Tag: poker

H.O.R.S.E.

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Since 2006, when the World Series of Poker introduced it into their line-up of events, HORSE has gained popularity in the poker community. HORSE involves playing four variation games – Holdem, Omaha Hi/Lo (Eights or better), Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo (Eights or better). The eights or better refers to the low hand in that particular game must consist of an eight or lower to make a low hand.

For detailed instructions on how to play each game, visit the following pages:

Texas Holdem Poker – How to play
Omaha Hi/Lo Eights or Better – How to play
Razz Poker – How to play
Sever Card Stud – How to play
Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo Eights or Better – How to play

The game can be played at any limits (limit, pot-limit or no-limit), but the most popular and most found online is limit.

Limit simply means the game has a fixed limit to the amount players can bet, and a prescribed number of raises. When it is your turn, you may only bet or raise by an amount equal to the minimum for that round. The standard bet in the first two betting rounds of a limit poker game is equal to the game’s lowest limit. The standard bet in the final three rounds of a limit poker game is equal to the game’s highest limit. Usually, there can be no more than one bet and three raises per round of betting. Once the third raise has been reached, betting is said to be ‘capped’.

Normally in HORSE, the game type rotates when the blinds progress, unless stated otherwise. For example, if the blinds are every twenty minutes, the game type changes every twenty minutes.

The game begins with the dealer dealing one card face-up to determine where the dealer button will be. The first player to the left of the dealer button is the small blind and the second player to the left of the dealer button is the big blind. The players post their blinds and the dealer deals, beginning with the small blind.

There are no blinds while playing Razz and Seven Card Stud (both Hi and Hi/Lo). For Razz, all players post an ante (An ante is a forced bet in which all players put an equal amount of money or chips into the pot before the deal begins) and the player with the highest card brings in based on what the blinds are for that level. For Stud, all players post an ante and the player with the lowest card brings in. See links above on how to play each individual game.

One strategy for playing Horse is to take the utmost advantage you can gain from games you are good at, while avoiding taking crippling blows in games you are weaker in. Obviously, the absolute best strategy for HORSE is to be good at all the games. A good player becomes familiar with all games in HORSE. A player cannot master HORSE without knowing all the games involved. This requires a lot of practice and a good amount time, effort, and energy. To be successful at HORSE, players will have to play any and all of these games with a large degree of skill. Players who are weak in any of these games will fall by the side of the road and be quickly overshot by more skilled players.

When first learning HORSE, play low limits or play in a tournament with a small buy-in. Several online poker sites offer HORSE freerolls on a daily bases. If you are weak in any of the games, you can also focus some time learning that game by playing it, reading books, reading articles, or visiting poker forums such as the one here on Holdem Poker Chat for strategy threads.

Razz

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There are several types of poker games – even one for the worse hand! Yes, there is a game for the lowest hand in poker, and it is called Razz Poker.

Razz is a Seven Card Stud poker game where instead of the highest hand winning, the lowest hand wins the pot. The object of the game is to make the best lowest five-card hand out of the seven cards dealt to you. Unlike split-pot hi/lo games like Omaha and Stud, Razz doesn’t have an “eight or better” component to its play. In an hi/lo eight-or-better game, the winning low hand cannot have a card higher than 8 in it to count as a low hand, but since Razz is a game with only a low hand winning, any hand can win, including hands with low pairs or face cards, but highly unlikely.

There are no blinds while playing Razz. Instead, all players post an ante (an ante is a forced bet in which all players put an equal amount of money or chips into the pot before the deal begins) and the player with the highest card is forced to bring in.

Each player is deal three cards, two face-down and one face-up. The highest face-up card on third street has to make the forced bring in bet. This starts the action and the play continues clockwise. On all subsequent rounds, the lowest hand showing acts first. If there is a tie for low hand showing, the first active player clockwise from the dealer begins in the forced bet. Players acting after a bring-in have the right to call the bring-in as it is, even or they may raise the amount needed to bring the current bet up to the normal minimum, called completing the bet.

The lowest hand wins the pot at showdown. Aces count as low. All flushes and straights are ignored and do not apply to Razz. The best possible hand in Razz is A,2,3,4,5 (also known as a wheel). In order to figure out the best low hand is to start with the top card and work down (An eight low beats a nine low for example). If the top card is the same rank, then you move to the second card. An example would be 8,6,5,4,3 would beat 8,7,5,4,3 (the player with the 8,6 low would beat the 8,7 low) . One player has an eight-six low and the losing player has eight-seven.

