Recommended Reading - How to Play Holdem Poker Online for Beginners

Recommended Reading

How to Play Poker Online for Beginners understands the dilemma you are up against when faced with the overwhelming holdem poker literature on the market today. There is so much literature targeted towards the holdem poker player, how would anyone really know where to begin? Should you read the No Limits books, which ones? What about Limit holdem? When I first started my holdem education there was relatively little direction for the beginning player, and most bookstores had a limited selection. Completely different than what you see today at a Barnes & Noble or any other major book outlet. So the following list is geared towards some books that will give you a solid foundation on poker theory on which you can build. You don't need to be concerned with the structure (limit versus no limt) at this point. The important thing is to grasp the philosophy and concepts presented in each publication. To be successful in holdem poker (and poker games in general) you need to be more focused on the big picture, the philosophy and theory, and the necessary thought process than the specifics of how you should play a specific situation. It is more important to understand WHY you need to have tight starting hand requirements than to know specific information like "you shouldn't play Q4 off suit UTG". This is because, if you know why tight starting hand requirements are profitable you will innately understand that playing Q4 off suit or J6 off suit UTG is poor, weak, and losing poker play.

On to the list...

The Theory of Poker – David Sklansky:

This is one of the most definitive works on poker and game theory available. It is complex for sure, but the concepts presented are second to none. He explains key poker concepts in detail that you don't find in many other writings - such as EV (Expected Value). Mastering the idea presented in this book will take your game to another level.

The Poker Player’s Bible – Lou Krieger

This is a great book for someone just beginning to get their feet wet in the holdem poker arena. He gives great advice to the beginner and the information is very well organized with good illustrations. It is more of a reference book than a book on poker theory, but for foundational poker knowledge this is a great book.

Winning Low Limit Hold’em – Lee Jones

Quite possibly the best book written for the low limit poker player. It is not as long as other poker books but the information is all there. I always recommend that beginning poker players learn limit holdem first before they move on to the no limit structure. Nothing will teach the fundamentals of holdem that are imperative in other structures or reinforce winning poker concepts like limit holdem does. And, no one writes about it better than Lee Jones.

Small Stakes Hold’em – David Sklansky

Another excellent book by Sklansky (they all are, you just can't go wrong with a Sklansky book). It is similar to the Lee Jones book in that it discusses low limit holdem play and reinforces many of the same concepts, however this is a more in depth look at the behind the scenes working of holdem. I consider it a workbook of sorts that I will use when breaking down and examining my poker play.

No Limit Texas Hold’em – Tom McEvoy & Brad Daughtery

This is the only book on the list that targets no limit holdem specifically. I know most people will recommend Doyle Brunson's Super System 2. I like this one better for beginners because it gives a more concrete explanation of specific situations which I think is great for a beginner possibly even necessary to absorb many concepts behind no limit holdem. This is not the bible when it comes to no limit holdem play, but it is where I believe a beginner should start.

If you read the above books and learn the material in them you will no longer have the knowlegebase of a beginning holdem poker player. In a future article for How to Play Holdem Poker Online for Beginners we will discuss how to make poker literature more than just reference material. I will show you how to take any poker information and make it part of your game. Enjoy the reading, it will make you money when you are playing holdem poker online or in a live situation.

Until next time may you not get unlucky.

The Basics – An Overview - How to Play Holdem Poker Online For Beginners

The Basics – An Overview

Next up in our continuing series on The Basics for How to Play Holdem Poker Online for Beginners - An Overview, is our installment on the structure and some etiquette of holdem . There are some slight differences between the rules of play online and in a "brick and mortar" casino. We'll look into that a little later in this post.

Texas Hold ‘Em is a form of poker that is played with a normal 52 card deck (the jokers are removed from the deck, but not necessarily the table - lol). It can be played between as few as two players (this is commonly known as Heads Up play) and as many as eleven players. It would be rare these days to find any more than 10 people at a table in a casino and online you will find most tables are 9 handed.

Instead of an ante as you would normally have in a poker game of five card draw, for instance, Hold ‘Em (both limit and no limit) uses forced bets called blinds. This is to make sure that there is action in each hand dealt. Otherwise, the possibility exists that there would never be any action until someone got pocket aces or some other great hand, and even then everyone might fold to the bettor because they didn’t have a great hand themselves. Thus the blinds are a vital part of the game. There are two blind positions in Hold ‘Em. The player to the immediate left of the dealer position is what is known as the small blind, and the player to the immediate left of the small blind is known as the big blind. The big blind amount is the minimum betting amount for the first 2 betting rounds (commonly known as Pre-Flop and Flop) and the small blind is usually half or one third of that amount (so in $2/$4 Hold ‘Em the big blind would be $2 and the small blind would be $1). The reason that they are called blinds is because the players who must put in the blinds must do so before the cards are dealt, in other words they must put money into the pot “blind” – without knowing what their cards will be.

