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Poker
is a simple games; even a child can learn it. It's a
game of money and of people, played with cards. The
object of the games is to win money or chips, collectively
called the "pot," wagered during the play
of each hand. (Don't get confused here, but a hand also
refers to the cards in a player's possession.) A pot
can be won in just two ways:
By showing
down the best hand: When two or more players are still
active after all betting rounds are over, they show
down their hands by turning them face up. The player
holding the best hand wins the pot. While with in-the-flesh
play it's possible for an all-too-human dealer to goof
by misreading your winning hand at showdown, in Internet
poker it's not. Online, your winning hand will always
be rewarded, whether you've read it correctly or not.
As long as you've called all bets in the final round
(or gone "all-in," meaning you've put the
remainder of your table stakes into the pot in the course
of the hand), the games's "invisible dealer"
automatically awards you the pot, or whatever portion
of it you're entitled to if you've gone all-in.
By having
all opponents fold their hands: No, their hands aren't
clasped in front of them. Folding means a player relinquished
any claim to the pot by deciding not to match (call)
an opponent's bet. He discards his hand - also called
"folding" or "mucking." To "muck"
one's hand means to fold it. Either way you put it,
those losers bit the dust. But in Internet poker, rather
than see folded cards in a physical discard pile, or
"muck," you'll simply see them vanish into
the void of cyberspace. Poof! They're gone!
If you win
the pot because all your opponents fold, you may have
had the best hand, or you may have been bluffing it
doesn't matter. If all others surrender their claim
to the pot, it belongs to you.
If you're playing poker for the first time, you'll need
to do some learning before you click into a game online,
even if it's only for play-money. Poker is a house that
requires a foundation. Only when that foundation is
secure can you go ahead and build on it. When all the
elements are solidly fixed to the structure, you can
begin to add flourishes and decorative touches. But
you can't begin embellishing anything until the foundation
is poured, the building is framed, and all the other
elements that come before it are in place. In this site,
we put first things first - where they belong - and
provide a basic understanding of what you need before
you play.
You don't have to be one of the best players in the
world to earn money at poker - that's one of the best
things about it. If you learn to play at a level akin
to that of a moonlighting musician, you'll be good enough
to win consistently. While it's true you'll have to
play far better to make a lot of money, even a good,
work-a-day poker player can supplement his or her "day
job" income.
Determined work, study, practice, and analysis make
lifelong winning players. If you apply yourself, you'll
have a hobby that pays, and with the growing prevalence
of Internet poker, you won't have to go further than
your PC or laptop to ply your skill!
Even if you've never played poker before - anytime,
anywhere. for any limits, not even across the kitchen
table with Uncle Billy and Aunt Edie - you can learn. |
