Let
me tell you right now, that I am not a poker player. I have played video
poker. I know the suits and the various hands (pair, full house, flush,
straight, etc) and even some of the combination of hands (three of one kind
and two of another would be a full house , five of the same suit, a flush,
five consecutive numbers in order, a straight). However, I really don’t
know the strategy of playing poker. Still, poker intrigues me, yet I was
too intimidated to go to a poker room with seasoned players or in a poker
tournament with professional gamblers. But now there is a great place for
ladies to go to play in a poker tournament whether they are new to the game
or an experienced player.
The Silverton Casino Lodge has launched a weekly, ladies-only poker
tournament every Friday at 9 p.m. A $37 buy-in gets each participant $1,000
in play chips and one of 30 seats in the tournament. Players also have the
option to purchase an additional $1,000 in tournament chips for $3 at
registration. I was recently invited to sit in and play, despite the fact
that I am a true novice. There were 10 women at my table, ranging in age
from their 20s (21, I hope) to their 70s and we all talked, laughed and
played. I lost my chips in 20 minutes, but I was told that for a “first
timer” I played the game correctly and should continue. What a compliment!
Or maybe they just told me that, so I could return with more money and play
in a regular game……………. Ha! Ha!
So allow me to explain the game of Texas Hold’em, which is what we
played.
Texas
hold 'em is the most popular poker game in the casinos and poker rooms
across North America and the world. Texas hold 'em is a “community” card
game where each player may use any combination of 7 card. The five community
cards the dealer will turn up and the player's own two hole cards. (Hole
cards are the first two cards dealt down to a player).
Because each player only starts with two cards and the remaining
cards are shared, it presents a game for strategy (including mathematical
analysis). There are (52 × 51) ÷ 2 = 1,326 distinct possible combinations
of two cards from a standard 52-card deck. There is no trump (like pinochle)
so all suits are equal. Here-in lays the first of many decisions a player
must make during the course of each and every hand AND I am told one
of the most crucial (like Kenny Rogers tells us in song “you got to know
when to hold-em, know when to fold-em”)
Whether you are math wiz or not, think of the equation this way.
There are only 169 different hole-card combinations. Thirteen of those hands
would be pairs, from “duces” (2s) through aces. There are 78 ways to have
two cards of different combinations (12 possible hands containing an ace, 11
possible hands containing a king and no ace, 10 possible hands containing a
queen and no ace or king, etc.). Hole cards, (one or both) can be used in a
flush. There would be 13 possible pairs, 78 possible suited non-pairs, and
78 possible unsuited non-pairs, for a total of 169 possible hands. Suited
starting cards are usually considered stronger than unsuited hands, although
the magnitude of this strength in different games is debated. (You will be
tested on this on Tuesday during a pop quiz).
The actual
play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. There is then
a "pre-flop" betting round, beginning with the player to the left of a
dealer button and continuing clockwise. Betting continues until every player
either calls the blind (ante), raises, by betting up to all the money they
have in front of them or folds (another player can not get “shut out” of the
pot because they do not have enough money to call a raise in this case, a
“side pot” would be created.) As you can see, we were playing “no-limit”
There are what is called “structured games” which have a pre set amount
allowed for each betting round (anywhere from $2 or $3, on up.. After the
pre-flop betting round, assuming there remains at least two players in the
hand, the dealer deals three face-up “community” cards. This is followed by
a second round of betting. After the bets, a single community card (called
“the turn” or “fourth street”) is dealt, followed by a third round of
betting. A final single community card (called “the river” or “fifth
street”) is then dealt, followed by a final round of betting and the
“showdown”, if necessary.
In all casinos, the dealer will “burn a card” before each betting round (not
deal the top card on the deck) so players cannot see the back of the next
card to come. (it helps prevent duplicity)
If a player bets and all other players fold, then the remaining player is
awarded the pot and is not required to show their hole cards. If two or more
players remain after the final betting round, a showdown occurs. On the
showdown, each player plays the best five-card poker hand they can make from
the seven cards comprising their two hole cards and the five community
cards. A player can use both of their own two hole cards, only one, or none
at all (“play the board”) to form his final five-card hand. If the five
community cards form the player's best hand, then the player can only hope
to split the pot, since each of the other players can also use the same five
cards to construct the same hand.
Texas Hold 'em is often commonly associated with poker tournaments, largely
because it is played as the main event in many of the famous tournaments,
including the World Series of Poker (going on, as I write this, at The Rio)
and is the most common tournament game played. Traditionally, a poker
tournament is played with chips that represent a player's stake in the
tournament. Standard play allows all entrants to "buy-in" a fixed amount and
all players begin with an equal amount of chips (unless, as was the case
this night, any player can pay additional money for more tournament chips)
Play continues until one player has accumulated all the chips in play. The
money pool is redistributed to the players in relation to the place they
finished in the tournament. As a result, the strategy in poker tournaments
can be very different from a cash game (real money, as opposed to tournament
chips).
Everyone was so nice and our dealer patiently explained how the
game works. I had a great time and the Silverton Poker Room is a wonderful
place to play, especially the ladies only tournament. Don’t let poker
intimidate you. If you want to learn poker or just have fun, and you are a
lady, then plan on playing in the Poker Tournament at the Silverton Casino
Lodge Fridays at 9 pm. If you want to have fun and are not a ”Lady,” the
poker room is open 24/7.
Silverton Casino Lodge
3333
Blue Diamond Road
Las Vegas, NV 89139
(702) 263-7777
www.silvertoncasino.com.
