Texas Holdem Poker Basic Rules

Texas Holdem Basics  
 Texas Hold'em is a poker game played with 2-10 players.

One player acts as the dealer. His spot is called the button and rotates clockwise, after every hand.
 
The two players on the left of the dealer are called the small blind and the big blind.

Those two positions require forced bets of a pre-determined amount and are the only players to ante in     before the cards are dealt.

All players receives two cards face down. Those are called "hole" cards.
The first betting round begins with the player sitting to the left of the big blind. This player can fold, call  or raise.

Betting then continues clockwise, with each of the players having the option to fold, call the highest bet
before them, bet or raise.

When the first betting round is completed, three community cards are flipped up, face up on the table. This is called a flop.

The second round of betting begins with the first  player seated to the left of the button. The betting resumes clockwise with each player having the option to check, bet, call or fold.

When this round of betting is finished, a fourth community card is flipped up. face up on the table. This is called a turn.

The third round of betting continues with the first remaining player sitting on the left of the button.
       When the third round of betting is over, a fifth card is flipped up, face up on the table. This is called the river.

The fourth round of betting begins with the first remaining player seated on the left of the button. The betting continues to move clockwise.

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Poker Technical Terms

Here is a little list of poker terms I've put together to help clear up any confusion in "terms used" around the poker table. These definitions have stood the test of time and are very clear in their meaning.

POKER TECHNICAL TERMS

AGE: The player at the immediate left of the dealer, sometimes known as the eldest.

ANTE: Amount put into the pool or pot by each player who may decide to come-in after he has examined his original hand. The ante is always twice the amount of the blind. If the ante is straddled, the ante is twice the amount of the last straddle, but must not exceed the betting limit.

BLIND: Amount put up by the age before the deal.

BLUFF: To bet a inferior hand as though it were a superior hand.

CALL: Putting up a sum equal to the largest amount put up by the preceding player.

CHIPS: The counters or tokens for which the game is played.

COMING IN: Putting up the ante and straddles and raises, if any, in order to draw cards and play for the pot.
DRAW: Discarding one or more cards and receiving a equal number from the dealer.

FOUL HAND: A hand containing more or less than five cards, or obtained irregularly.

GOING BETTER: Betting more than the highest previous bet, raising.
GOING IN: Same as coming in.

IN THE POT: A player who has made good the ante and all previous bets, is said to be in the pot.

LIMIT: The agreed amount of any single bet or raise.

MAKING GOOD: Putting up a sum equal to the largest amount previously bet. (note) any player may in turn make-good, but only the last player to say may call.

ORIGINAL HAND: The five cards originally dealt to the player.

PAT HAND: An original hand not likely to be improved by drawing. For instance a straight or a full hand.

PASS: Throwing down one’s hand and retiring from the hand or game for that deal.

POT: The pool.

RAISE: The same as going better.

SAY: The time for a player to make good, raise or pass.

SEE: Synonymous with making good.
STAY: The same as coming in.
STRADDLE: To double the blind. Only the player to the left of the age may straddle, but the next player may straddle the straddle, and so on with the agreed limit.

ROYAL FLUSH: A straight flush, ace high.

STRAIGHT FLUSH: Five cards of the same suit in sequence.

FOURS: Four of the five cards of the same denomination.

THREES: Three cards of the same denomination and two odd cards.

FULL: Three cards of the same denomination and a pair.

FLUSH: Five cards of the same suit.

STRAIGHT: Five cards in sequence, but not of one suit.

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The Best Gambling Spots Online

The Best Gambling Spots Online
Gambling has always been akin to mentioning Las Vegas in one breath. Nowhere has gambling been as lucrative and as consuming as it is in Las Vegas. Thus, no one has called Las Vegas the gambling capital without due cause.
However, the introduction of the internet has proven that traditional gaming venues are becoming passe.
Thus, here is a rundown of the best gambling spots that you could find online. A word of precaution to the buyer. . .be careful.
Feature Check
There are some features you need to check and verify before going into a website and loading your credit card information.
The website must be licensed. It also must have passed testing by government regulatory agencies. Thus, it must show and prove that it is regulated.
It must have policies against under age gambling, a code of conduct for players and for responsible gaming.
It must also assure the privacy, security and safety of the individual's use. Information needs to be encrypted to keep all client information confidential.
The games matter, thus, featured games must always be up-to-date, interactive and challenging.
Sites to Choose From
If you are into internet gambling, some of the best spots you can go to include:
* Sportsbetting.com is into the wagering system focused in online sports gaming. It has been in operation for 15 years now and one of the largest online sports gaming websites in the world.

* Sands of the Caribbean Online Casino offers a variety of casino games such as video poker, slots, black jack, roulette, and craps. It has been in operation, licensed and established since August 1997.  It has won several awards since its operation began, such as the "Best Reputation" award for three consecutive years from the Gambling Online Magazine in 2001 to 2003. It has also been awarded the "Best Payout/ E-Cash Program" from the readers of the Casino Player Magazine.

