Introduction
Texas Hold'em is a relatively new member of the poker family. But it is the variation that has been the most popular around the world in the last years. The unofficial world championship of poker is contested in no limit Texas Hold'em – a game sometimes called the Cadillac of poker.

The Game
In Texas Hold'em you get two hole cards, cards that the other players cannot see. Then five cards are dealt face up on the board, successively. They are community cards that all players can use to put together a five card poker hand.

To form the best possible hand, you can use either both your hole cards together with three of the community cards on the board, or one hole card with four community cards, or simply all five community cards. The player who can put together the highest poker hand wins the pot.

The deal
When the blinds have been posted, each player is dealt two cards face down, the hole cards.
Then the first betting round takes place, starting with the player to the left of the big blind.

The flop
When the first betting round is finished, three cards are dealt face up on the table. They are called "the flop".
Then the second betting round takes place, starting with the first player to the left of the dealer who is still in the hand.

The turn (fourth street)
After the second betting round, the fourth community card is dealt. It is called the turn.
The third betting round takes place, starting with the first player to the left of the dealer who is still in the hand.

The river (fifth street)
The fifth and last community card is called the river. Now the hand is concluded by the fourth and last betting round, again starting with the first player to the left of the dealer who is still in the hand.
If more than one player remains in the hand after the betting, there is a showdown.

Game Advice For Texas Hold'em

Play good starting hands
Do not enter the betting with any two cards! With ten players around the table, someone will have a better starting hand most of the time. When you enter the game with the second best hand, your opponent is a favorite to win the pot.

The importance of position
In Texas Hold'em, your position remains the same throughout the entire hand. A player that acts after you will act after you all the way to the river. This is a great disadvantage for you. As a rule, play only very strong hands in early position. On the other hand, when you are in a late position, the advantage is yours to exploit.

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Introduction

At a first glance, Omaha looks a lot like Texas Hold'em. But in Omaha, each player receives four cards - this gives Omaha an interesting complexity.

The Game

In Omaha, you get four hole cards, cards that the other players cannot see. Then, successively during the hand, five cards are dealt face up on the board. They are community cards that all players can use to put together a five card poker hand. When all cards are out, you must use two of your hole cards and combine them with three community cards in order to form the best possible poker hand.

Blinds
Omaha is played with blinds. Before the cards are dealt, two players to the left of the dealer post a small and a big blind to create a starting pot.

The deal
When the blinds have been posted, each player is dealt four cards face down, the hole cards.
Then the first betting round takes place, starting with the player to the left of the big blind.

The flop
When the first betting round is finished, three cards are dealt face up on the table. They are called "the flop".
Then the second betting round takes place, starting with the first player to the left of the dealer who is still in the hand.

The turn (fourth street)
After the second betting round, the fourth community card is dealt. It is called the turn.
The third betting round takes place, starting with the first player to the left of the dealer who is still in the hand.

The river (fifth street)
The fifth and last community card is called the river. Now the hand is concluded by the fourth and last betting round, again starting with the first player to the left of the dealer who is still in the hand.
If more than one player remains in the hand after the betting, there is a showdown.

Game Advice For Omaha

Four of a kind – an easy fold!
In Omaha, picking up your four hole cards and seeing a monster hand is not that great, since you can only use two of them. If, for example, your hole cards are four kings, you do not have four of a kind! As a matter of fact, you cannot even make three of a kind, since no king can come on the board.
Or, if you have four hearts, your chances of making a flush are worse than if you had had only two hearts. If you have two hearts and two spades in your hand, your flush chances are even better.
So, do not be fooled when you look down at a fantastic hand in Omaha.

Big straight draws
After the flop in Texas Hold'em, a made hand (such as three of a kind) is usually the favorite against a drawing hand (such as four cards to a straight). In Omaha, this is not the case, since there are so many ways of making a really good hand. With these draws, you can put in a lot of bets.
For example, if you hold T-9-6-5 and the flop comes K-8-7, there are 20 cards that will make you a straight if they came on the turn or river: four fours, three fives, three sixes, three nines, three tens, and four jacks.
With Ah-Ks-Th-9s and a flop of Qh-Jh-3c, there are 22 cards that would make you either a straight or a flush. 16 cards would make you a straight: four eights, three nines, three tens, three kings, and three aces. The nine remaining hearts would give you a flush, but three of them have already been counted, since they also give you a straight: the 8h, 9h, and Kh.
In both these cases, you have equal or better chances than a player who made three of a kind on the flop.

Starting hands with connecting cards
With four cards, there are much more combinations than with two cards. Since all four cards can be combined with any of the other three cards, an Omaha hand is not like two Texas hands, it is like six. So, in Omaha, look out for hands where all four cards connect in some way.

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The Game

Split pot
Omaha Hi/Lo is played exactly the same way as Omaha, with one exception: In the showdown, the highest hand wins only half the pot, while the other half is won by the best low hand.
However, this is true only if a player shows down a qualifying low hand. If there is no qualifying low hand, the best high hand wins the whole pot.

Low hand requirements
To qualify as a low hand, a hand must not contain any card higher than 8, and no pair or better.
However, straights and flushes do not disqualify a low hand. So, for example, 8s-7s-6s-5s-4s qualifies as a low hand. (At the same time, it is a very strong high hand, a straight flush.)

Forming a high and a low hand
As in Omaha, you must use two of your hole cards to form a poker hand with three cards from the table. But you are free to use any combination of two cards for the low and the high hand. One or two of your hole cards may be used for both the high and the low hand, or you may use two cards for the high hand and the other two cards for the low hand, as you wish.
For example, if you hold AKT2 and the board is AA764, your best high hand is AK+AA7 (three of a kind), and your best low is A2+764. You use the ace in both hands.