Razz requires more skill than luck and takes a good amount of patience. Razz players not only have to understand the odds and probabilities of their own hands, but also have to pay more attention to their opponent’s hands and the cards on the board around the entire table. A player needs to pay attention to what cards have been folded as well as current cards on the table.

As far as starting hands in Razz, it will depend on your experience of the game. As a beginner, a player should not play a hand unless their first three cards are low cards with one being no higher than 8. If a player holds three cards that are three cards to a wheel then the player should raise or re-raise. Before you make a decision on your own starting hand, always look around the board and see what everyone else is showing. This is extremely important to be a successful Razz player.

Pokerstars Game of Your Life Freerolls

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PokerstarsThe Pokerstars Game of Your Life freerolls give you the chance to win your share of thousands of dollars in cash, plus the trip of a lifetime to any major sporting event in the world. You can bring your friends along too, with everything taken care of by us. Here’s what you can win:

* Front-row seats to the sporting event (or events) of your choice, anywhere in the world
* Invite as many friends as you want
* Travel and accommodation included
* Total prize package value of $100,000
* $1,000,000 in additional cash prizes awarded in freerolls running every week

Simply play any of the free daily qualifiers and advance to one of the six Freeroll Finals. The first five finals each have a prize pool of $100,000 in cash. The Grand Final in week six is where you can win the Game of Your Life prize package for you and your friends!

Lock Poker Battle of the Ronin

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Lock Poker Battle of the Ronin is a rake chase with some great cash prizes.  The Battle of the Ronin has limited prizes for each level attained.   For instance, the easiest to attain level is 100 points, but only the first 200 players to reach the 100 points get paid.  Naturally the levels increase from there as the number paid at each level decreases.  If you manage to complete all levels for the month of April you would earn $45,000 as long as each prize level is still available.  Additionally the Ronin with the most VIP points for the month of April will receive a 2011 WSOP Main Event seat, worth over $10,000.  The Ronin theme comes from ancient Japan’s warrior castes.

Battle of the Ronin Prize Levels

Points Prize Total Points Total Prizes Prizes Awarded
100 $1.50 100 $1.50 200
200 $3.00 300 $4.50 100
300 $5.00 600 $9.50 80
400 $10.00 1000 $19.50 70
500 $12.50 1500 $32 60
600 $15.00 2100 $47 50
700 $17.50 2800 $64.50 45
800 $20.00 3600 $84.50 40
900 $22.50 4500 $107 35
1000 $50.00 5500 $157 30
1500 $60.00 7000 $217 50
2000 $80.00 9000 $297 50
2500 $100.00 11500 $397 50
3000 $120.00 14500 $517 50
4000 $200.00 18500 $717 50
5000 $225.00 23500 $942 50
6000 $300.00 29500 $1,242 50
7000 $350.00 36500 $1,592 50
8000 $400.00 44500 $1,992 50
9000 $450.00 53500 $2,442 50
10000 $500.00 63500 $2,942 50
12500 $800.00 76000 $3,742 50
15000 $950.00 91000 $4,692 50
20000 $1,250.00 111000 $5,942 50
25000 $1,750.00 136000 $7,692 35
30000 $2,000.00 166000 $9,692 15
35000 $2,250.00 201000 $11,942 10
40000 $2,500.00 241000 $14,442 6
45000 $2,750.00 286000 $17,192 4
50000 $3,000.00 336000 $20,192 3
55000 $3,250.00 391000 $23,442 3
60000 $3,500.00 451000 $26,942 3
65000 $4,700.00 516000 $31,642 2
70000 $6,000.00 586000 $37,642 2
80000 $7,500.00 666000 $45,142 2

