Five-Card Draw

Five-card draw is the first poker game that many people learned. Players usually post an ante, receive five cards, and have a round of betting starting to the left of the dealer. Then each player may trade in cards for new ones to improve their hand. This is followed by a second round of betting. It is rarely played in casinos or poker rooms, and it is not played as often as it used to be in home games. For many poker players, its biggest drawback is that it has only two betting rounds.

Lowball

Lowball is a form of draw poker played for the lowest hand. Most Lowball games have a blind structure somewhat like Hold’em while others have an ante. When played with limits (like 5/10), the bet doubles after the draw. Each player receives five cards face down, and play on the first round starts to the left of the big blind with blinds or left of the dealer with antes.

With blinds, each player must call the big blind (some games require the minimum opening bet to be double the big blind), raise, call a raise, reraise, or fold. With antes, each player may check, bet, call the bet, raise, or fold. After this first round of betting, remaining players may trade any number of their cards for new ones (some games limit the number of cards players can draw). The final round of betting starts after the draw with the player to the left of the dealer. There are many different and unique rules that some card rooms use and others do not. It is advisable to read the posted rules and/or ask a floor person for them before entering a Lowball game.

Ace-to-five lowball: A-2-3-4-5 is the best hand in Ace-to-Five Lowball. Flushes and straights do not count against you. Many Ace-to-Five Lowball games are played with a joker, which is used as the lowest possible card. The joker, however, cannot match any card in your hand.

2007 Publications International, Ltd. The joker represents a 4. This is the best possible hand for Ace-to-Five Lowball; it is also known as a “wheel.”

Deuce-to-seven lowball: The best hand in Deuce-to-Seven Lowball is 2-3-4-5-7–not all of the same suit. Flushes and straights count against you. The name deuce is what many players call a two. An ace is considered only as a high card and cannot be used as a low card.

When you want a break from hold’em and stud poker, it’s always nice to come back to draw poker. The chance to trade up for better cards has timeless appeal.

Don’t let any of this, however, mislead you into thinking that 7-Card Stud is no longer important to the poker world. It is still offered in most fair-size card rooms, at some tournaments, and is often played by many at home. 7-Card Stud is an intricate card game with many details to learn. If you are looking for a way to gain more knowledge about the game, you have found the right article. Let’s get down to basics:

7-Card Stud is played both high only (meaning the highest hand wins) and high-low/hi-lo (meaning that the highest hand splits the winnings with the lowest hand). The discussion in this article will center on the high-only version. 7-Card Stud is also played at both set limit and pot (the pot is the total amount that has been bet in a single game) limit. Set limit means that there’s a preset limit to how much you can bet, and pot limit means that you can bet as much money as there is in the pot at any given time.

Up to eight players may play in a 7-Card Stud game. It is possible that there will not be enough cards if all eight players make it to the end of the game, especially if the dealer burns (discards) a card prior to dealing to the active players. In these infrequent cases, instead of dealing a card to each active player, the dealer turns a “community” card (a card that all active players can use).

Before the deal, each player places an ante into the pot and then receives two down cards (hole cards) and one face up card. The player with the lowest face up card (an ace is high in this situation) is required to start the betting action with an initial bet called the “bring-in.” The bring-in must be at least the required minimum amount agreed upon before the game. Play continues to the left with either calls (to equal the previous opponent’s bet), raises (to bet higher than the previous opponent), or folds (to resign). For example, if a player thought he had a strong hand and good chance of winning the round, he would raise the bet in attempt to generate the largest pot possible.

After all betting is completed, a fourth card is dealt face up to each player who has not folded. From this point on, the player with the highest hand showing starts the action. For example, if the high hand (excluding the hole cards) is a pair after the fourth card is dealt, the player with this pair must check (to decline to bet or to pass when it is your turn to act), bet, or fold. Because there is no bring-in requirement after the first betting round, players do not need to fold until there is a bet. Once there is a bet, players left in the game, in turn, must call, raise, or fold. It is possible for players to check around the table, thus having a round with no bets.

