Posts Tagged ‘Stud Poker’

Top Reasons to Play Texas Holdem Poker

December 1st, 2010

It is easier to play Texas Holdem then some of the other poker games because everyone is using the same cards with the exception of their hole cards to make the best hand. Seeing the cards lined up on the table allows you a better perspective on the cards then if they were in your hand.

Texas Holdem makes bluffing much harder by placing all the cards you can use to make your winning hand in a communal pile for everyone to use. The only thing you have to make a different hand from everyone else’s is 2 hole cards dealt at the beginning of the hand. The game is harder to bluff because you are able to watch the eyes of the other players as the communal cards are exposed. Without lots of practice you can watch and get a feel fro who has what cards by watching them look at the cards. Even if their faces do not give their hands away their eyes will. Someone will tend to focus on cards they may be able to use. You can also tell what they have by their lack of reactions to other cards, if a player dismisses a card immediately you can determine what kind of hand he may be holding.

Because of the way the betting is structured in Texas Holdem Poker it is easy for the pots to grow very large and you can eliminate other players and win big money in a short period of time. The game is broken down into 4 rounds and after each round is the opportunity to bet again, this is how the pots grow large very fast especially in a no limit Texas Holdem Poker game.

Many people may think that playing the most popular poker game may not be cool and that the true poker fans play draw or www.online-casinos-707.netcaribbean-stud.htmlCaribbean Stud Poker but they would be wrong in my opinion. The advantage about playing the most popular game is that it is easier to find people who play that game and you will have a bigger selection of players to choose from to find good players. Playing against people who play at your skill level or better makes the game more of a challenge and therefore more exciting.

I can not even begin to tell you why Texas Holdem is so popular, but I can explain its continued popularity and growth. It is simple really, the more people who play the more interest in the game grows. Now we have many Texas Holdem based TV shows spreading the game to many people who would never have otherwise learned the game. Texas Holdem has more professional players then any other casino game played today. Some pro’s even get very lucrative sponsorship deals when earn them millions of pounds every year just for having a sponsors name on his shirt while they play the game.

The longer Texas Holdem poker is the most popular poker game the more people that are going to start playing it, making its popularity and its number of players infinite. This means that Texas Holdem is going to be around for a long time.

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The History Of Poker

September 29th, 2010

Poker is a card game with many theories about its history and many debates about its origins. Poker may have been around for more than ten centuries in the form of other card games. It is believed that the word ‘poker’ was derived from an underworld slang word ‘poke’ – this was a term used for pickpockets. When card-sharks cheated somebody out of their money they boasted about having ‘poked’ that person. An ‘r’ was added to the term ‘poke’ so that the sharks could refer to what they were doing in front of their victims, who would be none the wiser!

While there seems to be no clear ancestor to the game, for the United States at least, Poker has a definite history. Poker began in New Orleans when the French settlers introduced poque in the 18th century. This was a card game which involved betting and bluffing and there are many game historians who believe that this is where poker originates. There have been many modifications to the game, including ’stud poker’, the ‘draw’ and the ’straight’ which became popular during the Civil War. Slowly ‘poker’, as the game became known, spread to other states via steamboats, wagons and trains.

Poker initially began with a deck of 20 cards, and eventually evolved into a deck of 32 cards. During the 1830s a 52 card deck became the norm. In 1875 the joker was introduced as a wild card. At the end of the Civil War poker reached the towns of the Old West. It wasn’t long before they realized that easy money could be made from playing (or perhaps cheating at) poker. Legends were created involving the potent mixture of saloons, poker and guns. Brave gamblers in the old west towns of Dodge City and Deadwood could be found taking their chances with their backs to the walls and their guns at the ready.

By the end of the 19th century, gambling and poker had spread throughout both the United States and the world. American states and cities began to see an opportunity for raising money. They taxed the gambling dens to raise money for their communities.

Nowadays casinos have taken over from the saloons and the game is strictly regulated by gambling laws. It is played more than any other card game in the world and has even become a sporting event, offering very rich pickings for the serious player. Finally, there is no doubt that poker has a rich and interesting history.

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Poker Movies: Top 5 Films about Poker

June 9th, 2010

Since the golden age of the Western, poker playing has always been a popular theme in Hollywood. Although many of the Hollywood films that feature poker are not very good and some of them even display poker in a ridiculous manner, watching poker action on the big screen is great fun, especially if you play poker yourself.

Here are the best poker movies that were ever produced in Hollywood. Some of the movies are actually excellent movies regardless to their display of the poker game, while in others the poker games is the feature that makes them worth watching. However, if you are a poker fan, add these movies to your musts list.

The Sting directed by George Roy Hill in 1973

The Sting is less about poker and more about the art of card sharking but it will provide you two hours of sophisticated fun. The 1973 Academy award winner features young Paul Newman as the greatest con artist of them all who mentors young Robert Redford in the art of trickestry. David S. Warn screenplay is based on true con games stories.