Battle of the Ronin Terms & Conditions

  • The ‘Battle of the Ronin’ promotion will run from Friday 1 until Saturday 31 April (inclusive), 2011. On Sunday 1 May at 00:00 Server Time the Battle of the Ronin VIP points counter will cease recording VIP Points and any earned after this time will NOT count towards prize requirements.
  • All Battle of the Ronin cash prizes will be paid in full directly to a player’s poker account, without any further play through requirements. Any cash prizes will be available for withdrawal after 7 days of being issued to your account, but can be played with at the tables immediately.
  • A player can win ALL 35 cash prizes during the promotion period, but must meet each level’s individual prize requirements.
  • Please allow up to 30 minutes from when an individual prize level is completed, until payment is received.
  • Any form of cheating or collusion will not be tolerated.
  • The maximum number of cash prizes to be awarded at each level are limited and will only be awarded to the fastest eligible players to reach each level. In the case of multiple players reaching the same level and prize limits being exceeded, then the prize will be awarded to the fastest player to obtain that level (within the prize limits).
  • Lock Poker reserves the right to alter, modify or terminate the Promotion and/or these Terms at any time, without giving you any prior notice (written or verbal) where it is reasonable to do so or for reasons beyond the Promoter’s control. The Promoter does not accept any responsibility or liability for any late or undelivered entries or registrations, notifications or communications or for any form of technical failure, error, malfunction or difficultly or for any other event beyond its reasonable control that may cause the operation of the Promotion to be disrupted, unavailable or incorrect.
  • In order to be eligible a player must setup a real money account, which includes their full contact details, so that we can pay any winnings to their account should the win.
  • Offer only open to players that are of the legal age of majority as determined by the laws of the country where you live. Employees and immediate family members of employees of Lock Poker, its associated companies, affiliates, advertising and promotional agencies are not eligible to take part in the Promotion. Entry to the Promotion is limited to those people who are resident in countries where their registration and use of the Cardroom is permitted by the law of their country.
  • The company reserves the right to ask for proof of age from any customer and customer accounts may be suspended until satisfactory proof of age is provided.
  • By downloading the software and registering an account, a customer is deemed to have fully accepted and understood all rules, terms and conditions published by this website.
  • All players must meet Lock Poker’s Terms & Conditions, and Lock Poker reserves the right to modify these rules at any time, and for any reason, at its sole discretion.

Full Tilt Poker Take 2

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Full Tilt Poker introduces Take 2. This painless promotion requires you to only opt into it. Take 2 is a cash ring game promotion. There are two parts to the promo. One side of the coin gives you double Full Tilt Points for playing either two standard ring games at the same time, or one Rush Poker game any time from April 08-April 17, 2011. The second part awards cash for playing multiple days. The qualifying is still the same, two standard rings or one Rush game, but the number of days played determines your cash. Play 5 of the 10 days and get $5 cash. If you play 9 of the 10 days you will receive an additional $20 cash for a $25 total. There is a certain number of points to get the double points and the “day” recorded.

How to Participate in Take 2
Follow these steps to participate in Take 2 and claim your cash and bonus points:

If you haven’t done so already, download Full Tilt Poker and set up an account.

Log in to Full Tilt Poker and click on the red Cashier button in the game lobby.

Click on the My Promotions box and then the Take 2 link.

This will lead you to your personal Take 2 page. Follow the instructions on this page – you must elect to participate in this promotion or you will not receive cash or double points for your play during Take 2

The Full Story from the proverbial Horses Mouth:
Take 2 at Full Tilt Poker to earn up to $25 AND double the Full Tilt Points that you’d normally receive for playing in your favorite ring games.

Running from Friday, April 8th to Sunday, April 17th, play at least two standard ring-game tables at the same time or any Rush Poker* table during Take 2 to receive double the Full Tilt Points. Play as often as you can during Take 2 and we’ll also reward you with up to $25 in cash, depending on how many days you play.

Earn up to $25 in Cash
The more you play during Take 2, the more you’ll earn. Earn at least five Take 2 bonus points on any five days during Take 2 to get $5 in cash. Do so on nine of the ten days to get an additional $20, for a total of $25:

Level 1: Play on any five days during Take 2 and receive $5
Level 2: Play on nine of the ten days during Take 2 and receive an additional $20, for a cumulative total of $25
Earn Double the Full Tilt Points

There are two ways to earn double the Full Tilt Points during Take 2:

Play TWO standard ring-game tables at the same time and receive double points at BOTH tables. For example, if you earn 60 points while playing on one table and 40 points while playing on the other, you’d normally receive 100 Full Tilt Points for your play. During Take 2, you’ll earn a total of 200 points – 100 points for your play and an additional 100 bonus points.
Play any table of Rush Poker* – the world’s fastest poker game – and receive double the points. For example, if you earn 100 points while playing at a Rush Poker* table during Take 2, you’ll get an additional 100 bonus points for a total of 200 Full Tilt Points. Rush Poker* is the fastest way to earn double points during Take 2.
You can use your bonus points to get some great gear from the Full Tilt Poker Store, including plasma TVs, iPods, custom Full Tilt Poker jerseys and more. You can also use your points to enter special Full Tilt Points Sit & Gos and Multi-Table Tournaments.

Badugi – How to play Badugi

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Badugi is a game that has gained wide popularity especially on Merge sites like Lock Poker. They even have daily freerolls for it.

Badugi is not complicated to play, but it can be confusing to a new player just learning it. The rules are clear and easy to understand.

