reduce the risks by considering all possible scenarios. One mistake can expel you from the entire tournament.

When you play aggressively, people will be waiting for a chance to take you down with a monster hand. Beware of when this happens to avoid running into a brick wall, losing all your chips.

Trapping
No Limit Play has a lot to do with trapping. Don't be obvious with your cards pre-flop and play to trap opponents with monster hands! You can play slightly looser if you don't risk being raised.

Pot Odds
Use the no-limit bet to make sure no one gets pot odds to outdraw you.

Remember that the implied odds can be very high in No Limit games. (Potentially the opponents entire stack.)

If you're raising someone who is playing short-stacked, consider forcing him to go all in. It will reduce the risk of getting called down and make sure he/she doesn't get a second chance.

Strategy Change
The blind increase will alter the correct strategy for each and every hand. If your stack is low compared to the blinds, you will have to take a chance sooner or later and your plan should be to make it at the right moment. When you do act, you should do it aggressively!

Opponent's stacks are extremely important – you're more likely to be called on an all-in by someone who possesses substantially more chips than you are by someone with substantially less. Be aggressive against short-stacked players.

A special circumstance in tournament games is that you actually know the opponents total bankroll, (at least for a particular game). This means that you more easily can put yourself in his/her situation when you are dominating a player with high bets you are hoping he/she shall fold to.

Drying Out
Consistently betting and folding to a larger and aggressive bet pre-flop may prove costly. Avoid this by playing tight seated before aggressive players.

By following these simple guidelines you'll be better prepared for the thrill, rush and excitement of online poker!