NYC Poker Dealer

Introductory Poker Knowledge

Lingo:
❖ hole cards - your personal two cards (dealt face down, only for you to see.)
❖ flop - the first three community cards (dealt face up at the same time, in the middle of the table for all to see/share.)
❖ turn - the fourth community card (dealt face up, for all to see/share.) Sometimes called 4th Street.
❖ river - the fifth (and final) community card (dealt face up, for all to see/share.) Sometimes called 5th Street.
❖ The Board - all the community cards, collectively, are sometimes called "The Board."
❖ fold - to throw your cards away... quit/retire from the current hand.
❖ call - to match the previous wager.
❖ raise - to increase the previous wager. (there are rules about how and what to make a raise.)
❖ check - to bet zero / to pass. (this can only be done when first to act and/or if the previous player also "checked.")
❖ dealer - AKA "The Button." This is NOT the person dealing the cards... this is the fictitious dealer button which rotates around the table clockwise.
❖ small blind - first to the left of The Button. Must put in a half bet no matter what.
❖ big blind - second to the left of The Button. Must put in a full bet no matter what.
❖ Under The Gun - the first player to act. Before the flop (pre-flop) this is the player to the left of the Big Blind. After the flop (and after The Turn and after The River) this is the first player to the left of The Button that still has cards.
❖ the muck - the pile of cards players have folded.
❖ the pot - the pile of chips players have wagered.
❖ The Nuts - The best possible hand at any given time, when considering The Board and possible hole cards.
❖ Showdown - after all rounds of betting are complete, the remaining players reveal their hole cards and the best hand is determined.

Basic rules:
❖ Poker always goes clockwise. A round of betting starts with the player "Under The Gun" and proceeds clockwise until two things are true: 1) every player has had at least one chance to fold, call, or raise, AND 2) every remaining player has put the same amount of chips into the pot. This means that sometimes a round of betting may go "around" the table two or three or even more times.
❖ Any time it is your turn to act, you always have the same three options (and ONLY the same three options!): fold, call, or raise. In turn every remaining player in a hand gets asked the same question over and over again: fold, call, or raise.
❖ After all four rounds of betting (pre-flop, post-flop, the turn, the river) are completed, players still with cards are now at "Showdown" - the players reveal their cards and the winning hand is determined.

Winning hands:
These are the ranks of all poker hands (no matter what variant of poker you are playing.) NOTE: In Texas Hold 'Em, the best possible hand is always determined by the five community cards (shared by all players.) Depending upon "The Board," some of these rankings may not even be possible.

A general rule of thumb here is to keep in mind that everything in Hold 'Em is relative to the cards of the flop, turn, and river. Sometimes a full house or a flush or a straight isn't even possible based on the community cards. Players may undervalue two pair in that scenario. But with other Boards, two pair will almost for sure be losing to a straight or a flush or an even better hand.




Hand selection:
Here's a chart that shows the best starting hands in Texas Hold 'Em. "s" means suited, ie. King Queen of hearts (or spades or diamonds or clubs.) "o" means offsuit/mismatched combinations.


Roughly (VERY roughly!):
BLUE - raise. ALWAYS
GREY - probably raise
YELLOW - probably call but maybe raise or maybe fold
WHITE - fold
As you can see, most starting hands you should be folding! Premium hands (in BLUE) are quite rare. GREY AND YELLOW (playable) hands are also fairly rare. Your position with respect to The Button determines the viability of those hands. Obviously, any two cards can win at any time, but poker is a game of resources. Starting hands in white, simply put, are just not good investments.




Elementary Strategy:
Raise if you like your cards / have a good hand. Fold if you don't. If you think you are losing but are really curious and are trying to talk yourself into calling... don't. Just fold. Live to fight another day.




Official rules:
Robert's Rules of Poker