Poker Tournaments
Do you enjoy playing in poker tournaments?
Poker tournaments are a lot of fun and offer one of the best deals in gambling entertainment. You can find poker tournaments for most of the popular poker games including Texas Hold'em, Omaha Poker, Stud Poker, and more; including Limit, Pot Limit, and No Limit poker tournaments.
Be sure to Sign Up for our Poker Newsletter to be notified of future poker tournaments and keep an eye on the Poker Blog for tournament info and other poker news.
Las Vegas and Atlantic City are two of the best places to find regular poker tournaments. Both the World Series of Poker championship and the World Poker Tour championship are hosted in Las Vegas. For information about Las Vegas poker tournaments and poker rooms, see Las Vegas Poker Tournaments. To find out about Atlantic City poker tournaments and poker rooms, see Atlantic City Poker Tournaments.
Online poker rooms also offer regular poker tournaments. You can get into a tournament for as little as $6, or you can play high stakes poker with buy-ins of $300 and more. You will find both single table tournaments as well as multiple table tournaments.
Poker Tournament Play
You can join a poker tournament simply by paying the buy-in and entry fee. Each player will start with an equal amount of chips. Limited re-buys are available at some land based poker tournaments but are not usual at online poker rooms. A player is eliminated when they lose all of their chips. A winner is declared when one player has won all of the chips.
The prize pool is split between the top poker tournament finishers. For example, a poker tournament might pay the first place winner 50% of the prize pool, the second place winner 30%, and the third place winner 20%. Large poker tournaments typically pay down a higher quantity of places. For example, the World Poker Tour championship at Bellagio Casino paid the top 50 players.
Best Poker Tournaments
Being the largest online poker room, Party Poker offers the widest variety of poker tournaments. You can find daily single and multi-table tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $6 to $300 and more. Party Poker also holds weekly poker tournaments with prizes ranging from trips to Las Vegas to over $250,000 in prize money. To read more about the poker tournaments at Party Poker go to Party Poker Tournaments.
The best Atlantic City poker tournaments can be found at the Borgata and Trump Taj Mahal. Las Vegas has a number of good poker rooms although some of the best Las Vegas poker tournaments can be found at the Bellagio, Binion's, Mirage Hotel, Sahara, Orleans, and Sam's Town, among other casinos.
Satellite Poker Tournaments
Looking for satellite tournaments to get into the World Series of Poker or the World Poker Tour? Satellite tournaments offer an inexpensive way to see if you have the right stuff to play in the show. Win a satellite poker tournament and get your entry fee paid to the main event. For more information see:
World Series Poker Satellite
World Poker Tour Satellite
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Texas Hold'em
Texas Hold'em
Texas Hold'em is the most popular community card poker game and a favorite for poker tournaments. Each player is dealt two private cards, after which there is a betting round. Then three community cards are dealt face up (in no particular order or pattern), followed by a second betting round. A fourth community card is followed by a third betting round, a fifth community card and the fourth and final betting round. At showdown, each player plays the best five-card poker hand he can make using any five cards among the two in his hand and the five on the board.
Texas Hold'em poker does not play well high-low split (Omaha poker is probably the best high-low community card game). Texas Hold'em does play very well at no limit, and in fact the final game of the World Series of Poker, the poker tournament generally considered to be the world championship of the game of poker, is a $10,000 entry no limit Texas Hold'em game.
Texas Hold'em poker is generally played with 2 to 10 players, but can be played with more (theoretically 23, but beyond 12 players the size of the table is the limiting factor). It is a very positional game, since betting rounds all begin at the dealer's left.
The descriptions below assume that you are familiar with the general game play of poker and poker hands. They also make no assumptions about what betting structure is used. In casino play, it is common to use a fixed limit and two blinds, one for half of the first-round betting limit and one for a full bet. The limit for the third and fourth betting rounds is generally double that of the first two rounds. It is also not uncommon for the fourth bet to be larger still, and for the big blind to be less than the normal first-round bet, in which case it is treated the same way a sub-minimum bring-in is treated in stud poker. An ante may be used instead of or in addition to blinds. Texas Hold'em poker also plays very well at no limit, and many poker tournaments (including the above mentioned World Series of Poker championship event) are played that way.