A fifth card is dealt face up followed by a betting round, and then a sixth card is dealt face up followed by another round of betting. The seventh card is dealt to each player face down, and the final round of betting starts. Each round is often called a “street” (the third card is called third street, the fourth card is called fourth street, and so on through seventh street).

2006 Publications International, Ltd. This 7-Card Stud hand could be hiding a flush or a straight.

A skill that is much more important in 7-Card Stud than most other forms of poker is memory. All good 7-Card Stud players remember what cards their opponents were showing before they folded. This is important because players need to know what cards are still out there that can help them and which ones are already gone. Like most forms of poker, other important skills include reading players, reading hands, reading betting patterns, and determining pot odds (the odds of winning the pot) and starting hand selection (which starting hands are worth playing).

The best starting hand is two aces in the hole and an ace showing, followed by other three-of-a-kind hands (often called rolled-up trips). Next is a high pair in the hole because it is not only a high pair but also a hidden one. High pairs with one card showing, especially if it is the highest card showing, are also strong starting hands. Hands with strong flush and straight possibilities are also reasonable starting hands.

Like all forms of poker, 7-Card Stud is a game of information. Always be aware of what cards your opponents have showing and what hands they could possibly have. Sometimes you’ll notice players who are just learning the game calling bets on the last betting round with hands that can’t beat what an opponent has showing. For example, Player A has two aces showing and Player B calls with only a pair of kings. If Player B had simply been paying attention, he/she could have saved at least one bet.

2006 Publications International, Ltd. Only by bluffing can the player with kings win.

Just like Hold’em and Omaha, the best 7-Card Stud players are tight and aggressive, and they can read players, hands, and situations. Sometimes poor players can win for long stretches of time in Hold’em because of short-term variance, but poor players in 7-Card Stud usually struggle because of a reduced “luck” factor. Understanding what cards are still available to help your hand and pot odds are of the utmost importance to a successful 7-Card Stud player.

The hi-lo (high-low) version of Omaha will be discussed in these pages since it is the more popular of the two versions. Moreover, the high-only version is played exactly the same way as the hi-lo version except the pot (the total amount of money bit on a single hand) is not split and the high hand is awarded the entire pot.

Omaha is also played at set limit or pot limit (raises can be up to the current size of the pot). Though it is occasionally available, no-limit Omaha is rarely played. In this article, limit Omaha will be discussed unless it is stated otherwise. It is strongly recommended that you play only limit Omaha until you have a great deal of experience because pot-limit Omaha can be a brutal game for the beginning player and can take a heavy toll on your bankroll. Rarely play pot-limit because, like no-limit, one mistake can be extremely expensive.

Now that we have the preliminaries out of the way, move on to the next section for basic strategy in Omaha poker.

Hold’em is offered in virtually every card room and is on many Internet sites. Meanwhile, an increasing number of poker players play Texas Hold’em at home. In this article you will learn how to play, the differences among the various limit games (limit, no limit, and pot limit), and basic and advanced strategies. There’s a lot of information to get through, so move on to the next section where we will begin by examining the basics of Texas Hold’em Poker.

This article will cover many of the basics of poker — from rankings of poker hands to the card game’s terminology. But to put everything in its proper context, we’ll lead off with a quick primer on the history of poker.

Poker Origins

Many people were introduced to poker by seeing it played in the saloons in Western movies, and the poker game played was most often 5-Card Draw. Some people may also have heard stories of riverboat gamblers on the Mississippi River. For these reasons, a lot of people grew up believing poker began in America in the 1900s, and the only poker game ever played was 5-Card Draw. Actually, both assumptions are false.

The actual origin of poker is not known. Some say the Chinese played with cards as early as the tenth century a.d. In another part of the world, archaeologists recovered fragments of cardlike items dating to the twelfth or thirteenth century in Egypt. Of course, we don’t know what the Egyptians used these cards for, but it could have been the first form of poker. We do know that in the sixteenth century people in India played a betting game called Ganjifa, which used a deck of 96 cards; and in the seventeenth century the Persians played a five-player card game, which they called As Nas, using 25 cards in five suits.