Pre-Flop

Each player is dealt two cards face down (which they are able to look at and are usually referred to as hole cards) starting with the player to the left of the dealer (the small blind). The dealer position rotates after each hand is concluded. When there is a designated dealer (a dealer who does nothing but deal the cards and does not play in the game, whether in a casino or a home game) a button is used to denote who is in the current dealer position. Because of this practice, the person who is in the current dealer position is referred to as being “on the button”

After the hole cards are dealt, the player to the immediate left of the big blind (the third player to the left of the dealer position – this position is also known as being Under The Gun because they are first to act, this will be abbreviated as UTG throughout the rest of this text) will be the first to act. Continuing to the left each player will have the opportunity to bet, raise, or fold in turn based on their hole cards or perspective. All of this action comes before any of the community cards are deal, so this is known as Pre-Flop (action)

Flop

After all the initial betting is finished (provided that there isn't a winner already), the dealer will “burn” the top card off the deck (to keep players who may have seen the top card from cheating) and deal three cards face up in the middle of the table – this is known as the flop. These are community cards that any player can use in conjunction with their hole cards to make the best five card hand possible. After the flop has been dealt there is another round of betting; this time starting with the small blind instead of the UTG position.

The Turn or Fourth Street

After the flop betting has concluded the dealer burns another card from the top of the deck and deals another card face up in the middle of the table. This card is known as the turn or as fourth street (because it is the 4th community card dealt). This is followed by another round of betting (again, if necessary). The minimum bet amount doubles on the turn. So if you were playing $2/$4 Limit Hold’Em the minimum bet would be $2 pre-flop and on the flop, but on the turn and river the minimum bet amount would be $4. In NLHE (No Limit Hold 'Em) you can always bet an amount more than the minimum bet, but never less. Also, it should be noted that if you raise any bet that raise must be at least double the bet. Thus, if on the turn someone bet $10 and you wanted to raise, the minimum amount you could raise would be to $20 even though the minimum bet on the turn is only $4 – you couldn’t just raise to $14 although you can certainly raise to $25 or push all your chips into the pot.

The River or Fifth Street

After the turn betting round has concluded the dealer burns another card from the top of the deck and deals the last card face up in the middle of the table. This card is known as the river (some would argue because this is where many good pre-flop hands go to drown) or fifth street (again because it is the 5th card dealt). It is followed by the final round of betting.

The Showdown

The remaining players now turn their hole cards face up starting with the last player to bet. The reason that the last person to bet is required to show their cards first is because their bet had been called. The last person to bet can opt not to show their cards, but they are then effectively folding and the other person in the hand wins without having to show their hand either. The cards are revealed and the winner takes the pot. The winning player is required to show both hole cards to win the pot and the losing player can toss their cards away without showing them if they concede that the winning player has the better hand (the previous example was sort of an exception to this rule). Throwing your hand away at any point in the hand without showing them is known as “mucking’ your cards (this is because the pile of cards that have been folded is known as the “muck” pile where as the pile of cards that the dealer uses for the burn cards is called the “burn” pile – these two piles are to be kept separate from each other).

Differences between Online and Live play

The main differences are subtle. Online, if the hand goes to showdown most online poker rooms will not let you muck your cards, and many times even if you choose the "muck" option the other players can look at the automatically generated hand history and see what your hand was (again, just to clarify, they can only do this if the hand got to the showdown - if you fold or "muck" anytime before the final round of betting is complete then this will not be possible). If you are playing live, many times experienced players will attempt to only show one card instead of both to win the pot so they don't reveal their kicker. Most of the time they do this because they were playing with a poor hand and don't want anyone to know that they play poor starting hands. Don't let them get away with this. Don't concede the pot until they show both cards, and if they give you a hard time just ask the dealer and they will inform the player of the rules. One of the other differences is that you have much less time to make your decisions online. It is usually about 30 seconds to make your decision, with an extra 30 seconds on a reserve time clock - and once you run out of both your hand is folded. Most of the time, once your reserve time has expired you don't get more (this is mostly for tournament play, not as much for cash games). It doesn't sound like much time to make your decision, I know, however, once you learn how to play holdem poker online and get used to the speed that 30 seconds can seem like an eternity. In fact, once you get comfortable with online play you will be able to play several tables at on (this is known at multi-tabling).