Play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. These are the only cards each player will receive individually, and they will not be revealed until showdown, making Texas Hold'em a closed poker game. A first pre-flop betting round now happens, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the dealer, if no blinds are used). Now the dealer deals a burn card, followed by three face-up community cards called the flop, followed by a second betting round. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player the dealer's left. After this round, a burn card and single community card called the turn are dealt, followed by a third betting round. Finally, a burn and a single community card called the river are dealt, followed by a fourth betting round and showdown if necessary.
On showdown, each player plays the best five-card poker hand he can make from the seven cards comprising his two and the board (the five community cards). A player may use both of his own two down cards, only one, or none at all to form his final five-card hand. If the best five-card poker hand he can make is to play the five community cards, then he is said to be playing the board, and is entitled to split the pot with others playing the board if no one can play a better hand. It is common for players to have closely-valued hands. In particular, kickers often are needed to break ties, straights often split the pot, and multiple flushes may occur (where the ranks of the cards in each flush must be counted carefully to determine a winner).
Examples
Here's a sample Texas Hold'em final showdown:
Board
4♣ K♠ 4♥ 8♠ 7♠
Alice
5♦ 6♦ Bob
A♣ 4♦ Carol
A♠ 9♠ David
K♥ K♦
Alice's best five-card hand is 8♠ 7♠ 6♦ 5♦ 4♥, making an 8-high straight. The best poker hand Bob can play is 4♣ 4♥ 4♦ A♣ K♠, for three 4s with A and K kickers. Carol can play A♠ K♠ 9♠ 8♠ 7♠ for an A-high flush. Finally, David can play K♠ K♥ K♦ 4♣ 4♥, for a full house, which wins.
Here's a sample deal. The players' individual hands will not be revealed until showdown, to give a better sense of what happens during play. Bob, to the dealer's left, posts a blind of $1, and Carol blinds $2. Alice deals two cards face down to each player, beginning with Bob and ending with herself. David must act first because he is the first player after the big blind. He cannot check, since the $2 blinds plays as a bet, so he folds. Alice calls the $2. Bob puts an additional $1 with his $1 small blind to call the $2 total. Carol's blind is "live," so she has the right to raise here, but she checks her option instead, ending the first betting round.
Alice now burns a card and deals the "flop" of three face-up community cards, 9♣ K♣ 3♥. On this round as on all subsequent, Bob begins the betting. He checks, Carol opens for $2, and Alice raises another $2, making the total bet now facing Bob $4. He calls. Carol calls, putting in an additional $2. Alice now burns and deals the "turn" card face up. It is the 5♠. Bob checks, Carol checks, and Alice checks, ending the betting round. After burning, Alice deals the final "river" card of the 9♦, making the final board 9♣ K♣ 3♥ 5♠ 9♦. Bob bets $4, Carol calls, and Alice folds (Alice's holding was A♣ 7♣; she was hoping the river card would be a club to make her a flush). Bob shows his hand of Q♠ 9♥, so the best five-card poker hand he can make is 9♣ 9♦ 9♥ K♣ Q♠, for three 9s, K and Q kickers. Carol shows her cards of K♠ J♥, making her final poker hand K♣ K♠ 9♣ 9♦ J♥ for two pair, Ks and 9s, with a J kicker. Bob wins the pot.
Here's another situation that illustrates the importance of breaking ties with kickers and card ranks, and use of the five-card rule. After the first three betting rounds, the board and players' hands look like this (though the players don't actually know the other players' cards).
Board (after three rounds):
Board (after three rounds)
8♠ Q♣ 8♥ 4♣
Alice
10♣ 9♣ Bob
K♥ Q♠ Carol
Q♥ 10♦ David
J♣ 2♣
At the moment, Bob is in the lead with a hand of Q♠ Q♣ 8♠ 8♥ K♥, making two pair, Qs and 8s, with a K kicker. This just beats Carol's hand of Q♥ Q♣ 8♠ 8♥ 10♦ by virtue of his kicker. Both Alice and David are hoping the final card is a club, which will make them both a flush, but David would have the higher flush and win if that happens. For example, if the final card was the 7♣, David's flush would be Q-J-7-4-2, while Alice's would be Q-10-9-7-4. Alice could still win, though, if the final card were the J♦, as that would give her a Q-high straight. On this deal, however, the final card was the A♠, which didn't help either of them. Bob and Carol still each have two pair, but notice what happened: both of them are now entitled to play the final A as their fifth card, making their hands both two pair, Qs and 8s, with an A kicker. Bob's K no longer plays, because the A on the board plays as the fifth card in both hands, and they can't play six cards. They therefore split the pot.
