™
You could be
playing in the 2007 World Series Of Poker™ in
Texas
Hold'em is said to take a lifetime to master, it only takes a couple of
minutes to grasp. Hold'em poker is played with a standard 52 card deck.
What makes Hold'em stand out from many other card games is the use of five
community cards – cards dealt face up on the table that all players share.
Each player also receives two face-down cards each – hole or pocket cards.
These two cards make up your starting hand. A round of poker starts with
every player being dealt their two hole cards. The winner is the player
that at the end, after several betting rounds, can use his hole cards together
with the five community cards and make the best ranked five card poker
hand.
Dealer
Button
The
order of play in a round of poker is decided by the button. This is a visible
marker that rotates clockwise between players before the start of each
new hand. The player seated left of the button always acts first in any
given betting round. The player in front of the button thus acts last.
This is a huge advantage since that player can await the actions of the
other players before deciding on his own actions.

Blinds
If
you can fold without putting in money, why doesn't a player just fold all
the time until he gets a great hand? This is prevented by forcing players
to post a form of blind bets also known as blinds. Each hand, one player
at the table puts in a big blind (BB), and the player in front of him puts
in a small blind (SB). In most internet games the small blind is half the
size of the big blind. The big blind is the size of a small bet in a limit
game. The blind bet is paid regardless of whether the player likes his
cards or not. The other players must call (or raise) the blind bet or else
they must fold. The player in the small blind must make up the difference
between the BB and SB in order to stay in the hand.
It
is only before the first betting round that blinds are placed.
With
the blinds in place, it's time to start the betting!
|
Florida
Poker Tours™ Tournament Blind
Structure
|
|
Level
|
Ante
|
Small
Blind
|
Big
Blind
|
Level
Duration (Minutes)
|
|
1
|
0
|
100
|
200
|
10
|
|
2
|
0
|
200
|
400
|
10
|
|
3
|
0
|
400
|
800
|
10
|
|
4
|
100
|
500
|
1,000
|
10
|
|
5
|
200
|
1,000
|
2,000
|
10
|
|
6
|
400
|
2,000
|
4,000
|
10
|
|
7
|
500
|
4,000
|
8,000
|
10
|
|
8
|
1,000
|
5,000
|
10,000
|
10
|
10
Minute Break
All
500 value chips are rounded up, replaced and removed from play.
|
|
9
|
2,000
|
10,000
|
20,000
|
5
|
|
10
|
4,000
|
20,000
|
40,000
|
5
|
|
11
|
5,000
|
40,000
|
80,000
|
5
|
|
12
|
10,000
|
50,000
|
100,000
|
5
|
|
13
|
20,000
|
100,000
|
200,000
|
5
|
|
14
|
40,000
|
200,000
|
400,000
|
5
|
|
15
|
50,000
|
400,000
|
800,000
|
5
|
The
first betting round, the Preflop betting round, begins with just the hole
cards in play. When it is completed the Flop betting round begins - with
three of the communal cards now in play. Next is the Turn betting round,
an additional community card is dealt, and, lastly, comes the River betting
round - with all five community cards now on the board.
Position
Each
player sits in a position.
Play
moves clockwise from small blind, big blind, first position (early first
to act), second position (early), third position (early middle), fourth
position (middle), fifth position (middle), sixth position (middle late),
seventh position (late), and eight position and the dealer (late and last
to act).
©2006
Florida Poker Tours™ All rights reserved.
All
prizes are paid for and provided by the tour sponsors and are non transferable.
All
buy-ins are paid for by a Florida Poker Tours™ representative at the on-site
tournament registration desk.
No
cash is awarded to winners.
Designated
trademarks ™ and brands are the property of their respective owners.
No
license, affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement, is claimed, or should be
inferred from the use of these trademarks here.
World
Series Of Poker™ ©2006 Harrah's License Company, LLC
If
you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-888-ADMIT-IT (888-236-4848)
Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling