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As sports betting continues to expand it’s footprint across the United States with legal, online sports betting opportunities, as does the world of legal, online casino and iGaming. Here, we’ll look at a rather rudimentary guide on how to play online poker and win.

How to play iGaming online poker: Starting out

If you’re just getting your feet wet playing poker online, you’re not alone. Many are dabbling in electronic casino games for the first time.

Texas holdem is widely available online, as well as games like Omaha. The latter doesn’t have nearly the mass appeal or availability, however, so we’ll focus mostly on online Texas holdem.

How to play online poker: Winning

Before we proceed, let’s just clear up a few basics. There are four suits and two colors in a standard 52-card deck. We have two red suits – diamonds and hearts – and two black suits – clubs and spades. Face cards are jacks (J), queens (Q) and kings (K). Aces (A) can be used either as a high or low card, similarly to blackjack.

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Unlike blackjack, you’re not only playing against the dealer, but also the others at the table. In Texas holdem, you will get five ‘community’ cards dealt, and two ‘hole’ cards. Your two hole cards are not shown to anyone else. You must use at least one of your hole cards to make the best possible hand against everyone else at the table.

There will be a round of betting based upon everyone’s hole cards. The order is determined by the ‘button’, which is a round marker rotating around the table each hand. This signifies who is the ‘dealer’. The next two positions are the ‘small blind’ and ‘big blind’ spots. There is a pre-determined amount required to play the hand.

The big blind pays the entire amount, the small blind plays half, and has the option of matching the big blind to remain in the hand. After the big blind, each player around the table has the option of either ‘calling’, or betting the amount of the big blind, raising or folding. The betting goes all around the table until every player matches the highest bet made in a particular round.

After the hole cards are bet upon, the ‘flop’ is dealt. These are the first three community cards. Another round of betting ensues. Then, a fourth card, or ‘Fourth Street’ or ‘The Turn’, is dealt, and another round of betting, etc. Lastly, a fifth card, or ‘Fifth Street’ or ‘The River’, is dealt, and the final bets are made before a winning hand is determined.

How to play online blackjack: Strategies

There are plenty of different strategies for winning at online poker, but the best advice is to be patient. It might seem rather boring to continually fold hands, and Texas holdem can be a grind at times, but impatience is rarely rewarded, and it’s a good idea to wait for ‘Top 10’ hands. Eventually, you’ll learn about suited connectors (cards of the same suit in numerical succession), or just suited cards in general, which can be good starting hole cards.

In addition, sometimes you will hit a set – or three of a kind – on the flop with cards which aren’t necessarily great hole cards initially. You’ll learn the nuances of the game as you gain more experience. For intermediate or advanced players, this is all common knowledge, but for beginners just learning the game, patience is a virtue.

While various tables can have players of very different skill levels, and you do not want to play ‘tight’, or too close to the vest, using less risky play initially will mitigate big losses early on and keep your interest as you continue to learn. Eventually, you’ll also learn how to bluff, which by a series of strong wagers, can trick other players into believing your hand is stronger than it might really be.

This is certainly for more advanced players, but down the road you’ll learn you can win a hand even if you have lesser hole cards than your opponent simply by wagering strategy.

As you start out, you’ll need to know the order of winning hands, and memorize this list:

Royal flush (AKQJ10 of the same suit)Straight flush (Five cards in sequence, same suit)Four of a kind (Same card in all four suits)Full house (Three of a kind and a pair)Flush (Five cards of the same suit, sequence not required)Straight (Five cards in sequence, suit doesn’t matter)Three of a kind (Same card in three different suits)Two pairs (two different matching numbers or face cards)One pair (two matching numbers or face cards)High card (If you do not have any matching cards, it’s simply your highest card)

How to play online poker: Play responsibly

Again, please be careful initially when setting out. Do not play for more than you can afford to lose, try and limit your alcohol intake and other outside distractions, and simply focus on the game.

In fact, some players like to engage in chatter at the table in person, or via ‘chat’ in a room. Block all of that out and just focus on the cards, especially early on. Remember your basic rules and don’t try and get too cute. If so, you’re going to really enjoy playing poker in the comfort of your own home.

Ready to give online poker a try? Head over to BetMGM to sign up and play.

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I think most casino gamblers would be well served to at least add poker to their repertoire. In many cases, I think a casino gambler might be happier playing poker and leaving casino games behind.

In this post, I explain why I have that opinion. I look at the difference between poker games and casino games. And I also analyze what those differences might mean (in a practical way) for the average casino gambler.

How I Got Started Gambling

I started with poker as a teenager, but we just played silly games with pennies and nickels. It didn’t even count as real gambling. The stakes were too low for it to matter. These poker games were mostly an excuse to tease our buddies and listen to Eric Clapton cassettes.

My first real experience gambling was at the Sands Casino in Las Vegas. The first game I ever played was roulette. And I learned something important:

Roulette might be the easiest game in the world to learn how to play.

Anyone can figure out that a bet on red (or a bet on black) has a good probability of winning. And it’s hard to be confused about the action at the table when you’re making those outside bets.

How Poker Is Played In Casino

I didn’t learn until much later that the house edge – the casino’s mathematical advantage – was higher at roulette than at most other games.

I spent a little time playing blackjack and video poker, too, and over the course of the next decade, I spent a little time (and money) playing casino games in various casinos.

Then I learned how to play Texas holdem.

Learning How to Play Texas Holdem.

