Poker's more than a game...its
a sport
Yes, it's not a bad dream anymore, school
really has begun and summer is now just a fading memory. But don't lose all
hope; you can still find fun and exciting activities to do in between your
stressful college schedule. This article, which will run biweekly, will give
you various ideas for activities and sports to break up the monotony of the
school year. The sport that will be covered in this first article is the
poker game No Limit Texas Holdem.
Now surely a great number of you are scoffing and asking "How in the heck is
poker considered a sport?" Recently on a televised poker tournament a player
who had been holding back his bowls for a long period of time, jumped from
his seat mid hand and sprinted to the bathroom all the while hurdling over
ropes and other barriers. The announcers had a good laugh and said "Maybe
he's running to show the world that poker is a legitimate sport." Despite
the humor from the advocates, poker is considered a sport, not a traditional
physical sport like football, or baseball, it is a sport in the sense that
it requires a great deal of stamina and mental fortitude to play for any
extended period of time. In some big tournaments participants may have to
play 12 hours a day for a solid week, which can be mentally and physically
grueling.
For those who are still interested now is the time to lay the rules on you.
For those who haven't played before and want to give it a try, pick up some
cards and poker chips and get started. First, the group of players picks a
person to be the dealer and that player deals two cards face down to each
player starting from the left of the dealer. The players leave their cards
face down and check them out; this is followed by a round of betting. Next
the dealer burns one card from the top of the deck (leaves it face down on
the table) and flips three cards face up which are community cards. This is
called the "flop" which is followed by another round of betting. After the
betting is over the dealer burns a card and deals another face up; this is
the "turn". Another round of betting ensues. Finally the dealer burns
another card and deals the last community card which is called the "river".
The last round of betting takes place and whichever players are still
playing the hand flip their two cards over. The object of the game is to
take the two cards dealt to you and the community cards and try to make the
best 5 card poker hand. In the order of best hands high card (Ace high),
pair, two pair, straight (five consecutive cards ie 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), flush
(five cards of the same suit), full house (pair and three of a kind),
straight flush, four of a kind, and the illusive royal flush (10, jack,
queen, king, ace of the same suit).
What makes this poker game unique to others and
probably the most exciting is the fact that at any time in the game a player
can "go all in" which means that the player can put all his chips in at any
point in the hand and force others to call him. This is the most dangerous
and beneficial aspect of the game. If you other players call the all in the
player can more than double the amount of chips he went all in with. If a
player is forced to go all in and looses then that player is eliminated and
out for the rest of the game. This is also the most powerful tool in the
bluffing aspect of the game. If a player goes all in on a bluff and the
other players believe that the player has a good hand they will fold and the
player will collect all of the money put into the pot up to that point. This
is probably why No Limit Texas Hold'em has been dubbed the "Bluffers
Paradise".
Currently America is in the middle of a poker bomb. More new players have
picked up this game than ever before. No one knows the definite cause for
this boom but perhaps it is due to the extensive ESPN coverage of high
stakes poker tournaments with young kids and amateurs going against all odds
and winning millions of dollars against old farts who have been playing for
years. Maybe the aspect of being lucky enough to get into one of these
tournaments and taking home the gold is the main appeal or perhaps a large
number of people have found the recreational value of the game and have
picked it up with a group of friends as a weekend past time. Whatever the
reason, it seems that poker will be a big part of American culture, at least
for the time being.
Despite any delusions of glory you might have after reading this article
there are a few things you should take into consideration before you pick up
a deck of cards and begin blowing wads of cash on the game. "Beginner's luck
does help but it doesn't last forever, sooner or later you will need some
level of skill to stay in the game" says Andrew MacDonald, a 19 year old
amateur player who started about 4 months ago but has quickly picked up the
skill aspect of the game and now lays players to waste without breaking a
sweat. "In my experience poker is about 60% percent skill and 40% luck" says
Andrew, "you can't just play the cards you have to play the players." Even a
professional can lose to a beginner who catches 4 of a kind on the river,
but you need a great deal of skill to get that far. Some ways to "play the
players" is to observe their tells and exploit them. Some things to look for
are things as subtle as breathing patterns, wandering eyes, twitches, how
long it takes a player to bet etc. Tells vary from player to player and are
few and far between as you play with more experienced players. So if this
article gave you an inclining to try this great poker game keep a good poker
face and good luck (but not too much).
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