To begin with, Badugi is a 4-card, triple-draw lowball poker. Betting depends on the whether Badugi is played as a limit or pot limit. I am not sure if there is any no-limit Badugi games online. In a limit game, players can only raise the bet based on a specified or incremental unit per round. A pot limit game allows players to bet any amount from the minimum, equal to the big blind, to the maximum equal to the current pot value.

During the betting round, the players may choose to call the bet, check, raise or fold the card and leave. A player’s betting decision depends on the kind of card combination or hand.

Badugi players have three card drawing rounds. In each round, you may maintain the existing hand or replace from one to four cards. The aim of each player is to have the lowest badugi. A badugi is a 4-card hand where there are no cards with the same value or from the same suit. You want to get a hand with all low numbers (below 8 is preferable) and with no pairs and no two cards of the same suit.

The first section describes what should be selected as starting hands in different situations. So, if you have a made Badugi hand, all cards should be seven or lower for a full table or eight and lower for a shorthanded table. If on the other hand you have a one-card draw to a Badugi, all qualifying cards should be six or less for a full table and seven or less for a shorthanded table, and so on. Obviously, with the exception of special circumstances (such as the blinds) you should not be playing three or four card draws.

The rest of the data takes you through each round, comparing what you are drawing to, with what your opponents are doing. For example, it is generally a mistake to draw if an opponent has not (unless you are sure they are bluffing). Conversely, if your opponent draws more cards than you then you should perhaps bet, to drive them out of the pot and for value when you do make your hand on a later draw.

As a final note, because you will be drawing to a 7-low most of the time by following these guidelines, when you do make a hand you will generally be playing the best hand on the table. There are also times when you make a higher Badugi Poker hand (such as a 9-low) which can still win you the hand providing your opponents are still drawing (not so strong if another player is already standing pat).

Full Tilt Poker Onyx Cup

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It has been rumored for weeks now that Full Tilt Poker has been working on venturing into the live tournament market. Today, all of their planning and work has been made available to the general public.

Kicking off on May 11, 2011 in fabulous Las Vegas, Full Tilt Poker’s Onyx Cup will bring some of the best players in the world to play for stakes that are, quite honestly, insanely high. There will be 6 events in this series, played in the United States, Europe, and Asia, all of which will have a buyin of no less than $100,000.

This event is guaranteed to showcase some of the sickest action in the poker world. Already home to some of the highest stakes online cash games, Full Tilt is again upping the ante, showcasing itself as the premier leader in the biggest games played around the world.
To see more, simply click the Full Tilt logo in this post to go to the announcement video.

One must question, though, the timing that Full Tilt is choosing to launch this. These events are bound to coincide with Annie Duke’s recently launched FS+G Pro’s series, and the first event overlaps Pokerstars EPT Madrid event. This is bound to continue the fighting between the two juggernaut sites that has already led to each segregating their players from the other tournaments. Whatever happens, though, one thing is sure: Phil Ivey is going to make a lot of money.

Poker Hand Rankings

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Royal Flush:

Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace of the same suit. Straight Flush:

Straight with all five cards in the same suit.

Four of a Kind:

Four cards of the same number or face value (“quads”). Full House:

Three cards of one number or face value and two cards of another number or face value. If more than one player has a full house, the full house with the highest ranking three of a kind (“trips”) wins. Flush:

Five cards of the same suit. If there is more than one flush, the hand with the highest card(s) wins.

Straight:

Five cards in sequence. Cards can be in any suit. An Ace can be used in the highest straight (10, J, Q, K, A) and the lowest straight (A, 2, 3, 4, 5). Three of a Kind:

Three cards of the same number or face value (“trips”). Two Pair:

If two players have two pair, the hand with the highest pair wins. If they have the same high pair, whoever has the second highest pair wins. If they have the same two pair, whoever has the highest fifth card (“kicker”) wins.

One Pair:

Two cards of the same number or face value. If two players have the same pair, the highest outside card(s) wins. High Card:

The hand with the highest card(s) wins.

7 Card Stud Poker – Hi Lo – How to Play

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7 Card Stud Hi/Lo is played exactly as 7 Card Stud with the exception that the pot is split between the best Hi hand and the best qualifying Low hand, if one exists.

To qualify for Low: It takes a five-card hand with different numerical values from Ace through eight (with the Ace being the lowest) to qualify for the “Low” half of the pot. The best “Low” hand is A, 2, 3, 4, 5 (also known as the “wheel” or “bicycle”). The winning “Low” hand goes to the player with the lowest high card. For example, a player with a 2,4,5,6,7 would have a better “Low” hand than someone with an A,2,4,6,8. If two or more players have the same high card, the player with the second lowest card (or third, fourth, or fifth if necessary) in their hand wins the low side of the pot.

