Whether you are playing poker at the casino, online card rooms or in a home game with your friends, you need to learn theBasicPokerDoubles along with the rest of the poker basics. Basic poker doubles are 2-7, 3-8, 7-9, 10-11 and of course your Ace. When you are looking at your two cards, you have to compare the value of the 2 cards against each other. Basic poker doubles are said to be the easiest to learn and so it is a good idea to focus on these as a introduction to the game. But as you learn more and more, you will find that the game will be opening up and you will be able to learn more, both about fundamental strategy and game-specific tactics.
The Basic Poker Doubles – 2-7 Triple Draw
Let’s start with the lowest pair, the 2-7 Triple Draw. When you draw this, you have 5 cards in total, so there are 9 possible combinations. Your assumption is that the highest card is high. So an Ace, 6, 4 and 5 is the best possible hand. You have to draw a card, assume it is the highest card, then you can assume the 2nd highest card is a 2 and the third highest card is a 7.
In this game, you have 3 ways to win:
- You don’t lose
- You double your money
- You either get the 2nd highest card (called the ” fundamentals ” or the ” fundamentals 1 “)
The 4th way you lose is when you don’t understand the 4th card – the Ace. We will get into that, later in the article. Lets talk about the odds, first. The odds are the odds against you getting the card you need to have a winning hand. Right, so lets say you have an Ace, 4 and 5. So those are your foundation cards. 4 cards of 5 are out there, the 3 remaining aces are the best, so they have to beaken down. Then there are the face cards: King, Queen, Jack all have a value of 10. So there are 6 in total. When you are out, those go before you, and those are the cards that count most.
In casino games, the cards tend to be dealt face up and the players bet in a clockwise motion. The dealer will deal the cards and the players will bet in a counter-clockwise motion. The dealer keeps dealing until one player runs out of cards. Then the dealer will “burn” cards and deal the next round.
The Games
So far, we have explained the basic poker concept of having 5 cards. However, there are more advanced ways of winning. The following games introduction will get to that:
- Texas Holdem – this is the most popular of all the poker games. It is a variation of Seven Card Stud.
- Omaha – When playing Omaha, you must use both of the cards dealt to you and 3 of the cards on the table, your cards are turned face down, then you must place 3 bets in the counter-clockwise direction. This is then followed by another round of betting where you again place bets on your cards. The 5th card is then dealt and again the players bet again. Then the final card is dealt and there is one final round of betting. This final round has the maximum payout for the hand, but if you are not able to place the maximum bet, this does not affect the payout.
- Draw Poker – When playing Draw Poker, you can bet with all 5 cards. This is done by paying the ante and then seeing the cards in the middle of the table. If you do not like the cards you have, you can discard some of them and replace them with new ones. After this is through the final round of betting, the cards are exposed.
- Stud Poker – This is a more intensive version of just Texas Holdem. The first player is dealt cards face down and only after that, betting can begin. The first five cards face up and the third hand is dealt up. The maximum bet is always $5 for this game, but it can be as high as the table allows. The third hand is then mastered – all cards are turned face up and the players bet again. The fourth hand is dealt up and the maximum bet is again $5. The fifth and final card is again dealt up and the final round of betting ensues.
- Community Dewabet Poker – This is a variation of Texas Holdem. The game begins with a deposit of half of the minimum bet on the first 4 cards and the middle 3 cards are dealt face up. The first player is dealt a complete hand and he may not change it.