How to play Texas Hold'em

Texas Hold'em is one of the most popular card games ever, and it's really easy to understand. A poker hand is always made of five cards. In the beginning of the game you only get two cards, which you can later combine with community cards dealt later during the game. The game has four rounds where you can either bet or throw your cards away.

The first round is called Preflop round. This is where you get your two cards. Before the cards are dealt, two players must post a blind bet - as they haven't seen their cards yet. There is a small bet, followed by the Big Blind, that is usually doubles the value of the small blind. These bets are posted by the two players sitting on the left of the dealer.

The betting goes round the table clockwise. In order to mark who's dealing, a special chip is placed in front of the current dealer. If it's your turn, make your bet and place your chips in the pot. Anyone who wants to play on, must pay your bet. If anyone decides it would be too expensive, they can fold.

Betting all of your chips is called going all-in. Once you are all-in, you can't bet anything more, but also cannot fold before the showdown. In this case you will automatically be in the hand until its end, giving you the possibility to win by showing the best cards.

You can also raise a bet, making it more expensive. If the other players don't want to pay extra, they must fold. You may call the bet of someone who has one in front of you. For this you must pay whatever the price of the bet was. If no-one has bet yet, then you can check, meaning that you don't place any bet and let the next player act.

The action goes round the table clockwise. After everyone has acted, all the bets are collected and placed in the middle of the table in the pot. After the initial round of betting the dealer deals three community cards. Every player can use these to create their 5-card poker hand.

In the second round of betting you can place additional money in the pot, or fold. A fourth community card - called the turn - is dealt on the table. You can also use this in combination with the other cards to form your poker hand.

The players who are still in the game, engage in a third round of betting, at the end of which the bets are collected and placed in the pot again. After the turn comes the fifth community card, called River. again you can combine this with the other community cards.

This is followed by the fourth round of betting where you can bet once more. After this round, the players who are still in, show their cards to find out who has the best holdings and wins the pot.

Texas Hold'em is easy to understadn but can present some very complex situations, which is why inexperienced players often lose very quickly.

Poker Practice Tips for Beginners

Online Poker has spread all over the Internet; it has earned its leading status in online gaming and online casino gaming, so it's well worth to get into the game a bit deeper to learn the craft properly

No doubt, there's big money to be won in online poker. However, it is not just a game of chance, players can actually be in control of their luck with skills and craft perfected through many hours of practice. There's deep strategy involved here. It pays to learn well the tricks and trade of the game before you start playing for real money.

In order to become a good player, one must spend a lot of time practicing the game, refining the skills and strategies. Memorizing the winning combinations and hoping for the best during the game, will not get anyone to the top. All players must remember that these skills cannot be learnt overnight. Leading players have perfected their poker for years and years, carefully playing and analyzing possibly hundreds of hands each day.

The best idea is to spend some time regularly with the game. That way the players will quickly experience a multitude of different situations and everyone will be able, with some dedication and effort, to craft their own individual playing styles. The emphasis here is on regularity. Spend some time every day with the game and your efforts will be rewarded. Do not skip a day. If you want to achieve results, make this a regular habit.

Best way to practice is using the free games provided by some websites. Players on any level can practice for as long as they wish, without risking any real money, thus learning the art and craft of online poker in a stress-free way, where they can simply concentrate on how to deal best with any upcoming situation.

Coupled with enough practice time, an online gamer’s interest in learning more of the trade will give him an edge later on. Poker will have to become a passion in the player's life. This mind-set will allow him to learn more than anybody does who plays without any interest in learning the craft through time. And of course, no master in the game has 100% foresight of what their hand will bring them. It is safe to say that even for the most accomplished players, there’s always room for improvement.

People have a remarkable tendency of creating excuses and will do anything to justify his behavior, bad luck, or mistakes in every day life. No one hesitates to dish out excuses for their wrongdoings and failure to perform. This habit is nothing more than just a defense mechanism people use to try and maintain our confidence and self-esteem. This kind of attitude will have a negative effect on your Poker and on our bankroll.

Do not be afraid to make mistakes, and be prepared to learn from any of them. It is always easier to complain about bad luck, dismiss a hand as a bad beat, rather than trying to find out what caused the actual problem. This might take more effort, but it enhances the learning experience, and can only make the players more successful.

As Thomas Jefferson once said: "I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it." Wise words.