I learned to play Texas holdem on the internet. Before that, the only serious poker I’d played was seven card stud. Admittedly, I was a pretty good stud player, too, but holdem just hadn’t interested me until a bunch of gambling webmaster buddies wanted me to play in a weekly game with them.

I started off on Party Poker, back when they still accepted real money players from the United States.

I still think – if you’re going to start playing poker – that starting online is a great way to learn the game. You can play for “play money chips” before ever risking any additional money.

One thing I learned about real money Texas holdem early on was that, in the long run, my success depended on how well I played. In the short run, Texas holdem (and all poker games) are games of chance, but in the long run, they’re games of skill.

The Advantages of a Game of Skill

Some casino games are arguably games of skill – blackjack might be the most notable example, although video poker counts, too.

Under normal circumstances, though, being skilled at these casino games only means you’re minimizing the house edge. You don’t really have a chance of putting the odds in your favor.

Sure, if you’re counting cards in blackjack, you can put the odds in your favor. But most people talking about skilled blackjack are just talking about playing your hands correctly in every situation. That’s called blackjack basic strategy, and you should certainly memorize basic strategy and use it.

Even basic strategy blackjack players are playing at a mathematical disadvantage compared to the house, though. They might reduce the edge from 2% to 4% to less than 1%, but given enough time at the table, they’ll still lose all their money.

Other casino games – most of them, in fact – offer no opportunity to use skill to improve your chances at all. For example, no matter what machines you choose or how you manage your bankroll, you can’t beat the slot machines in the long run. They’re entirely random, and your decisions just don’t matter.

Really, the only decisions you can make when playing slot machines is which games to play, how much to bet on them, and how long to keep playing. Changing any of those factors doesn’t amount to “skill,” though – unless you consider playing a flat-top game instead of a progressive game a “skill.” (I don’t.)

In poker, though, you can be the master of your destiny – at least, in the long run.

Understanding the Skill Element in Poker

In poker, you get to make a decision every round. And you have multiple decision to choose from:

  • You can check.
  • You can bet.
  • You can raise.
  • You can fold.
  • You can call.

Each of these decisions has a distinct mathematical effect on the game. Some of that effect relates to what cards you hold and the probability that they’ll win. Most of that effect, though, comes from the difference between the skill level your decisions demonstrate contrasted with your opponents’ skill levels.

Let’s look at an absurd example to illustrate:

Suppose you’re playing in a low stakes holdem game with a type of poker player who bets and raises preflop on every hand. At first, he might pick up a few blinds from timid players at the table who fold in the face of his aggression.

Eventually, though, the other players realize that he’s betting and raising with every hand, so most of the time, he’s bound to have an “average” hand.

Such a player is easily defeated. You just have to fold in the face of his aggression and call and/or raise when you have an above average hand. Usually, you’ll take all his money.

Sadly, not all poker situations are this simple.

Different Skills Levels and the Rake

Take eight players and put them at a poker table. Now, assume that all those players are of exactly the same skill level. After 12 hours of play, most of them will have the same number of chips in front of them as they had at the start.

Since this example assumes that the players’ skill levels are all the same, the determining factors for who’s going to win how much is pure chance.

Over the long run, everyone gets the same number of pocket aces and the same number of deuce-seven hands. And everyone gets the same number of flops that fit and flops that don’t.

Now, suppose you take the same game and add a 5% rake. That’s what casinos do when they have a cardroom – they collect 5% of every pot. If every player at the table is the exact same level of skill, they’ll all lose their money gradually as they play.

Winners at poker must be better than the other players at the table. They must pay more attention and make better decisions on a consistent basis.

And long-term winners in real cardrooms must be good enough that they not only beat the other players consistently, but they also beat them by enough to overcome the 5% “tax” on every pot.

Poker Is a Game of Never-Ending Complexity

Since poker has both a random element and a human element, the game is never-endingly complex. There are no perfect mathematical decisions in the game because it’s a game of incomplete information.

This and the random nature of the game are the two things that distinguish poker from a game like chess. The latter is a game of perfect information – you know everything there is to know about the status of the game at every decision point.

There is no more information at the chess board other than which pieces are in play and where they sit on the board.

But in poker, you don’t know what cards your opponents hold. This is where the biggest skill element comes in. To win consistently at poker, you must pay enough attention to your opponents’ tendencies that you can “put them on” a range of hands.

How Poker Is Played In Casino

You make your decisions accordingly.

The Differences Between Real Poker and Casino Poker Games

A lot of novice gamblers incorrectly label poker a “casino game.” It’s not a casino game, even when played in a casino, because the house isn’t competing with the player. They just take a tax off the pot – the 5% rake we talked about.

What makes a real poker game distinct from a casino game is who’s bankrolling the action.

In a Texas holdem game, you’re competing with the other players at the table for their chips. This makes it a real poker game.

When you’re playing something like Ultimate Texas Holdem in a casino, you’re really playing a game that’s more akin to blackjack than real poker. That’s because you’re not competing with the other players at the table. Each of you is competing with the dealer directly.

There’s nothing you can do about the house edge in a casino game (for the most part).

But there’s SO much you can do about whether you have a mathematical edge at the poker table.

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Conclusion

Real poker is so much more satisfying than a traditional game that it’s not even funny. In poker, at least some of the time – to an extent – you’re master of your own fate.

You get to make important decisions that affect the math behind your outcomes.

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If you’re good enough, you can earn a long-term profit.

And you can even do so without angering the casino.

How Is Poker Played In A Casino

You can’t do that in casino games like blackjack – count cards in a blackjack game and watch what happens to the casino’s goodwill.