In the next instalment on How to Play Holdem Poker Online For Beginners we will discuss Making Plays and what your options are in a holdem poker hand.

Until then, may you not get unlucky.

The Basics - Ranking of Hands - How to Play Holdem Poker Online For Beginners

The Ranking of Hands

When learning How to Play Holdem Poker Online For Beginners the first thing we should start with is the ranking of hands - which hand will beat another hand. This may seem very basic, and it is. However, it is paramount that this information becomes second nature to you. Just about every player I know has, at one point or another, misread his or her hand and lost a pot because of it (yes, this has happened to me as well). So, let’s start with the ranking of hands from highest to lowest:

Straight flush – This is the best possible hand you can have (Note: every time I say that a straight flush is the highest possible hand a player can have, someone ALWAYS says “No a Royal Flush is the highest possible hand someone can have” – Although a royal flush IS the best possible hand the term Royal Flush is slang for “the highest possible straight flush” thus a straight flush is the best possible hand you can have and the Royal Flush is the highest possible straight flush hand). A straight flush is any five cards in sequential order that are also the same suit, for example, A,2,3,4,5 of clubs, would be a straight flush, and it beats four of a kind or any lower-ranked hand. The odds of getting a straight flush are approximately 750,000 to 1. Don't expect to see this hand often.

Four of a Kind – When you have all four of the same card. Four of a Kind is also known as “quads”. It beats all other lower ranking hands, but not the straight flush or a higher four of a kind.

Full house – This is when you have three of a kind and a pair to go with it (example: 2,2,2,J,J). If two players have a full house then the player with the highest full house (the player with the highest three of a kind or if the three of a kind is the same then you move to whomever has the highest pair) wins. A full house beats all lower ranking hands.

Flush - Any 5 cards of the same suit – they do not need to be in any order. If two people have flushes, the flush containing the highest card wins. A flush beats all lower ranking hands.

Straight – A straight is any five cards in sequential order, regardless of suit. Again, if 2 or more players have a straight then the straight with the highest card wins. A straight beats all lower ranking hands.

Three of a Kind - Any hand with three of the same card. This beats any lower ranking hands.

Two Pair – This is fairly self explanatory. It’s the same as one pair but you have two of them. For instance you have KQs (King and Queen of the same suit) and the board comes 4, 10, K, 2, Q. Two pair beats any high card and one pair. Two pair is also the average winning hand in Holdem so you can expect to see it frequently.

One Pair – Is when you have two cards that are the same, JJ (Jacks) for instance. This beats a hand with only a high card and any pair that is lower than yours (thus with jacks you will beat any pair of tens, eights, or lower but not queens, kings, or aces).

High Card. When no one has anything else of value in their hand the person with the highest card wins. If you both have the same high card then the other card in your hand is used. The other card is known as your "kicker" Example: You are holding AKs (Ace and King suited) and your opponent is holding AQo (Ace and Queen of different suits off suit) and the board is 10, 4, 2, 7, 9 – neither of you have a pair so the highest card is used. Since you both have an Ace we would go on to the other card in your hand to determine the winner. Since you have a King for a kicker and your opponent has a Queen for a kicker you would win this pot. If both players have kickers that are lower than the cards on the board then you would split the pot.

Kicker – I have a few thoughts on the kicker. When you are learning how to play Holdem poker online (or off) chances are you won't be considering your kicker, however the kicker is part of your hand that is very important to be aware of. If you have a high card, as we’ve already discussed, the kicker can come into play, but it can also come into play in any other hand except for a straight, flush, full house, or straight flush. For instance, you have three of a kind but your kicker is a 10. Your opponent has the same three of a kind but has a queen kicker – this can be an emotionally painful situation to find yourself in. Always remember that your kicker is an important factor to consider. You can set yourself apart from others who are learning how to play Holdem poker online (especially online) just by choosing not to play a hand with a weak kicker.

We will continue with The Basics - An Overview in the next post here at How to Play Holdem Poker Online For Beginners

Until then may you not get unlucky.

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How to Play Holdem Poker Online for Beginners - Welcome!

Welcome to my blog How to Play Holdem Poker Online For Beginners. This blog will introduce you to the beginning theories of Texas No Limit and Limit Hold 'em poker with a focus towards online play. You will learn the foundational knowledge needed to play winning holdem poker online and in the brick and mortar casinos as well. It will also provide you with program reviews and ways to take your game from beginner to the next levels of holdem poker play.