How To Play Poker – Poker Slowplaying

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Slow-playing, for the most part, is counterproductive. If your goal is to get the most money in the pot, how are you going to do that by checking? You build pots by betting your big hands, not by lurking in the weeds with them

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

Ideal conditions for slowplaying:
You must have a very strong hand.
The free card or cheap card you are allowing other players to get must have good possibilities of making them a second best hand.
That same free card must have little chance of making someone a better hand than yours or even giving that person a draw to a better hand than yours on the next round with sufficient odds to justify a call.
You must be sure you will drive other players out by showing aggression, but you have a good chance of winning a big pot if you don’t.
The pot must not yet be very large.”

Here’s an example of your average slow play:

Effective stacks $200; blinds $1/$2. You’re dealt 6♥ 6♣ on the button. A player from early position raises $6 and you make the call.

The flop comes out 3♣ 6♠ A♣. Your opponent bets $10. You call. The turn is the T♦.

Your opponent bets $18 and you just call. The river is the 7♦. Your opponent checks and you bet $35. Your opponent calls. You table your set of sixes and he mucks his A♠ K♣. You scoop a $138 pot.

OK, so you won a $138 pot. You might be patting yourself on the back saying “Nice hand.” This is not a nice hand.

Seriously, you won a $138 pot. Don’t pat yourself on the back.

When you flop a big hand like a set, you want to play for stacks. This is what you’ve been waiting for, folding 6-2 and 5-9 all day. So now that you’ve finally hit your monster, you want to waste it by trying to slow-play? That kind of strategy is just wrong-headed.

Big Hands Want Big Pots

When you flop a monster you want to win your opponent’s stack. It’s very difficult to win someone’s stack by slow-playing.

Why? When you slow-play you often find yourself with a small pot. Your goal of getting your stack into the middle when the pot is small becomes very difficult. You can’t exactly bet $200 into a $4 pot, can you?

If you build the pot the entire way, it will be big enough on the end that you can comfortably bet your entire stack.

The hand in the example was played well by our villain. He played it like most villains would in this spot. He bet two streets into you and when you called multiple times he went for the conservative river approach. He checked and then called a river bet.

He did this to avoid getting raised (which is what you would have done). In this situation it’s very difficult to get paid off after having just called two streets. If you had raised the flop then he most likely would have had to call with his top pair, top kicker, thus building the pot further.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

Let’s look at an example where there is no slow-playing:

Effective stacks $200; blinds $1/$2. You’re dealt 6♦ 6♣ in the cut-off. The player from early position makes it $6 to go. Everyone folds to you; you make the call.

The button and blinds fold and you take a flop heads-up of 3♣ 6♠ A♣. Your opponent bets $10. Opting against the slow play, you raise the flop to $45. Your opponent calls.

The turn brings the T♦. Your opponent checks. There is now $102 in the pot and just under $150 left in your stack. You bet $70.

Your opponent tanks and calls. The river comes down 7♦. Your opponent checks and you bet your remaining $80. Your opponent calls and tables A♠ K♣. Your set of sixes takes the $400 pot.

By building the pot the entire way it made it easy to get your entire stack into play. When the pot is large it also gives your opponent incorrect odds. He may have felt on the river he was pot-committed since he had already put 60% of his stack into play and the pot is offering 4-1 on his call, making it extremely difficult to fold.

Still, There Must Be Times When Slow-Playing Is Correct

Yes, you’re right. In poker, one strategy is never always correct. You always need to take into consideration the table dynamics, your image, your opponents’ playing tendencies, etc. before you decide how to act.

I’m not advocating never slow-playing. I’m just encouraging you to use it sparingly.

One situation where slow-playing is correct is against an ultra-aggressive player whom youknow to have a history of betting three streets strong with weak holdings and who will continue their aggression until they are played back at. In that case it is not terrible to slow-play.







Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Terms: Angle Shooting

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Using unfair methods to take advantage of unexperienced players, is basically like cheating but in a legal way.