* Winward Casino is another online casino leader since its operations began in 1998. What Winward Casino has that others don't is its wireless capability that individuals can play via their personal digital assistant (PDA) or cellular phones.
Payouts from these online casino gaming sites are within the range of 95 percent to 99 percent each month. The customer service is also open 24/7 to provide quality service consistently to every player. 
These are just one of the few online gambling spots that anyone can check out. But remember, always be alert and look for the safety features of any site before divulging your personal information. Happy betting!

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Thinking of Online Gambling?

Now online:
Just like any commercial market today, gambling also took its chance of having to saturate a broader area of gaming through the Internet.
Nowadays, there are as many online gambling games as there are gambling games. Every kind of gambling game has their online counter parts in the Web. From poker to sports betting, every gambling activity seems to be online.
Most proponents of online gambling assert that online gambling is just as safe as gambling in known casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Just like the usual casino, online casinos are also required to have their licenses and permits before engaging into online gambling.
By doing so, online casinos are systematically regulated and audited by professional firms. All online casinos use the secure e-cash facilities, in cooperation with the credit card companies, so that the customers are being protected from unauthorized use of credit cards or from cases of identity theft.
Generally, online gambling in an online casino will entice new players by requiring them to deposit an amount by offering bonuses. An online casino that will offer you a free $100 for a $50 deposit is a good example. In this manner, more people believe that online gambling offers better chances than real-life gambling. However, this poses more risk in getting addicted to the game.
For people who want to play online gambling, deposits can be made through credit cards, fire pay, or 900 pay. Fire pay works like an ordinary online debit card. Normally, the player places money into the account and can be spent to any online merchants. Funds can be deposited through wire transfers. 900 pay, on the other hand, is another way of depositing money by calling a 900 number and the amount that is to be deposited is charged to the player's phone bill.
What's more, online casinos are further classified into two groups based on their interface. Online casinos could either be web-based or download-based.
Web-based casinos are forms of online gambling wherein users may directly play online casino games without having to load any software to the local computer. Online gambling is mainly presented in the browser plugins like Macromedia Flash, Shockwave, or Java.
On the other hand, download-based online casinos are the most common online gambling sites in the Web. Here, online gambling users have to download certain software in order to play the casino games. And because it has pre-downloaded software, it is faster to initiate casino games on it compared to web-based casinos.
All the same, and due to the basic nature of online gambling, any transactions with it are vulnerable to fraud. There are online gambling known as rogue casinos wherein these sites refuse to pay the customers or contains a cheating software.
Plus, there are other ways of frauds in online gambling. Most of these cases are player-based. Players who want to cheat usually uses Adobe Photoshop or a comparable tool to maneuver the graphics of a slot machine screenshot in order to deceive the casino into thinking that the player just hit a jackpot.
Whatever forms of deception, it is evident that frauds are more likely to happen in online gambling. And if in any case, players get to be addicted in playing online gambling, they must remember that their obsession did not happen by mistake.
Online gambling is a highly interactive game, meaning whatever choices players make are based on their own prerogatives. So, however enticing online gambling can be it is a must that players must know their own dispositions so as not to be deceived.

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Get Paid to Play Poker

Rake is how poker rooms make their money. That is the money that the poker rooms deduct from every pot. Usually the rake is a couple of percent with a cap at around $3 at the highest limits. There is also rake on tournaments, where the large portion of the buy in goes to the price pool, and a little fee goes to the poker site. The poker rooms make huge money from the rake the players contribute with. It is not unusual that a single player pay $3000 to the poker room every month, and that's just one player. A poker room with more than 10,000 active players earns quite a lot of money to say the least.
You might be asking yourself, I know what rakeback is, but why is it important? I just want to play poker!
Since sites take the rake automatically many people don't even know they are being charged. What most players don't realize is how much of an effect the rake has on their play. Not only must you beat the other players at the table, you must beat the rake as well. A player who would win money if there were no rake ends up being a losing player after factoring in the house fee. The truth is about 50% of all poker players fit into this category!
When you introduce rakeback into the equation many players who were once losers are instantly transformed into profitable winning poker players. If you are already winning rakeback will be a nice fat bonus every month.
Rakeback is a refund to the players. Poker players receive a percentage of the rake they pay to the poker room. A normal rakeback offer is between 25 and 40 percent, but sometimes players can get an even better offer. If you receive 35% rakeback, and rake $1000 one month, you will get $350 back. The more you rake, the more you get back. That is basically what rakeback is about.
Some of the poker variations are better suitable for a rakeback deal. If you play shorthanded poker, you are involved in more pots, and therefore pay more rake. If you play at more than one table at the time you also play more hands, and pay more rake. When you are involved in a lot of pots you should definitely play with rakeback.
I don't see any downsides to rakeback. If you can get some money back why wouldn't you take it? Maybe you have to switch site, because you only get the deal when you have created a new account. But that's not a lot of work. You will earn a lot of cash, or save cash depending on how you look at it. Just do it! Since the amount you get paid is a percentage of the money the house charged you in rake, the stakes you play and number of hands affect the size of your payment. A casual low limit player can make a few hundred extra dollars a month, while a pro (or any higher volume) can make $2000+. Outstanding Poker lead pro atta22 generates over $2500 in rakeback himself every month.

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