The current 52-card deck is often credited to European countries. In the fifteenth century, France introduced the current suits of clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades in a game called Poque. It is quite possible that the word “poker” is derived from that word. Others, however, claim that the word “poker” comes from the German card game pochspiel or the German bluffing game pochen, which dates back to the sixteenth century. Also, the British are credited with the introduction of games called “Brag” and “Faro,” which were played in many saloons in the Old West.

Eventually, poker migrated to the United States in the late eighteenth century and continued to spread throughout North America. Variations of poque called “draw” and “stud” became popular during the Civil War. These terms are still used today.

Next, we’ll move onto the fundamentals of playing the game, specifically the rankings of poker hands.

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Patrons play blackjack during the grand opening of the Red Rock Casino.

Today, almost everywhere you look across the United States, it seems casinos are dotting the landscape. Casino gambling has been established in Atlantic City since 1978. In addition to the land-based casinos of Nevada and New Jersey, riverboat casinos have opened in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri while all-slots casinos are awaiting final approval in Pennsylvania. Low-limit land-based casinos are in Colorado and South Dakota, and New Orleans has one large full-service land-based casino. And Native American tribes bring casino gambling to much of the rest of the country. Tribal casinos or bingo halls have opened in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin.

A 2005 survey found that in the previous year, United States patrons made 319 million casino visits — about seven times the 1990 total. More people visited casinos than attended major league baseball games or any other professional sporting events — than attended arena concerts — than attended Broadway shows. It seems casino gambling is becoming one of America’s national pastimes.

Casino-goers come from all groups of the population — 55 percent have some college education; 45 percent have white-collar jobs, 25 percent blue-collar; 17 percent are retired. The percentages of blue-collar workers are higher at newer gambling areas.

Perhaps you are considering joining the legion of casino gamblers, but you are unsure of the rules and customs. Where do you get betting chips? How much do you tip the dealer? What exactly is a “comp?” Luckily for you, this article has the answers to all of your casino gambling questions. Let’s get started with a little more background information to help you decide if casino gambling is right for you.

Can You Win?

Let’s be realistic — casino gambling is best taken as a form of entertainment. In the long run, the casinos will be the winners — those resort hotels and riverboats aren’t built to drive themselves out of business by giving money away to the players.

Except for blackjack, which has odds that change continuously as cards are dealt out, casino games are designed with a fixed mathematical edge in favor of the house. In roulette, for instance, the wheel has 38 numbers — 1 though 36, plus 0 and 00. To use the simplest example, the player may place a bet on any one of those 38 numbers. A winning bet will bring a payoff of 35-1 — the player gets his original bet back, plus 35 times the bet in winnings. If there were no 0 or 00, that would correspond exactly to the odds of winning, but with those numbers added, the true odds are 37-1. By paying at less than the true odds, the house builds in a 5.26 percent advantage in roulette.

Does that mean it’s hopeless for the player, that the house will win every time? No, for if there were no winners, there soon would be no customers. In the long run, the percentage will hold up and the casino will make its profit. But in the short term, results vary widely from the norm. The house advantages in casino games are narrow enough to produce winners — lots of winners, in fact — every day.

For the best chance to win — and to limit losses — players need to understand the games before they start to play. A blackjack player who does not know the rules of the game, the totals on which the dealer is required to hit or stand, or a basic strategy for play might as well just write the casino a check. Likewise, a craps player who does not understand the available options might make bets giving the house a 16.67 percent edge, when bets are available at the same table that limit the house advantage to .6 percent.

Learn the best bets and stay away from the worst ones, and you’ll win more often. But understand that regardless of how well you play, sometimes — the majority of times, in fact — the house edge is going to grind down your bankroll.

Well, they call it gambling for a reason, right? If you think your ready for both the risk and excitement, move on to the next section for the tips and guidelines that will help you blend in seamlessly with the most experienced gamblers.