The rules for Texas Hold'em are not as complicated as they may first seem. Spend some time practicing and this poker game will become second nature.
Texas Hold'em is the most popular community card poker game and a favorite for poker tournaments. Each player is dealt two private cards, after which there is a betting round. Then three community cards are dealt face up (in no particular order or pattern), followed by a second betting round. A fourth community card is followed by a third betting round, a fifth community card and the fourth and final betting round. At showdown, each player plays the best five-card poker hand he can make using any five cards among the two in his hand and the five on the board.
Texas Hold'em poker does not play well high-low split (Omaha poker is probably the best high-low community card game). Texas Hold'em does play very well at no limit, and in fact the final game of the World Series of Poker, the poker tournament generally considered to be the world championship of the game of poker, is a $10,000 entry no limit Texas Hold'em game.
Texas Hold'em poker is generally played with 2 to 10 players, but can be played with more (theoretically 23, but beyond 12 players the size of the table is the limiting factor). It is a very positional game, since betting rounds all begin at the dealer's left.
The descriptions below assume that you are familiar with the general game play of poker and poker hands. They also make no assumptions about what betting structure is used. In casino play, it is common to use a fixed limit and two blinds, one for half of the first-round betting limit and one for a full bet. The limit for the third and fourth betting rounds is generally double that of the first two rounds. It is also not uncommon for the fourth bet to be larger still, and for the big blind to be less than the normal first-round bet, in which case it is treated the same way a sub-minimum bring-in is treated in stud poker. An ante may be used instead of or in addition to blinds. Texas Hold'em poker also plays very well at no limit, and many poker tournaments (including the above mentioned World Series of Poker championship event) are played that way.
Play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. These are the only cards each player will receive individually, and they will not be revealed until showdown, making Texas Hold'em a closed poker game. A first pre-flop betting round now happens, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the dealer, if no blinds are used). Now the dealer deals a burn card, followed by three face-up community cards called the flop, followed by a second betting round. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player the dealer's left. After this round, a burn card and single community card called the turn are dealt, followed by a third betting round. Finally, a burn and a single community card called the river are dealt, followed by a fourth betting round and showdown if necessary.
On showdown, each player plays the best five-card poker hand he can make from the seven cards comprising his two and the board (the five community cards). A player may use both of his own two down cards, only one, or none at all to form his final five-card hand. If the best five-card poker hand he can make is to play the five community cards, then he is said to be playing the board, and is entitled to split the pot with others playing the board if no one can play a better hand. It is common for players to have closely-valued hands. In particular, kickers often are needed to break ties, straights often split the pot, and multiple flushes may occur (where the ranks of the cards in each flush must be counted carefully to determine a winner).
Examples
Here's a sample Texas Hold'em final showdown:
Board
4♣ K♠ 4♥ 8♠ 7♠
Alice
5♦ 6♦ Bob
A♣ 4♦ Carol
A♠ 9♠ David
K♥ K♦
Alice's best five-card hand is 8♠ 7♠ 6♦ 5♦ 4♥, making an 8-high straight. The best poker hand Bob can play is 4♣ 4♥ 4♦ A♣ K♠, for three 4s with A and K kickers. Carol can play A♠ K♠ 9♠ 8♠ 7♠ for an A-high flush. Finally, David can play K♠ K♥ K♦ 4♣ 4♥, for a full house, which wins.
Here's a sample deal. The players' individual hands will not be revealed until showdown, to give a better sense of what happens during play. Bob, to the dealer's left, posts a blind of $1, and Carol blinds $2. Alice deals two cards face down to each player, beginning with Bob and ending with herself. David must act first because he is the first player after the big blind. He cannot check, since the $2 blinds plays as a bet, so he folds. Alice calls the $2. Bob puts an additional $1 with his $1 small blind to call the $2 total. Carol's blind is "live," so she has the right to raise here, but she checks her option instead, ending the first betting round.