The Cincinnati Kid directed by Norman Jewison in 1965

The classic stud poker film known for its climatic final hand and the unforgettable quote: Gets down to what its all about, doesn’t it? Making the wrong move at the right time. In short, The Cincinnati Kid is about the battle between Steve Macqueen who plays a young poker player also known as The Kid and the veteran poker gambler known as The Man who is played by Edward G. Robinson during the Great Depression in New Orleans. It may not appear at any other list of best movies, but it certainly has one of the best poker scenes ever seen on the silver screen.

California Split directed by Robert Altman in 1974

California Split may not be the pick of Robert Altmans creation, but is one of the best movies to depict the messy everyday life of two professional gamblers played by George Segal and Elliott Gould. Like in many of Altman films, the narrative is not particularly straight and the end is not necessarily happy, but it does succeed in describing an authentic experience. Additionally, poker trivia fans would be thrilled to learn that poker legend Amarillo Slim plays a small role.

Rounders directed by John Dahl in 1998

It is hard to tell whether the movie pushed to the 21st century poker boom or the rise in the popularity of poker during the last decade made Rounders a cult hit. However, Rounders is one of the best poker films to display the contemporary high stake poker scene. The core of the movie is a long poker marathon in which Mat Damon and Edward Norton are trying to earn money to pay off the latter gambling debts. World Series of Poker champion Johnny Chan plays a featured role.

Maverick directed by Richard Donner in 1994

Although Maverick is not the most brilliant film ever made and some of the poker scenes are kinda silly, it is a fun and lightheaded poker movie. It might even provide you a basic idea on what it was like to be a rambling gambler in the old west card scene with Mel Gibson as a maverick who tries to earn enough money for the big five card draw poker tournament.

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Las Vegas: Top 5 Poker Rooms in Las Vegas

April 7th, 2010

If you want to experience live poker action at the gambling Mecca of the world, here is a guide to the top poker rooms in Las Vegas. You can read here updated info on each of the recommended Las Vegas poker rooms including their game variety, limits and tournaments.

1) Bellagio Casino and Hotel
If you want to experience Las Vegas poker action and hang out with pros, the Bellagio is the casino for you. It is one of the classiest poker rooms available in Las Vegas. It is so popular that you might find yourself spending over an hour at the waiting list and then find yourself stuck with a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs.

The games offered are Texas Holdem, Omaha and stud games, and you can also join one of the tournaments, but note that this involves playing No Limit Holdem. As for the table limits for the regular games, these are as follows:
a) Limit Holdem: 48, 816, 1530, 3060, 60120, 75150 pounds and up.
b) No Limit Holdem: 200 pounds buy ins with 25 pounds blinds.
c) Omaha: 612, 1530, 2040, 3060, 50100 pounds and up.
d) Stud Poker: 15, 48, 816, 3060, 75150 pounds and up.

2) Mirage Las Vegas
If you are tired of waiting for a table at Bellagio, the poker rooms at the Mirage can be an acceptable alternative. It resembles Bellagio’s with its luxurious atmosphere, variety of games and its huge popularity among pros as well as tourists.

The games offered are Texas Holdem and Omaha, Stud and as the Bellagio, playing in a tournament means getting involved with No Limit Texas Holdem. As for the limits of each table in a regular game, they are:
a) Limit Holdem: 36, 612, 1020, 2040, 4080 pounds.
b) No Limit Holdem: between 100 and 500 pounds buy ins with 25 pounds blinds.
c) Omaha: 510 pounds.
d) Stud Poker: 15, 510.

3) Excalibur Las Vegas
If you want to play in a less stressful environment, check out the poker room at the Excalibur casino. You can play spread limit Holdem with the lowest limits available on the Strip and enjoy beginners friendly rules such as limitation on three raises. The room has been renovated recently and the poker tables and seats are very comfortable.

At the Excalibur, you can play Texas Holdem or 7 Card Stud, and the limits are slightly lower:
a) Limit Holdem: 13, 26 pounds.
b) No Limit Holdem: 100 pounds buy ins with 13 pounds blinds.
c) 7 Card Stud: 15 pounds and up.

4) Binions’ Horseshoe Hotel and Casino
If you want to play at the same room where the first WSOP took place, you must visit Binions’ poker room. Although the www.gambling-portal.comcasino has been renovated and went through many changes since the days of Nick the Greek, the ghosts of the past still haunt the place, but in a good way.

Here too you can play Texas Holdem, No Limit Holdem in their own tournament, Omaha and Stud games for the following limits:
a) Limit Holdem: 24, 48, 1020 pounds.
b) No Limit Holdem: 100 pounds minimum buy ins with 12 pounds blinds.
c) Omaha: 48 pounds.
d) Stud Poker: 15.

5) Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino
If you want to follow in the steps of the 2006 WSOP champions, check out the Rio poker room. You might be surprised from the size and the small variety of games, but the thought of sharing the same location with contemporary gaming legends adds a certain appeal to it.

Other than taking part in the tournament where you can participate in some No Limit Holdem, you can pick from Texas Holdem, 7 Card Stud, Omaha or a few other variations according to what players request. The limits are as follows:
a) Limit Holdem: 24, 36, 48 pounds.
b) No Limit Holdem: 100 pounds minimum buy ins with 25 pounds blinds.

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