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Players play video poker in a casino.

But video poker adds something slot machines don’t have — an element of skill. Players have decisions to make that affect the outcome. And because cards are required to be dealt from a randomly shuffled 52-card deck — or 53 cards, in the case of Joker’s Wild machines — the possible combinations are known, the frequency of the combinations can be calculated, and an optimal playing strategy can be devised. In fact, when Missouri riverboats opened under a law that forbade games of chance, casinos were allowed to offer video poker, as a game of skill, even though slots, as games of chance, had to wait until voters changed the law.

The best video poker machines, played skillfully, offer odds that rival any table game. The basic game, Jacks or Better, in its full-pay version returns 99.5 percent with optimal play over the long haul. Other machines, especially some versions of Deuces Wild, offer a positive expectation to the player — that is, over the long haul, they’ll return more than 100 percent with optimal play.

Why do casinos offer games that can be beaten? Because only a very small percentage of players know the basics of proper play. Enough mistakes are made that the casinos actually pay out 2 to 4 percent less than the expectation for skilled players. In competitive markets, casinos walk a tightrope between two choices — offering a pay table so good that the best players can expect to make a profit in the long term, or offering lower pay tables and risk driving away the weaker players who are the casino’s bread-and-butter customers. In less-competitive markets, where the demand for space to play is great, casinos will offer lower-paying machines because they will be played despite the low payoffs.

Enough Americans have an easy familiarity with the rank of poker hands that video poker has become one of the most popular casino games. As gambling markets mature and players become more experienced, the demand for video poker has tended to become stronger. In Nevada, casinos with a clientele of locals devote more than 50 percent of slot space to video poker, and there are video poker bars that offer few other gambling options. The major resorts that cater to tourists turn a lower percentage of space to video poker, about 10 percent to 15 percent. That’s about the percentage you’ll find in other United States gaming destinations. In Missouri, as soon as voters allowed games of chance, about 80 percent of slot space was turned over to reel slots.

In the early 1980s, Si Redd and his new International Gaming Technology entered into a licensing agreement with Bally’s Manufacturing that gave IGT exclusive rights to manufacture video poker machines. Few people recognized the potential at the time, but that gave IGT the boost it needed to become Bally’s main competitor in producing electronic gaming devices. Today IGT and Bally’s both produce video poker machines, and their machines take up most of the floor space devoted to electronic gaming devices across the country.

If you’re ready to join the video poker craze, you have found the right article. In the following pages, you will learn how to navigate the sea of buttons and flashing lights that is a video poker machine, as well as tips and tactics to come out a winner. Let’s get started with a quick refresher on the winning hands in poker.

Rank of Poker Hands

All payoffs are based on five-card poker hands, which rank as follows:

2006 Publications International, Ltd.

These are all examples of winning hands for video poker. They include:

Top row: royal flush, straight flush

Middle row: four of a kind, full house, flush

Bottom row: staright, three of a kind, two pair, jacks or better

Royal flush: Ace-king-queen-jack-10 all of the same suit (hearts, clubs, spades, or diamonds).

Straight flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suit; for example, 2-3-4-5-6, all of clubs.

Four of a kind: Four cards of the same rank; for example, ace of hearts, ace of spades, ace of clubs, ace of diamonds.

Full house: Three cards of one rank, two cards of another rank; for example, 3 of diamonds, 3 of hearts, 3 of spades, 6 of hearts, 6 of spades.

Flush: Five cards of the same suit; for example, ace, 10, 7, 4, 3, all of diamonds.

Straight: Five consecutive cards of mixed suits; for example, 2 of diamonds, 3 of hearts, 4 of diamonds, 5 of clubs, 6 of spades.

Three of a kind: Three cards of the same rank; for example, 6 of hearts, 6 of clubs, 6 of diamonds.

Two pair: Two cards of one rank, two cards of another rank; for example, ace of spades, ace of hearts, 7 of clubs, 7 of diamonds.

Pair of jacks or better: Two jacks, queens, kings, or aces.

