Poker Tips

Introduction

It never ceases to amaze us here at pokertipsbook.com how difficult it can be to find some poker betting basics on the internet. So, guess what, we’ve decided to publish our own right here for you alongside all our other great poker tips for the poker playing novice. Poker betting strategies can differ according to the game you’re playing; Texas Hold ‘em, Omaha, Stud etc. For this article we’ll base the information on a game of Texas hold ‘em.

Blinds

Who knows what might be happening behind the blinds?

Before any cards are even dealt two players sat at the poker table have to place bets called blinds. There are two blinds the small blind and the big blind. The blinds are quite simply there to ensure that there is some money in the pot to be won should, after the hole cards have been dealt, all but one player were to give up on the hand. If that did happen, the one remaining player would at least pick up some small reward for being prepared to play on. However, the key here is in the word small – as the money in the pot will be small winnings indeed. The first of the blind bets to be placed is the small blind which is made by the player sitting to the immediate left of the dealer. The big blind, usually double the small blind, is placed by the player on the left of the person who has just made the small blind. Bearing in mind we’re talking novice games here in an online poker game the small blind could be just $1 making the big blind $2, so the winning pot before any community cards are dealt could be a miserly $3 – a wins a win, but high rolling I think not. Needless to say the blinds could just as easily be in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars too. In a casino poker game the dealer is in a fixed position. In which case a button is passed around the table from the left (clockwise) to signify who would nominally be the dealer for the purpose of placing the blind bets.

Call and Raise

She‘d call my raise any day of the week!

The big blind bet is usually taken to be the minimum bet that players can make when every one has received their hole cards. So, starting with the player to the left of the big blind player they have to consider the cards they’ve been dealt and, if they decide they want to stay in the game, they make a bet equal to the value of the big blind. In making your bet it is the custom to say “call”. This lets all the other poker players know that you’re in the game and are matching the previous (big blind) bet. If, on looking at your two hole cards, you’re immediately confident that you can win the hand, or at least are in with a good chance, you might want to raise the betting stakes. You’d do this to send a message out to the other players that you think you can win and that you’d like to see more money in the pot. The amount you raise the betting stakes by can be limited by the game you’re playing, if not it is normal, at least in the early stages of a game, to double the big blind or whatever the size of bet was made prior to yours. You signify this to all the other players by saying “raise”. If the game is getting complicated it can be appreciated to actually say what your new bet is worth; eg. “raise you $4”. A raise might not come in the pre-flop betting, but whenever it does come anyone wanting to stay in the game has to now match the new level of betting.

After a raise

Continuing with the example above in pre-flop betting, anyone who thinks their hand isn’t worth $4 will need to fold or call the new bet. If no one wants to call you then you’ve won the hand and don’t even need to show your hand, which could of course just have been one big bluff! If in the same betting round someone raises your raise – this is called a re-raise. Again, continuing the same example, from the person who made the raise everyone would now have to bet another $8 into the pot to stay in the game.

Time to check?

Any objections to checking these in a poker game?

Moving on to the betting after the flop. Ever wondered where the term “under the button” and its negative connotations come from? Well, remember that the button signifies the seat position of the nominal, if not the real, dealer and the person left of, or under, the button has to place the small blind. Now there’s a new betting round the player “under the button” once more has to be the first to place their bet. If the bet stake is low this might not be a problem, but if the betting stake has been raised a few times and the player under the button is holding anything but a great hand they can be tempted to fold there and then. However, the ‘under the button’ player has another option, he or she can check. Calling “check”, followed by tapping the table twice with your cards, means that as no one else has bet and you don’t want to start things off. You’re probably telling the other players you don’t think your hand is too great – but at the same time you could also just want to see what the other players do. Anyone can check in a betting round until someone does place a bet. After that you’ve either got to call or raise the bet or fold. Betting at the turn and river follows the same patterns as we’ve already covered. It’s normal to push the chips you’re betting into a pile in front of you at the table and only push them literally into the pot at the end of a betting round. This just makes it easier for other players to see what you’re committing yourself to.

Go for it – go all-in.

Reckon she’s ready to go all-in?

The one bet we haven’t mentioned yet is the “all-in” bet. Players go all-in usually as an act of desperation, if they want to stay in a game but haven’t got sufficient chips to cover the current bet, by betting all of the chips they have instead. If it works they’re a real winner, if it doesn’t they’ll have to leave the table. If a player goes all-in his or her chips go into the main pot. However, any subsequent bets by other players are placed in another area of the table and become a side-pot. In a game of Hold ‘em, should the player that went all-in win the round, they only take the main pot that they went all-in to and leave the bets in the side-pot.