Alice now burns a card and deals the "flop" of three face-up community cards, 9♣ K♣ 3♥. On this round as on all subsequent, Bob begins the betting. He checks, Carol opens for $2, and Alice raises another $2, making the total bet now facing Bob $4. He calls. Carol calls, putting in an additional $2. Alice now burns and deals the "turn" card face up. It is the 5♠. Bob checks, Carol checks, and Alice checks, ending the betting round. After burning, Alice deals the final "river" card of the 9♦, making the final board 9♣ K♣ 3♥ 5♠ 9♦. Bob bets $4, Carol calls, and Alice folds (Alice's holding was A♣ 7♣; she was hoping the river card would be a club to make her a flush). Bob shows his hand of Q♠ 9♥, so the best five-card poker hand he can make is 9♣ 9♦ 9♥ K♣ Q♠, for three 9s, K and Q kickers. Carol shows her cards of K♠ J♥, making her final poker hand K♣ K♠ 9♣ 9♦ J♥ for two pair, Ks and 9s, with a J kicker. Bob wins the pot.
Here's another situation that illustrates the importance of breaking ties with kickers and card ranks, and use of the five-card rule. After the first three betting rounds, the board and players' hands look like this (though the players don't actually know the other players' cards).
Board (after three rounds):
Board (after three rounds)
8♠ Q♣ 8♥ 4♣
Alice
10♣ 9♣ Bob
K♥ Q♠ Carol
Q♥ 10♦ David
J♣ 2♣
At the moment, Bob is in the lead with a hand of Q♠ Q♣ 8♠ 8♥ K♥, making two pair, Qs and 8s, with a K kicker. This just beats Carol's hand of Q♥ Q♣ 8♠ 8♥ 10♦ by virtue of his kicker. Both Alice and David are hoping the final card is a club, which will make them both a flush, but David would have the higher flush and win if that happens. For example, if the final card was the 7♣, David's flush would be Q-J-7-4-2, while Alice's would be Q-10-9-7-4. Alice could still win, though, if the final card were the J♦, as that would give her a Q-high straight. On this deal, however, the final card was the A♠, which didn't help either of them. Bob and Carol still each have two pair, but notice what happened: both of them are now entitled to play the final A as their fifth card, making their hands both two pair, Qs and 8s, with an A kicker. Bob's K no longer plays, because the A on the board plays as the fifth card in both hands, and they can't play six cards. They therefore split the pot.
The rules for Texas Hold'em are not as complicated as they may first seem. Spend some time practicing and this poker game will become second nature.
Gambling Poker
Gambling Poker - Rules of Poker and More
Gambling Poker is the site for poker players. We have everything you need including the rules of poker for over 35 common and not so common poker games (for all of the poker rules see the complete Index of Poker Rules), where to find the best poker rooms in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, poker tournament info, news, and much more. Learn to play poker, brush up on your poker skills, or find some new games to liven up that home poker party. Following is a synopsis of the gambling and poker information you will find on this poker site.
Poker Hands explains all of the poker hand rankings, how to break ties, when to split the pot, wild cards, how to rank low poker hands including five of a kind, royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, pair, and high card. You can also find poker odds for hand probabilities. Then move on to the Poker Rules for the specific poker game in which you are interested.
Poker Betting discusses basic poker betting including antes, betting order, calling a bet, raising, and folding your hand.
Poker Tournaments discusses poker tournaments including single table tournaments and multiple table tournaments for poker games such as Texas Hold'em, Omaha High, Omaha 8 or Better, Seven Card Stud, Stud 8 or Better, and more; including Limit, Pot Limit, and No Limit poker tournaments. You can also play in freeroll poker tournaments or find high stakes poker games. Visit Las Vegas Poker Tournaments and Atlantic City Poker Tournaments for information about local poker tournaments and poker rooms.
Community Cards discusses the poker rules and strategies for community card poker games such as Texas Hold em, Omaha poker, and more.
Draw Poker discusses the rules and strategies for standard five card draw poker, common house rules, casino rules, and draw poker variations.
Stud Poker discusses the rules and strategies for stud poker including five card stud and seven card stud, betting rounds, common stud poker rules, and stud poker variations including General Stud Poker Variations, Baseball, Chicago, High-Low Stud Eight or Better, and more.
Low Hand A-5 discusses what is the most common method for evaluating low poker hands including ranking no pair lowball hands, best possible low hands, high low split poker games, scooping or hogging the pot, the perfect poker hand, and adding a joker.