Now that you know how to win, let’s take a look at the device that you’ll be playing on. Move on to the next section to learn the anatomy of a video poker machine.

Online Poker Rooms

Right now there are more than 200 Internet poker rooms. The largest Internet Party Poker Bonus room has over 50,000 people playing at the same time during peak playing hours. Just do an Internet search for poker or take a look at some of the online poker-related sites, and you will quickly find many places to play and thousands upon thousands of pages of information.

The following games, and others, are readily available online:

• Texas Hold’em
• Omaha/8
• Omaha High
• Seven-Card Stud
• Pineapple
• Razz
• Five-Card Draw
• Triple Draw

The Benefits of Internet Play

Playing poker on the Internet is a tremendous way to gain experience and also less expensive than traveling to a card room. Most players tip the dealer when they win a hand in a brick-and-mortar card room (often called B&M) and also often tip the servers when they bring a drink or food. Playing on the Internet requires no tipping. Thus these expenses, as well as the travel expenses associated with live play are nonexistent.

In addition, you play many more hands per hour online because a dealer doesn’t have to take the time to shuffle, and the play is faster because most online poker sites have a time limit for each player to act.

For players who are just learning to play poker or are learning a new game they have little or no experience with, online poker offers a wonderful arena to increase skill, knowledge of the game, and possibly build a bankroll at the same time. Most sites offer the opportunity to play poker for free, using play money. Some sites even have “free rolls,” which are tournaments you may enter for free that pay out real money to the winners. In addition, many sites offer real money limits as low as .01/.02. The largest entry level limit at any site currently is 1/2.

The play at the free money tables is not very good, and it is recommended using them only to get a feel for the gaming software and/or to learn a new game. The smaller games of .01/.02 up to .25/.50 (often called micro limits) offer a slightly more realistic feel to a poker game because you play for real money, but the play is horrendous. As you climb in levels, the play improves, but some games as high as 3/6 and 5/10 can have some inexperienced players, just like at a live poker room.

Bonus Offers

The online poker business is highly competitive. As mentioned above, poker rooms make money from players in the form of rakes (the amount of money a card room takes from each pot) and entry fees. The more players a site has, the more revenue it will generate. For this reason, it seems as though every site has bonus offers to attract new players.

Practically every site offers a bonus on a player’s first deposit ranging from 20 percent (deposit $100 and receive a $20 bonus) up to 100 percent (deposit $100 and get a $100 bonus). These deposit bonuses are usually tied to a requirement to play a predetermined amount of raked hands. Before depositing in any online site, make sure you have read the terms and conditions so you know exactly what you must do to receive the bonus.

Many sites also periodically offer reload bonuses (usually requiring another deposit under the same terms and conditions as a first-time bonus) to current players to entice them to keep playing at the site. Many players continuously move from site to site collecting these bonuses (often called bonus hunting), which can be a good way to increase a player’s profit per hour of poker play. In addition, if you are able to simply play break-even poker, bonuses can make you a profit as you improve your game.

While playing poker online can be fun and exciting, there are some pitfalls to watch out for. In the next section, we will discuss the legality of online poker rooms, as well as strategy that should be employed when playing poker online.

Always find out the exact structure that a tournament will use before you enter, including the game, limit, bidding structure, pay-out percentage, and places paid.

Here is an example of a no-limit Hold’em tournament structure based on 100 entrants, each paying $110. (One hundred dollars goes to the prize pool and the other $10 is the entry fee, making the total prize pool $10,000.) The top ten places pay the following percentage of the prize pool. (Most tournaments pay out to the top 10 percent.)

Everyone starts with 1,000 in tournament chips, and the blinds start at 10/20 (meaning $10 for the small blind and $20 for the big blind). The big and small blinds are forced bets designed to put some money at stake and stimulate betting. The players who have to contribute the big and small blinds rotate one position to the left after each hand. The big blind is usually the minimum bet at the table you are playing at, and the small blind is usually half of that amount (for instance, if the table minimum is $10, the big blind would be $10 and the small blind would be $5). The blinds raise every hour (called levels), using the following schedule:

Notice that the blinds increase every hour and quickly reach a point that forces players with smaller amounts of chips (stacks) to take chances to keep from having the blinds eliminate them. Most tournaments are set up along this line in order to force action and to have a good idea of when the tournament will end.

