Poker

The art of playing cards is as a result of ideas and refinements that resulted within the first 1200 years AD. It can be traced back in China, during the 9th century AD when a princess Tongchang played the leaf game. Later, it was then introduced in Europe during the last quarter of the 14th century. At the time, the Europeans spoke of a Moorish or Saracen game called naib that contained a deck of 52 cards. Later in the 1430s, the Italians invented the tarot deck that comprised painted images that acted as trumps. The card game remains popular in various regions of Central Europe.

Card games have since evolved with images and symbols changing in every phase. Today, the most common deck is the 52-card Anglo-American deck for playing games such as the contract bridge and poker. It has a card for every combination of 13 ranks and four French suits- the club, the spade, diamond and the heart. The ranks comprise numbers ten to two and the king, queen, ace and jack. Today, playing cards has become more of a commercial activity than a hobby. More casinos have been set up to gratify the increasing demand for gamers to play cards in the form of poker and other card game variants. The next text provides an in-depth overview on how to deal and play poker.

How to Deal Poker

While a little practice provides knowledge about dealing poker, the following points should guide on how to deal cards or poker like a pro:

• Shuffling of Cards

It is the process of bringing the cards together in a pack in a random order. The cards should be shuffled before each hand. This way, players won’t know where the cards are located. The rule of thumb states there should be four riffle shuffles accompanied by a cut before dealing a hand. The dealer may ask the player to his right to cut the deck and place the cards from the bottom.

• Dealing the Cards

The fairness of a game is determined by how well cards are dealt. Inexperienced dealers may reveal cards without their knowledge. Professionals have, however, mastered the skill of dealing cards fast without revealing them. The dealer deals two hole cards in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. He may follow the American or the European style of dealing the cards. The American style involves placing the card facing downwards and sliding it towards the player. For the European style, the dealer slides the top card to the player with a spin. The dealers should continue dealing the cards until all the players have a number of cards to play.

• Ensure Bets and Bet Sizes are Made Properly

The dealer also manages the pot. As such, if a player says $50, the dealer should ensure the player bets this amount of chip, and all the other callers match up. The player on the left of the blind (big) starts off the pre-flop action while the first player seated on the left of the dealer button starts the post-flop action.

• Awarding the Winner

The player with the highest hand is awarded the chips to the player. In case of a tie, the dealer splits the pot among the winning players.

How to Play Poker

Now that you have learnt how to deal poker, it’s time to learn how to play the game. For this discussion you will learn how to play Texas HoldEm poker:

• The Beginning

The players are dealt with two hole cards facing downwards. This stage of the game is called the pre-flop as whatever action (bet, check or fold) the player makes depends on the hole cards or the starting hand.

• The Flop

When all the players have placed a bet, the dealer places three shared cards in the middle of the table facing upwards. The dealer then places a fourth shared card (the turn) as players place more bets. A final round of betting is made, and the dealer adds a fifth card known as the river.

• The Best Hand

For Texas Holdem, the best hand happens when the player uses his hole cards and the five in the middle.

• The End

The hand ends in two ways; the first is a showdown where the players turn over their hole cards and the player who has the best hand wins. The second way to end the game occurs when a player makes such a high bet that all the others fold.

If you are looking for some advanced poker moves that will edge up your online poker strategy and help you start turning bigger profits from your game sessions, poker squeeze is a technique you should consider. This is a relatively simple type of pre-flop bluffing which can be markedly effective if you know what you’re doing and pay attention to some key elements that will be discussed in the present article.

Read through for a simple explanation of poker squeeze play and you will find this could be a valuable addition to your poker moves repertoire. You will learn when to use this online poker strategy to your advantage, as well as being able to tell if another player may be trying to pull off a poker squeeze. By implementing this technique, you will also start paying closer attention to how the game unfolds, which will help you make better assumptions of which pocket cards the other players might hold.

Understanding what is a Poker Squeeze and When to Use This Online Poker Strategy

The typical poker squeeze usually involves a strategic re-raise following a series of calls and raises. This is typically performed as a type of pre-flop bluff, meaning that you don’t necessarily have to hold a strong hand to perform this technique. You should however be very attentive to how the game plays out, and particularly you must watch other players to grasp how likely they are to fold or raise when the pressure hits them. In general terms, most poker players tend to be very consistent in their attitude – meaning that a defensive player will generally tend to fold, while an offensive player will tend to raise.

