A Brief Outline On Playing Royal Hold’em Poker

• Author: Thomas Kearns
• Filed under: Casinos
• Date: Nov 18,2010

Those who play Royal Hold’em poker are not necessarily descended from the Gods. The game is actually very much like limit Texas Holdem – and also very different. In Royal Hold’em only high cards (ten, jack, queen, king, ace) are dealt from a deck of 20 cards. This certainly makes for a royal deck. Because of the smaller deck, the game consists of a maximum of six players.

How Royal Hold’em is Played

Royal Hold’em is in the form of standard limit where two hole cards are dealt to each player whose objective is to create the best hand with five community cards. The hands are counted as in other poker types but there are no flushes other than the Royal one and your everyday pairs count for nothing. So, a Royal flush, four of a kind, full house, straights and two pairs are what the players draw to to assemble the most powerful hand.

The Zenith of Royal Hold’em Strategy

Since there are no low cards, the high hands must be very strong to compete. A player is drawing to a serious starting hand in order to stay in the game let alone win the hand. The bare minimum a player should think about to remain in the game is ace-jack. The best hands are thought to be a pair of kings or aces, with queens and ace-king a close second. Ace-queen and a pair of jacks should be deemed as a so-so hand and the holder of this hand should only stay in the game if his position is good.

Which brings us to position: The high value of the hands renders position an extremely important factor to remain competitive in the game. A player must consider that anyone raising is in possession of a pair of kings or aces, and if your position is good, you can tell precisely the hands of those players who have stayed in the game. If a player’s hand is teetering on the edge, he should remain in the game only if he has good position or is in the small blind with no advance raise. High pocket pairs are ubiquitous in Royal Hold’em so players must understand that the odds of hitting a three of a kind are at least one in three hands considering the alterations in the cards in his hand. Should another player be betting aggressively against your hand of a pair of aces, it is probably wise to think that he is holding aces or a pair of kings, thus simplifying the task of pinpointing the kind of hands in his possession.

All players are looking to draw to three of a kind or in excess of that and hold the thought that you all have a set of 15 cards to draw from in which to build your hands (20 card deck minus two hole cards plus five community cards). This should make it clear to you that you always want to play your good hands with authority and forcefulness and to keep your pot odds in mind before you continue to bet and you can be assured that if any player is keeping up with your aggressive betting on the turn that he has a hand of three of a kind or better. Examine this scenario: You have in your hand two kings and the flop show up with an unsuited king-jack-ten which is only second to the ultimate hand of ace-queen. It is quite probable that you are in contention against ace-king or jack-jack. In this instance you must take heed of the number of outs possible to a full house or the odds that your opponent is holding a straight depending on the way he is betting and his position.

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How Razz Poker Is Played

• Author: Thomas Kearns
• Filed under: Casinos
• Date: Nov 12,2010

Like so many other poker games, once it is featured in the World Series of Poker, it develops quite a following, as is the case with Razz poker. Razz has also become popular due its distinctive rules and structure. Strip Razz down and you have an ace low stud poker variant with the objective of attaining the lowest hand possible, that of an unsuited ace through five. Razz is one of the components of mixed game play poker such as HORSE. Newcomers to Razz will find it presents quite a challenge. This brief outline is designed as an introduction to the structure of Razz and to give you some basis of the strategies that will eventually allow you to become a fierce opponent.

The Workings of Razz

As stated earlier, Razz is akin to low-hand seven card stud and is played with a maximum of eight players with a limit betting structure. The game starts with a deal of three cards, two face up, one face down to each player followed by a betting round led by the player with the highest card. In a tie, the suit is the tie breaker. Another face-up card is dealt and the player with the lowest hand leads the next betting round. The rounds continue until each player is dealt the fifth card and from here on the bets are doubled. After the final card is dealt face down, the play commences with the player who led off the sixth round, if he hasn’t previously folded. If such is the case, the play begins with the second player in the sixth round, and on it goes.