Knowing how fast the blinds raise is an important element to consider before entering a tournament since the slower the blinds raise, the more the outcome will depend on a player’s skill than on luck.

Another important consideration is how many places pay and how much they pay. Some tournaments are top heavy, paying the largest amount of money to the top few finishers while other tournaments spread out the prize money more evenly–sometimes paying out to the top 20 percent of entrants.

Some tournaments offer an opportunity to rebuy, usually within a set time limit if you lose all of your chips. We will discuss the part of the tournament after the rebuy period or a tournament that doesn’t offer a rebuy option.

Choosing the right tournament is only part of the information you need to know. You might also wonder how should you play differently in a tournament than in a regular at-home game? In the next section, we will cover tournament strategy.

One of the most important things to remember is that the staff of a casino or poker room is there to make your visit as comfortable as possible because they want you to come back. If you can’t find the card room or if you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to ask a staff member.

The dealer is also part of the staff. If you are sitting down at a poker game in a casino or card room for the first time, tell the dealer that it is your first time and ask them to please keep an eye on you to make sure you aren’t doing anything incorrectly. You may be amazed at how helpful and useful someone can be when you show them a little respect and ask for their help. Many times, especially at the lower-limit tables, other players are also helpful.

Also, most poker rooms have a place to sign a waiting list for a particular game. Some have a white board with the games and limits available along with the waiting players’ initials. Others will just have someone who writes initials or names on a sheet of paper. The card room calls the next person on the list when a seat becomes available. Simply ask whoever is in charge of the board — or a staff member — to place you on the list for all of the games you are willing to play. If you are in a small poker room with no visible sign-up area, ask a dealer how to enter a game.

Well, now that you’ve found your table and you’re ready to play, here are some general tips for casino poker:

• Wait for the big blind (The big blind is the largest forced bet at the beginning of a game designed to stimulate betting. The player who has to contribute the big blind rotates one position to the left after each game.) to get to you before playing. Use this time to watch your opponents, and get a feel for the way they are playing. It’s amazing how much some players reveal if you just pay attention.
• Most players tip the dealer when they win a pot. This is not required, but if the dealer is doing a competent job, you should tip. Dealers are like waitstaff in that they make most of their money from tips. A sample plan would be to tip the dealer .50 on average size pots and possibly $1.00 on larger pots if the dealer is doing a good job. Also, you can watch what the other players are tipping to get an idea. Remember though that every dollar that goes to the dealer is reducing your winnings. You should be able to come to a happy medium with experience.
• Act when it’s your turn. Never act before your turn. This is very poor etiquette and can change the outcome of a hand. The other players will understandably get upset with you.
• Make sure your cards are in plain sight.
• It is a good idea to place a chip on them to show that they are still live and protect them because the dealer won’t take them when the chip is on them. If you leave your cards unprotected, the dealer might muck them (mix with discards) by mistake, and there is no way you can retrieve them. Most players keep their hand on their cards.
• When you win a pot (the total amount of money bet in a single game), don’t reach for it. Let the dealer push the pot to you. Do not surrender your cards until the pot has been awarded to you on a winning hand.
• If you aren’t sure whether you have the best hand at the end of a round, turn your cards face up, and let the dealer read the hands. If the dealer makes a mistake, it can often be corrected. If you throw your hand into the discard pile (often called the “muck”), you are not eligible for any of the pot even if you made a mistake and had the best hand.
• Don’t throw your chips into the pot (called “splashing” the pot). Place all bets in front of you, and let the dealer pull them into the pot.

A great way to make your first trip less stressful is to go with a friend who has been there before. But if this option is not available, don’t let that stop you. Always remember that everyone who is a regular in the card room was once new, too.