Low Hand A-6 discusses this method for evaluating low poker hands including ranking no pair lowball hands and adding a wild card.
Low Hand 2-7 discusses this method for evaluating low poker hands. This method is also often called Kansas City Low Poker or just low poker. It includes a discussion of ranking no pair lowball hands, special poker rule variations, best possible low hands, wild cards, and high low split games.
World Series of Poker discusses the annual Las Vegas poker tournament series which consists of many events of different poker game variants. Included is a short history of the World Series of Poker Tournament and past tournament champions for the final championship event, no-limit Texas hold'em. You can also get the latest tournament schedule for World Series Poker, information on satellite tournaments, the rules for World Series of Poker, and more.
World Poker Tour has everything you need to know about the World Poker Tour including the WPT poker tournament schedule, television schedule, satellite tournaments, the World Poker Tour Championship, and more.
Online Poker provides reviews of online poker rooms to help you decide where to play poker online. Find out which online poker rooms are the best for you - which have the poker games and tournaments you are looking for. You can find out about free online poker and get Party Poker Bonus Codes for playing at Party Poker.
Free Poker Downloads Get free poker downloads from popular poker rooms. You can play at the free poker tables to learn the game, brush up on your skills, or just have fun
Gambling Poker is the site for poker players. We have everything you need including the rules of poker for over 35 common and not so common poker games (for all of the poker rules see the complete Index of Poker Rules), where to find the best poker rooms in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, poker tournament info, news, and much more. Learn to play poker, brush up on your poker skills, or find some new games to liven up that home poker party. Following is a synopsis of the gambling and poker information you will find on this poker site.
Poker Hands explains all of the poker hand rankings, how to break ties, when to split the pot, wild cards, how to rank low poker hands including five of a kind, royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, pair, and high card. You can also find poker odds for hand probabilities. Then move on to the Poker Rules for the specific poker game in which you are interested.
Poker Betting discusses basic poker betting including antes, betting order, calling a bet, raising, and folding your hand.
Poker Tournaments discusses poker tournaments including single table tournaments and multiple table tournaments for poker games such as Texas Hold'em, Omaha High, Omaha 8 or Better, Seven Card Stud, Stud 8 or Better, and more; including Limit, Pot Limit, and No Limit poker tournaments. You can also play in freeroll poker tournaments or find high stakes poker games. Visit Las Vegas Poker Tournaments and Atlantic City Poker Tournaments for information about local poker tournaments and poker rooms.
Community Cards discusses the poker rules and strategies for community card poker games such as Texas Hold em, Omaha poker, and more.
Draw Poker discusses the rules and strategies for standard five card draw poker, common house rules, casino rules, and draw poker variations.
Stud Poker discusses the rules and strategies for stud poker including five card stud and seven card stud, betting rounds, common stud poker rules, and stud poker variations including General Stud Poker Variations, Baseball, Chicago, High-Low Stud Eight or Better, and more.
Low Hand A-5 discusses what is the most common method for evaluating low poker hands including ranking no pair lowball hands, best possible low hands, high low split poker games, scooping or hogging the pot, the perfect poker hand, and adding a joker.
Low Hand A-6 discusses this method for evaluating low poker hands including ranking no pair lowball hands and adding a wild card.
Low Hand 2-7 discusses this method for evaluating low poker hands. This method is also often called Kansas City Low Poker or just low poker. It includes a discussion of ranking no pair lowball hands, special poker rule variations, best possible low hands, wild cards, and high low split games.
World Series of Poker discusses the annual Las Vegas poker tournament series which consists of many events of different poker game variants. Included is a short history of the World Series of Poker Tournament and past tournament champions for the final championship event, no-limit Texas hold'em. You can also get the latest tournament schedule for World Series Poker, information on satellite tournaments, the rules for World Series of Poker, and more.
World Poker Tour has everything you need to know about the World Poker Tour including the WPT poker tournament schedule, television schedule, satellite tournaments, the World Poker Tour Championship, and more.
Online Poker provides reviews of online poker rooms to help you decide where to play poker online. Find out which online poker rooms are the best for you - which have the poker games and tournaments you are looking for. You can find out about free online poker and get Party Poker Bonus Codes for playing at Party Poker.
Free Poker Downloads Get free poker downloads from popular poker rooms. You can play at the free poker tables to learn the game, brush up on your skills, or just have fun
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