The Best Razz Strategy

Even if you do not hold the best possible starting hand of an unsuited ace, two, three, if you have a low hand with single cards only below ten, sound strategy dictates that you go on to the next round. If you are holding a hand with any unpaired cards under seven, you have a potential winner and should go for aggressive play if your opponents aren’t showing much. If your hand is seven high and the table is showing the lowest card of ten, you should feel encouraged and go ahead and value bet.

You must closely observe the face up cards so you can continuously update your odds of attaining a pair ( bad sign), or single cards, (good sign). . Your table position can give you an edge in betting when you see that your opponent’s visible cards are either low or high. A sound strategy would be to bet for value even in the event that you draw on the fourth street. You can still improve your odds at the pot due to your strong hand at onset, you may even draw to a lower hand. Always play your low hands with contention. If you find yourself with opponents also drawing to lower hands, don’t hold back, get them to up their bets so your pot will be enriched in the end.

A deep understanding of the tactics and strategies of Razz is supremely important to becoming a competitive player. You must know when to fold on a loser and not expect to draw to a low hand when it is a very long shot as your opponents are apt to have a lower hand from the get go. You must also know that a good table position gives you a betting edge as you may encourage players with marginal hands to remain in the game and ante up till they fold, donating all those antes to the pot, which is yours.

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The Basics Of Omaha 8 Play

• Author: Thomas Kearns
• Filed under: Casinos
• Date: Oct 27,2010

The games of Omaha 8 and Omaha High-Low are interchangeable and both are on the weird side because the high hand winner and low hand winner split the pot. Should the same player be so fortunate as to hold both, he gets 100% of the pot all to himself. This combination of high and low hands in one player is the rule that makes for singular strategies as the players vie to optimize their betting odds. With a lone betting structure, it is not unusual for a player to be going after the highest or lowest hand or both right in step with their opponents. As is any poker variant, the nuts (best hand) gets the pot.

If you are a newcomer to Omaha 8, it is a good idea to watch several games due to the complexity of strategy and not unlike other poker forms, betting in this game is a mosaic of aggression, bluffing and value betting. This combination is influenced by the dual pot and demands that the player gain an in-depth comprehension of the elements that go into the winners. The ideal means for beginning the study of Omaha 8 is with the rules.. One must study these in detail and retain them. Strategy is best learned by entering into a beginner game and building on it level by level. Do not get yourself into a high level pot limit game without keeping the thought that this high level game will also bring with it multiple raises. Venture into this type of game with plenty of liquid assets so you can compete for a decent amount of time.

How Omaha 8 Play Works

The highest hand in Omaha 8 is arranged similarly to the regular hands in Holdem and Omaha, but the lowest hand is not as it uses different criteria to qualify as a low hand. The qualifying low hand will have these conditions:

The reason for its name of Omaha 8 is due to the fact that a player must play a card of eight or under as part of his hand. As the rules require that hole cards must be used, two of their cards must be lower than this value for the hand to be considered low.

In the event of no hands meeting such conditions for the low pot, the highest hand rakes in the entire pot similar to the normal Omaha rules. The Ace, which is low and the eight are the sole cards vying for the winning hand in Omaha 8. For the high hands, all cards qualify and a player can form his triumphant hand with a mix of high and low hands.

You will usually find Omaha with standard pot limit rules, though limit and no limit are not totally out of the picture and can be found at some tables. One thing common to all Omaha 8 games is the split pots at high and low levels. This feature demands an in-depth understanding of what winning hands can be made up of and how this effects betting strategy.

Of significance is that hands with three or four of a kind render it almost impossible for a player to snatch either pot because of the rule that they must use two hole cards, which leaves them with a pair. The suited Ace-two is the supreme hand in Omaha 8 as any number of high hands can be produced and it is in itself the lowest ranking low pot hand. The player holding the wheel or an A-2-3-4-5 arrangement is the ultimate low hand winner. The highest hand is a Royal flush comprised of three community cards.

For more information on how to play other poker games like Omaha Holdem or Razz Poker please visit Rakeback Solution.