Some things to Remember
1) Straights and Flushes do NOT count against you when qualifying for “Low”. This is not always the case in other poker variants involving the low hand.
2) You are permitted to use different cards in your hand for the “High” side and different cards for the “Low” side or the same cards for both the “High” and “Low” sides. In a split pot, any leftover odd chip goes to the “High” side of the pot.

7 Card Stud Poker – Seven Card Stud – How to Play

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7 Card Stud is a popular, well-known form of poker. It is played with up to eight players at the table.

A fresh table starts off with all the players posting the “ante” (putting a predetermined amount in the pot before the cards are dealt). This amount is based on the size of the game. While the ante amount is not based on a set rule, the same is decided upon by the prevailing game trends.

In Seven-card stud poker, players receive seven cards, three “down” cards and four “up” cards.

After the antes have been placed each player is dealt three cards (two “down” cards and one “up” card). The “up” card is also known as the “door card” or “Third Street”. The lowest “up” card must initiate the action with a “Bring-In” bet. (If two or more players have the same lowest card, the person who brings it in is determined by suit order progressing from clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades.)

Each player is allowed one bet and three raises in each betting round. To continue to play, players must take an action from what is displayed to them on each “street” or betting round (unless they are all-in).

After the first round of betting another card is dealt face-up to each player that still remains in the pot (those who didn’t fold on “third street”). This is “Fourth Street” (the second round of betting). From “Fourth Street” on, the highest hand showing begins the action by checking or betting. If a pair is showing on “Fourth Street”, players have the option to make a single or double bet. If a player makes a single/double bet, the other players may call, raise the single bet, raise the double bet or fold. In case of a double bet, only an equal amount can be raised (to the extent of the double bet).

Upon completion of the betting on “fourth street”, another card is dealt face-up to those who remain in the pot. This is called “Fifth Street” (the third round of betting – which doubles (the value of each bet is double of what was available in the first two rounds) – and continues at this amount for the remaining betting rounds). The highest hand showing again starts the action by checking or betting.

Upon the completion of betting on “fifth street”, another card is dealt face-up. This is “Sixth Street” (fourth betting round). Following that, the final card is dealt face down. The last card is also known as the “River Card” or “Seventh Street” (final round of betting).

A maximum of four bets, which includes one bet, and three raises are allowed for each betting round per player. To continue to play, players must take an action from what is displayed to them on each “street” or betting round (unless they are all-in). The term cap is used to describe the final raise in a round since betting is then capped and no one can make another raise. Once capped, players will have the option of calling or folding only. Folding can be done at any stage of the game. The action of folding basically shows the player cards being moved to the dealer. The player from then on would not be considered as part of the game. He/she would not have any rights over any pots created on the table.

Poker is typically played “table stakes”, meaning only the chips in play at the beginning of each hand may be used throughout the hand. This means that the player cannot get additional funds from the cashier while he is in the midst of a game. The table stakes rule has an application called the “All-In” rule, which states that a player cannot be forced to forfeit a hand because the player does not have enough chips to call a bet.

A player who does not have enough chips to call a bet is declared All-In. The player is eligible for the portion of the pot to the point of his final wager. All further action involving other players takes place in a “side pot”, which is unavailable to the player who has already gone All-In. When a player goes All-in, the pot currently at the center of the table, which has contributions from him/her as well, is treated as the main pot, over which the All-in player has rights. After the player goes all-in, all the new bets are placed in a side pot, over which only the contributing players have rights. The All-in player does not have any rights over the side pot. The side pot is then given to the next winning combination.

Upon completion of the final round of betting, the best hand wins the pot. (The pot may also be won by someone who bets without being called at any time during the hand.). Your “hand” is determined by using the best five of seven cards. A combination of the following may be used:
· Five cards from the seven dealt to you
· One board (community) card and four of the cards dealt to you.

On the final round of betting, the player who bets first (or checks first if no one else bets) is required to show their cards first at the showdown. If they have the best hand, the remaining players may/may not show their cards as they wish. The aggressors’ hand is only turned over first if he was the last to initiate action on the river.

If two or more hands are the same ranking, the winner is the one having the higher cards. For example, a Flush with an Ace high beats a Flush with a King high. If the poker hands remain tied, then the highest card not being held in common (the kicker) determines the winner.

The suit order of the cards is not taken into account while deciding on the winning cards. Should poker hands be absolutely identical in ranking, the rule of poker pot distribution will be split evenly between the two or more winning players. If there is an odd chip, the winning player to the left of the button/dealer will receive it. This applies to both play money and poker for real money.