In order to succeed at doing a perfect poker squeeze play, you have to watch other players closely through the game, until you get a clear sense of their style which allows you to predict their actions. This move works best against loose players (also known as aggressive players – those who often call or raise even when they don’t have a good hand). Here’s how an effective poker squeeze usually plays out in no-limit cash Texas hold’em game:

The first player to make a move decides to raise the bet slightly – you have noticed this layer often takes this approach regardless of how good is hand actually is, so you decide it could be an opportunity; you then watch as the second and third player both call the bet, which signals to you they are only mildly confident in their hand. This evolution signals the timing could be right, so you – the fourth player – make a substantial and aggressive raise aimed at forcing the remaining players to fold before they get to look at the flop. If everything goes according to plan, they will indeed fold and you will get a nice pot all to yourself.

What is the Difference Between Doing a Poker Squeeze Play in Position and Out of Position?

To increase your odds of pulling off a successful squeeze, you must be observant and use the right timing. You should also consider your position in the sequence; if you make your squeeze during the blinds, you are acting out of position – meaning you are essentially guessing how other players might act. Being in position means that you’re the last to act after several players called the big blind, and right before the original raiser has to make another move. This sequence puts a lot of pressure on that player, and once he folds the rest of the players will be more likely to follow act accordingly.

Key Aspects You Need to Keep in Mind to Ensure Your Poker Squeeze is Profitable

To increase your success rate in performing a poker squeeze, there are three essential factors that should be aligned: you should be up against loose players, you must come across as a tight player yourself, and when you do decide it’s the right time to squeeze, you have to squeeze hard and really raise the bet through the roof in order to convince all players who have anything less of a stellar hand that folding is the right option for them at that moment in the game. This is something to be done sparingly of course, and should you fail at squeezing, your credibility as a tight player will immediately be affected – meaning you should withhold on squeezing for a while, or even for the rest of that game.

Gamblers can spend so much time focusing on scouring the web for bonus codes and other deals that they can miss what is right under their nose. Freerolls are a fantastic type of bonus in online poker, and yet they are often underappreciated.

What is a freeroll?

Whilst the majority of online poker games require players to pay an entry fee in order to participate, a freeroll has not entry fee. That means that you can just sign up and start playing, without paying anything to do so. With most freerolls, you do not need to put down a stake to wager with when you begin to play the game. Another feature of freerolls is that they typically offer cash prizes. These are usually of a value of a few hundred pounds. Some poker freerolls, however, will reward players with cash equivalent prizes instead. Freerolls are not new: they have been around almost as long as online poker itself.

What are the benefits of freerolls?

There are numerous benefits to jumping at the chance of playing a freeroll whenever you are able to. Firstly, freerolls offer no risk play thanks to the fact that they do not require you to pay to sign up for the game. Secondly, the prospect of a cash bonus can be attractive for many gamblers (though other more professional gamblers can consider freerolls to be ‘small fry’ compared to higher stakes games that offer larger winnings).

Why might a gambler choose to take advantage of a freeroll bonus?

Two main factors might influence a poker enthusiast’s judgement here. Firstly, as they are relatively low stakes and low risk, freerolls are a great way to improve your poker game. Some professional players like to sharpen up their skills on freerolls before turning to higher stakes poker tournaments when they want to win big. Secondly, if you are short on cash but still want to play some poker, opting to play a freeroll game will enable you to do so. Finally, a freeroll lets a player build their bankroll from scratch. You can start at £0, enter a freeroll tournament and if you win a couple of hundred pounds on that you can then use this money to move on to playing games for higher stakes that require you to pay to play.

Why do online casinos offer freeroll bonuses?

Freerolls are generally offered for much the same reasons that other types of bonus are offered by online casinos: because they help to attract new players. A freeroll bonus, for many of those in the know, is something that should be snapped up as quickly as possible. It is very rare for an online casino to be devoted entirely to freerolls. Usually, freerolls are used to lure players in, in the hope that eventually they will start playing other games on that online casino site – but this time for real money.

What is the difference between a freeroll and a no deposit bonus?

The main difference is usually that with most no deposit bonuses, players cannot win real monetary prizes. Instead they might win points or other virtual currency to use at a given online casino. Sometimes, such bonuses are effectively useless as they ‘trap’ you in to playing again and again at the same online casino, rewarding you with nothing more than virtual points that you can only use at that casino. As we have seen, on the other hand, one of the key characteristics of a freeroll is that it enables players to win cold, hard cash that they can withdraw and then use in any way that they please. Just make sure to check out what the minimum withdrawal amount is at the casino you are thinking of playing at, so you will know if you can withdraw your deposit right away.

Snap up those freerolls today

Tempted to have a go at freeroll poker tournaments? If you see this type of online poker bonus available, it definitely makes sense to give it a whirl. After all, you have nothing to lose and potentially a few hundred pounds (or some poker merchandise – another common prize with freeroll poker) to gain. Some freeroll poker deals are time limited, however, so if you want to take advantage of them, it is a good idea to pick them up as soon as you can.