How To Play Poker Like A Pro: Texas Holdem

If you are new in poker and you want to know more about it, you must check the history of poker first. This way, you will be able to see how poker was invented, and how this game developed from the first playing methods to the more advanced online poker. More important, you will learn how to play poker in a professional style.

The poker today has many versions. However, the most popular of them are:

-       Texas Holdem

-       Omaha Hi and Lo

-       7 and 5 Card Stud

All those games include 2 to 10 players and a pack of 52 cards. The pot rises constantly while the players are placing bets and the best hand wins.

You will have to understand the poker hand rankings, so you would know which combination beats which. Along the history of poker, the ranks of the cards changed. Today, all online poker sites are using the same ranking.

The base concept is the same for every version of poker and if you know how to play poker Holdem style, you will be able to learn Omaha easily. Texas Holdem is the most popular poker online, and you could find a great variety of tournaments and contests to play. Texas Holdem changed along the history of poker, but the base concepts remained practically the same.

Rakeback concepts for online poker

The rakeback system allows you to win money while you learn how to play poker. It is a partnership between the poker sites and some marketing sites, and you can receive a part of the gambled money back from the rakeback site. Generally, the commission of the poker website is 1-5 % for each pot, and you will get part of this rake back. This is an established concept in online poker, as since the early ages of this game, the casinos took a part of the earned money as a commission.

Texas Holdem rules

Texas Holdem is a popular version of online poker, and it is played in land based and online poker rooms by millions of players every second. If you want to know how to play poker, it is recommended to begin with this kind of poker as it is among the easiest ones to learn.

in Texas Holdem, each player receives two cards (known as hole cards) and they must try to form the winning combination to win. Nothing changed in the history of poker in the latest decades, so we could say that the Wild West players from a century ago would be able to play even in the online poker competitions from today.

Two of the players will be forced to place the blind bets. The blinds are called small and big, and they are only an assurance of the house that the hand will be played. If you don’t know how to play poker, you will have to understand the blinds first. Each player will be forced to bet the small and the big blinds during a round. The players could opt for raise, hold, check or fold.

Let’s see an example so you could understand this game. This example is available for all the versions from history of poker Holdem, including online poker variations.

How to play Holdem poker online

Before the game: just like in the real casinos, 10 players could sit at the same table. One of the players will have a mark, being the dealer. In the history of poker, the dealer had different responsibilities. At first, he was not allowed to play. Things are changed at present time, and you could find different kinds of dealers. However, for the beginning, you can learn how to play poker without knowing the responsibility of the dealer.

There is also a sign or a button that shows the small and the big blinder. The dealer button is only used to show the order in which players act as at online or land based poker rooms there is poker room dealer that deals the cards.

You don’t have to play poker professionally in order to understand the blinds. The blinds are forced bets: to guarantee money for the pot for anybody that wins the game, the blinds are posted before the cards are dealt. The blinds will be deducted from the first two players from the left side of the dealer. The Big Blind is two times the small blind.

In certain conditions, the players might have to place an ante. This sum is deducted automatically from any player, whether the player places the blind or not. The ante bet was  introduced in later stages of poker tournaments, but its necessity is obvious: the players will be more motivated to play the game, and the value of the pot is enlarged.

Let’s see the possibilities of players for the Holdem online poker:

-       Check: the player doesn't fold, wants to stay in the game, but he doesn’t want to raise the stakes.

-       Raise: the player is confident about his hand, and he wants to bet more. However, if you really know how to play poker, you can raise without having a good combination. This is called bluffing and it is a really dangerous style of play for inexperienced players.

In the history of poker, the bluff was controversial and appreciated. If you watch the Western movies, you will probably see at least one scene when a bluffer gets the pots.

-       Fold: the player is unhappy with his cards and he wants out. This possibility is an advantage for the players that don’t place the blinds. The blind bet players would usually play the hand in online poker, even if they don’t have such a great combination. Watch a few movies about poker if you want to understand the principles of this strategy.

-       If the first betting round is over, three cards will be turned on the table face up. The second betting round works just as the first one. The process continues until 5 cards are faced up (in the history of poker, several casinos tried to play Holdem with 7 cards faced up, but the players were not so happy about the system.

-       The most thrilling part is called Showdown, but the majority of hands will be folded before this round. The players show their cards, the dealer (or the computer for the online poker) calculates and shares the earnings. The round ends, and if some players remained without any money or chips in tournaments, he is out of the game unless rebuy is allowed.

Those are not the only secrets when it comes to how to play poker, so you would have to find the advanced guides to learn strategies and hints. You can also find out interesting fact from the history of poker, and you can find valuable information about the online poker and how to play poker in the guides and hints sections of the main poker sites. Don’t be afraid to post questions on the blogs and forums, as some of the most established players that are sometimes moderators for some professional forums would be more than glad to answer them.