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Step into my classroom and take a seat. We won’t mess around, and we’ll get straight to the point. You want to play some Texas holdem, but you don’t know much more than the fact that it’s played with a standard 52-card deck. Truth be told, it doesn’t get much more complicated to play the game. Mastering it, on the other hand, will take some time. Now that you’re in the know, let’s get you into some action.

Texas holdem is played in three popular varieties: limit, pot-limit and the world’s most popular version, no-limit. Game play is the same in each variety, yet poker strategy and betting rules become the variables. The breakdown is as follows:

-In limit holdem, bets cannot exceed a predetermined maximum amount.
-In pot-limit, the maximum bet increases with the size of the pot. As the pot grows, so does betting potential, yet no single bet can exceed the amount of the pot.
-In no-limit, all bets are permissible. Just as the name suggests, there is no maximum limit to the betting amount.

The Deal

The dealer will begin the game by placing a dealer button in front of the player to their left. The action will always move to the left in any poker variety. The player to the left of the dealer button will post what is known as a small blind, and the next player in the action will post a big blind. These are basically antes, or bets placed before the hand begins, insuring that there will be some action.

After the blinds are posted, the dealer will deal two cards, facedown to each player. These cards are known as your pocket cards, or hole cards. They will be the basis of your first bet. At this point, a round of betting follows beginning with the player to the left of the posted blinds. You may equal the bet (call), raise the bet or fold (quit). After all bets on the table are equal - equaling at least the amount of the large blind - play will continue and the dealer will offer the first of three community draws.

The Flop

Three cards are placed face up in front of the dealer, and all players at the table share these cards. Again, a round of betting takes place, this time beginning with the individual who posted the small blind. This player may choose to check (pass) their bet to the next player in the action. If the action is checked, the next player in line has the option to check as well, and that option continues until a bet is placed. Once a bet has been placed, any player who has checked the action must at least equal the largest bet to stay in the game. Once all bets are equal, play continues.

The Turn

A fourth community card is added face up to the flop, followed by another round of betting in the same vein of the previous round. Once all bets are equal, play enters the final community draw.

The River

A fifth community card completes the deal. From these five community cards and your two hole cards, you are going to build the strongest five-card hand. A final round of betting takes place followed by a showdown for all the remaining players. The showdown is just as the name suggests. All players show their cards in the same order that they played, and a winner is declared.

There you have it, the basics of Texas holdem. After each hand has been completed, the dealer button will rotate one player to the left, and thus the blind posting responsibilities shift one player to the left as well. You’re now ready to get into some online poker action, class dismissed.

Following Victorian regulations, Tattersall’s must remove their poker machines from an estimated 300 different sanctions.

“Tattersall’s managing director and chief executive Dick McIlwain said today the company would struggle to exceed the $288.58 million operating profit delivered in fiscal 2007 following the machine removal.”

This is just another piece in the anti-gambling movement in some countries, while other countries are going in the exact opposite direction. via 

Pokerstars annouced yesterday that they have given out their second Porsche to player DDBeast in exchange for player points.  The first Porsche was given to BMC11 back on November 6th of 2007 when he traded in 3,000,000 player points for this Porsche Cayenne:

But now another player has done it!  Yesterday DDBeast decided to trade in his 3,000,000 player points for this shiny new set of wheels:

At only 21 years old, DDBeast graduated from college last May and has been playing poker full time ever since.

What is full time? For DDBeast, it’s 8-12 tables of SNGs with the occasional multi-table tournament thrown in for good measure. It took him just about one year to pick up enough FPPs to get a new ride. He puts it mildly when he says, “The Porsche is quite a nice upgrade from my ‘93 Miata. I’m loving it!”

Anyway, if this isn’t a good enough reason to check what is going on at Pokerstars, then I don’t know what is!  Don’t forget to use bonus code First2007 for a special $50 bonus on your first deposit (see Pokerstars for all the details)!

One of the goals of many poker players is to one day win a WSOP bracelet.  This is the true testament that you have succeeded as a poker player, and your chance to really show off your “bling” at the poker table.  Ever wonder what these things actually looked like?  Below are some images that the winners of the 2005-2007 WSOP’s took home:

2005 WSOP Bracelet

This bracelet was won by Joe Hachem at the 2005 WSOP and is made of platinum and diamonds:

2006 WSOP Bracelet

This bracelet was won by Jamie Gold at the 2006 WSOP and is made of white and yellow gold, diamonds, rubies and sapphires:

2007 WSOP Bracelet

This bracelet was won by Jerry Yang at the 2007 WSOP and is made of Made of 136 grams of white gold, and 120 diamonds:

Frankly, I think the 2006 one is the best, but the 2007 is starting to grow on me.  I can’t wait to see what they do for the 2008 WSOP bracelet.

Now we all love a women who bakes us a cake. But when it’s a poker themed cake you know you really have a good girl who supports your degenerate habits.

Gotta love the cakes with the poker theme!