| How To Play |
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| What follows is a basic
guide to playing a round of Hold'em........and don't panic…….playing
is far easier than explaining how to play…….! |
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| The idea of the game is
to make (or 'bluff') the best 5 card finishing hand out of the
7 cards available - 2 cards in your hand and 5 community cards
on the table for all to see. See the Hand Ranking for a break
down of winning combinations. |
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Posting the Blinds
The 2 players to the left of the
dealer post (put into the middle/pot) a predetermined amount
prior to any cards being dealt. The first player is the Small
Blind and the second the Big Blind. Big Blind is always double
the amount of the Small Blind. In our tournaments the blinds
start at 25/50. These will increase as the tournament progresses.
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Shuffle
up and Deal
The game is self deal, so everyone
takes it in turns to deal, although if you are worried about
this someone else can deal for you to begin with! There is a
dealer button which moves round the table clockwise to indicate
whose turn it is.
Once the Blinds are in, the dealer deals each player 2 cards
face down. These are known as 'hole' or 'pocket' cards.
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Betting
The first round of betting now begins.
This starts with the player to the left of the Big Blind. They
are 'first to act'. The player can Call (match the amount of
the big blind), Raise (the minimum of the big blind), or Fold.
This continues around the table until everyone still in the
hand has put the same amount into the pot.
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The
Flop
Next the dealer discards ('burns')
the top card from the pack, and then deals 3 cards face up on
to the table for all to see.
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More
Betting
The second round of betting follows
- starting with the player to the left of the dealer. The player
can Check (pass for the moment), Bet, or Fold. All following
players can then either Check, Call, or Raise. As this is No
Limit a player can re-raise upto the total of all of their chips;
go 'All In'. Once a bet has been made Checking is no longer
an option, and like before, play must continue round the table
until everyone left in has matched the bet.
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The
Turn
The dealer then burns the next card,
and deals the following one face up onto the table. This is
called the Turn.
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More Betting!
The Third round of betting follows,
with the player left of the dealer first to act. Once everyone
is even we move onto….
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The
River
This is the last community card
to be dealt. As before the dealer burns the top card and deals
the next one face up to the table.
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Even
more Betting!
This round of betting is exactly
the same as the previous 2 rounds. Starting with the player
left of the dealer, you can Check, Bet, or Fold. That only leaves
us with…
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The
Showdown
Once all the betting is complete
the remaining players must reveal their hands to the table.
The best hand takes the pot! The last player to take 'aggressive
action' (i.e. bet or raise) shows their cards first. If all
players checked then first to show is left of the dealer.
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A
lot of the time we don't get as far as the showdown - what with
all that betting going on! - Many hands are settled with everyone
else folding and the remaining player taking the pot without
having to show their hand at all. The dealer button then moves
one position round the table and we start again.
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Hand Rankings
What beats what! Starting with the
best first!
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