Poker Primer

POKER PRIMER

New Players can participate in a Poker Primer that is operated by our Professional Dealer before every Tournament. This is an opportunity to ask questions, learn strategies and generally increase your understanding of the game before the tournament starts.

The Red Hot Poker Tour is where you can have fun, build your poker and tournament skills with real players, and who knows, you could get good enough to become the first Canadian to win the World Series of Poker.

How to Play Texas Hold’em Poker

Objective:

To make the best hand by combining the cards in your hand with the five community cards dealt face up on the table. The best five cards wins; you do not need to use both of your pocket cards to make a hand.

Your Options:

CHECK: Electing to let others bet before you to see how/what they bet
(tap the table and say ‘check’)
CALL: Equal the bet placed
RAISE: Increase the Bet (announce your raise, then place your entire bet in one motion).
FOLD: Quit the hand (place the cards face down in the discard pile)

How to Play a Hand:

  • Before any cards are dealt, the player to the immediate left of the dealer, called the SMALL BLIND must put in a half bet (example: 25). The Player to the left of the Small Blind, called the BIG BLIND, must put in a full bet (example: 50).
  • All players, including the Small and Big Blind, must post an ANTE beginning in ROUND 5.
  • Each player is dealt two cards face down (“pocket” or “hole” cards).
  • All players bet, raise or fold based on the two cards in your hand. A player must at least match the big blind to play the hand.
  • When the first round of betting is done, the dealer discards (“burns”) a card and places three cards in the centre of the table face up (FLOP).
  • All players bet, raise or fold based on the two cards in your hand combined with the flop.
  • When the second round of betting is done, the dealer burns a card and places one card face up (called the TURN) with the flop cards.
  • All players bet, raise or fold based on the two cards in your hand combined with the flop, and turn cards.
  • When the third round of betting is done, the dealer burns a card and places one last card face up (called the RIVER) with the Flop & Turn cards.
  • All players bet, raise or fold based on the two cards in your hand combined with the flop, turn and river cards.
  • When the betting has been completed (call or maximum number of raises (4)), the called player reveals their hand, and if anyone left in the hand can beat it they must show their cards, losing hands all fold.

Hand Rankings

  1. Royal Flush (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten of the same suit)
  2. Straight Flush (sequential five cards of the same suits)
  3. Four of a Kind (K,K,K,K, etc.)
  4. Full House (K,K,K,8,8, three cards of same denomination plus another pair)
  5. Flush (all five cards with the same suit, Hearts, Spades, etc.)
  6. Straight (Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5)
  7. Three of a Kind (7,7,7, etc.)
  8. Two Pair (A,A,J,J, etc.)
  9. Pair (A,A, etc.)
  10. High Card: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2

Basic Strategy

Poker is a unique combination of luck and skill. Here are a few tips to help:

  • Don’t play too many hands. Try to play only strong starting hands, but bluffing, especially in tournament play, is a part of the game.
  • Tournaments are different than a regular poker game because you have a limited number of chips. If you don’t play any hands you will eventually just be eliminated by the automatic blind and ante bets, which continually increase throughout the tournament.
  • Always ask yourself “how strong is my hand, and what and how many different hands/combinations can beat it.”
  • Remember there are odds that can help you make a judgment call. There are only 52 cards in the deck, so 25% of each suit, and only four of any one card rank. Factor in discards to adjust odds.
  • Whether you are in or out of a hand, always observe player behaviour; match betting patterns to player hand strength once revealed. That being said, some of the best players are able to change their style frequently, making it difficult to get a read.
  • Your options are assets: a check can make your strong hand seem weak, a bet can be made to help assess the credibility of an opponents hand, and a raise or re-raise can help you test a players confidence in their cards.
  • Keep alert. Poker is such a fun game because it allows you to test and improve your wits, playing style, and powers of observation.