The straightforward nuts and bolts of Hold'em

Part two: The game, simplistic style

IN HOLD'EM, the dealer deals each andevery player two cards in a clockwise fashion. The two players to his/her left have to post blinds, the first a small blind, the second a big blind (which is double the amount of the small).

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At this point, with players simply holding two cards, the first person to voluntarily act (the third person to the left of the dealer or the first person who has not posted a blind) has three options, they can ‘call', which is to match the big blind, ‘raise' which is to bet at least twice the sum of the big blind, or simply ‘pass' and discard their cards.

Once every player has made their decision - this is called a betting round - three cards are dealt face-up in the centre of the table, this is called the ‘flop'.

Players now begin another round of betting judged on the value of five cards, two ‘hole cards' - the ones they were originally dealt - and the three community cards - ‘the flop'. This time, and for all future betting rounds, the first person to act is the first player to the left of the dealer who still holds cards.

When the betting is over, a fourth card is dealt face-up - ‘the turn card' - and once again another round of betting is presented.

Finally the fifth and final community card, ‘the river' is dealt and, on completion of a final round of betting, the ‘hole cards' are turned on their backs and the winning hand takes the pot.

That's the straightforward nuts and bolts of hold'em, but it is often quite a  vicious game, and rarely do you see the action go all the way to the ‘river' card.

With ‘no limit' meaning exactly what it says, the action can, and often does, come to an abrupt halt when a player moves all his chips into a pot at the first, second or third betting opportunity.

The ranking of poker hands does not change in any form of poker, and hold'em will always be hold'em, but you can play in cash games, where the money you stake is real money, or tournaments, where you pay an entry fee and are given a set amount of chips.

Here, the prize-money will be awarded to the winner of the competition and also to those who finish in a prominent position, the first six finishers in a 30 player
tournament, for example.

Roy Brindley: prefers tournaments

 

Personally, I prefer tournaments and, vitally, I've never met a player who can play cashgames and tournaments equally well. They are related like pool and snooker, same theory but, essentially, a completely different game and strategy suited to entirely different people.

Similarly, few players can play different formsof poker successfully, such as Omaha and hold'em. They require a completely different mindset. In one game a flopped pair is a monster, in another a straight is often the minimum required to win a pot. The betting strategies are also poles apart.

So, as they say in television, for the purposes of this demonstration, let's focus on tournament hold'em and tournament hold'em only. After all, knock off one big hold'em tournament and you're made for life?

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