Aces up and down
In Omaha Hi/Lo, the ace is the highest card, but it is also the lowest. This is what makes the classic hand A2345 (“the wheel”) so strong. It is the best possible low hand, but at the same time, being a straight, it is a strong high hand.

Game Advice For Omaha Hi/Lo

Scoping
You should always be on the look-out for a chance to win the whole pot – an activity called scoping. There are two ways to scope. Either, you have the best high hand and the best low hand. Or you have the best high hand and there is no low hand. If you aim at winning only the high or only the low part, the reward is only half as big.

Being quartered
Even if you have the best possible low hand, you can never be sure of winning even half the pot. It is always possible that another player has the same low hand, so that you will split the low part of the pot, that is, you will get only a quarter of the pot. This means that you get very bad odds for playing your hand. In fact, you may even lose money on the hand if you win only a quareter of the pot.
Of course, high hands sometimes also split the high half of the pot. But it is possible to hold a high hand of which you know that no other player can match it.

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Introduction
Seven card stud is perhaps the most played variation of poker in the world. It has been around since the time of the American Civil War.

The Game

In seven card stud, you get seven cards, successively. Three of them are dealt face down, only you will know what they are. Four are dealt face up, so that all players can see them. When all cards are out, you can combine any five of your seven cards to the best poker hand.

Antes
Seven card stud is played with antes. Before the cards are dealt, each player posts a mandatory bet to create a starting pot. The ante is normally 10% of the small bet.

The deal
When the antes have been posted, each player is dealt three cards: two face down and one face up.
Then the first betting round takes place, starting with the player with the lowest displayed card. If two players have equally high cards, the one to the left of the dealer begins.
The first player to act must bet ("bring in") but has the choice of betting either a small bet or half a small bet. If half a bet is made, the following players can either call that bet or raise to a full small bet. (Or fold – you can always fold.)

Fourth street
When the first betting round is finished, each player receives their fourth card face up.
The second betting round takes place. Now and on the remaining betting rounds, it is the player with the best cards showing who starts the betting.

Fifth street
Each player receives their fifth card face up.
The third betting round takes place, starting with the player who shows the best three card hand.

Sixth street
Each player receives their sixth card face up.
The fourth betting round takes place, starting with the player who shows the best four card hand.

Seventh street (river)
Each player receives a seventh and final card. It is dealt face down, concealed to the other players.
The fifth and last betting round takes place, again starting with the player who shows the best four card hand.
If more than one player remains in the hand after the betting, there is a showdown. The best high hand wins.
If there are not enough cards left to deal a seventh card to all remaining players, the river is dealt face up on the board. It works as a community card, which all players can use to form their poker hand.

Game Advice For Seven Card Stud

Starting hand requirements
A strong starting hand consists of either a high pair, three of a kind, three cards to a flush or three cards to a straight.

Live cards
In seven card stud it is important to notice when other players get the cards you need.
Suppose, for example, that you are dealt three hearts. You would like to stay in the hand and draw to a flush, but if other players receive a lot of hearts, your chances of making the flush diminish.
Or if you have a pair of kings, your chances of hitting one of the remaining two kings almost vanish if you see one of them in the hand of another player.

Can you beat what you see?
If you cannot beat the part of a hand that is face up in front of a player, you certainly cannot beat that hand with the concealed cards included.

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The Game

Split pot
Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo is played exactly the same way as Seven Card Stud, with one exception: In the showdown, the highest hand only wins half the pot, while the other half is won by the best low hand.
However, this is true only if a player shows down a qualifying low hand. If there is no qualifying low hand, the best high hand wins the whole pot.

Low hand requirements
To qualify as a low hand, a hand must not contain any card higher than 8, and no pair or better.
However, a straight or flush does not disqualify a low hand. So, for example, 6h-5h-4h-3h-2h qualifies as a low hand. (At the same time, it is a very strong high hand, a straight flush.)

Forming a high and a low hand
In the showdown, you use five of your cards to form a high hand, and five to form a low hand. You can use one or several cards in both the high and the low hand, without restriction.
For example, if you hold A-2-4-5-6-7-8, you would use A-2-4-5-6 for your low hand, and 4-5-6-7-8 for your high.

Game Advice For Seven Card Stud

Scoping
As in Omaha Hi/Lo, trying to win the whole pot is important. You can do this is in two ways: Either by winning both the high ant low sides, or by having the best high hand while there is no qualifying low hand.

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Introduction
Draw poker is probably the oldest form of poker. In five card draw, you do not get to see any of your opponents' cards. The only information you have about their hands is how they bet and how many cards they draw.

The Game

In five card draw, you get five cards face down. You may discard some or all of them and receive a corresponding amount of new cards. The player with the best high hand wins the pot.

Blinds
Five card draw is played with blinds. Before the cards are dealt, the first two players to the left of the dealer post a small and a big blind respectively to create a starting pot.

The deal
When the blinds have been posted, each player is dealt five cards.

The draw
When the first betting round is finished, each player who remains in the hand has the right to draw one to five new cards, or not draw (stand pat). The draw starts with the player to the dealer's left.
If more than one player remains in the hand after the second betting round, there is a showdown. The best high hand wins the pot.

Game Advice For Five Card Draw

Choose your hands
A common advice is to not open the betting with less than a high pair in your hand. And if someone else opens the pot, you need at least that to call.

Do not be an open book
If you have a pair and draw three cards, the other players will know that you have a pair. If you always draw two cards when you have three of a kind, again your hand will be easy to read. The same goes if you never stand pat unless you have a made hand.
By varying the number of cards you draw, you keep your opponents guessing.

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