Among the many forms of angle shooting is the “incomplete call,” which takes advantage of a rule used in many poker rooms that states an insufficient bet must be treated as no bet. An angle shooter will purposefully “call” a bet or raise by pushing forward fewer chips than are required, without saying a word, hoping the opponent will turn over his/her cards without checking to see if the pot is right.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

If the angle shooter has a winning hand, he/she will quickly rake in the pot. But if the hand is a loser, the angle shooter can claim the call was incomplete, that she/he did not really intend to call, and then retrieve whatever amount was put forward as un-wagered.

Along these same lines, the use of ambiguous hand gestures can be “reinterpreted” by the angle shooter. What looked like a “check” can be claimed as a “bet” after others check, or a “call” can be reinterpreted as a “raise” if it seems beneficial to the angle shooter’s purposes. Showing one’s cards, for example, might be thought of as folding, but an angle shooter may judge a player’s reaction and then continue to play on.

In all of the above examples, the angle shooter has been careful not to say anything about the action that is taken. Quite often such silence is a tip-off that a player is attempting to gain an unfair advantage. Extra caution should be used when facing any opponent that fails to clearly indicate exactly what he/she is doing in play. If you want to know mopre about this click here!



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How To Play Poker – Texas Holdem Pocket Card Selection

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

This list was created with limit holdem in mind. If you play no limit holdem, small pairs will definitely go up in value, as well as suited connectors. Please note the differences between “suited” and “off-suit”. They are off-suit as default unless otherwise noted.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

Top Cards:
Ace-Ace (pair of aces)
King-King
Ace-King suited
Queen-Queen
Jack-Jack

When you’re dealt Aces, Kings, or AK suited, you can and should raise and even re-raise before the flop, no matter your position. A pair of queens or jacks you have to be a bit more careful with, but the chances are still huge that you are top hand before the flop. Raise and drive out the draw hands, if there are no raises in front of you.

Strong Cards:
AQ, AJ, A10 (all suited)
AK (off suit or unsuited)
KQ suited
Pair of 10’s
KJ, QJ, J10 all suited
AQ, AJ
Pair of 9’s
KQ
K10 suited, Q10 suited

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

Why are these strong? If you notice, all have strong flush or straight draw chances, as well as a high face card. The pairs of 10’s or 9’s have to be included simply because of the rarity of being dealt a pocket pair, and these being on the high end.

With strong cards, look to raise in middle or late position, only if noone has raised before you. If you raise in middle position and someone in late position re-raises, be careful. If they’re a strong player they probably have you beat in card strength unless theyre bluffing to try and take the blinds and antes.

Decent Pocket Cards:
Pair of 8’s
Jack-9, 10-9 both suited
Pair of 7’s
9-8, 8-7 both suited
Ace and any other suited card
KJ, QJ, J10

Dont bother raising with these cards unless everyone in front of you has folded. Also be careful playing these in middle position. Honestly, you probably want to see the flop as cheaply as possible. These cards can turn into monster hands though, because of their deceptive value. If you have a reputation as a strong player, other players wont be expecting you to make a straight with a 9-8. Another reason to at least play these cards sometimes is to keep yourself from getting a reputation as a “Rock”. If you only play nut cards and everytime you raise, everyone else folds, you’re missing out on some big bucks.

Barely Playable Pocket Cards
Any pair, 6’s and under
Connected suited cards, not shown above (ie. 4-5 suited)
A10, K10, Q10
K9, Q9, both suited

These cards have to have serious help from the board to win. If you can get to the flop cheap it can be worth it though, as these are draw hands to flushes and straights, and you may hit trips with your low pair. These cards can make good bluff hands when you’re “on the button,” and everyone in front of you has either folded or called the blinds, because they at least hold some potential for a good hand…so its not a complete bluff. But be warned. These are “play and pray” cards. In low limit games they might be worth it. But if you play these cards every time, you’ll see your chip stack sink fast.





Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Terms: Pineapple Poker

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Pineapple poker is A version of hold’em where players get 3 hole cards and have to discard one of them before the flop.

Since players get dealt 3 cards instead of 2, it provides more opportunities to make a strong hand much like in omaha. Lots of pots are contested multi-way where at least one player will flop a flush draw and will get good enough odds to chase their draw.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

A popular variant of Pineapple is called Crazy Pineapple Poker, with the main difference being players must wait until after the second round of betting is complete before discarding one of their starting hole cards. From there, every player has 2 hole cards just like in hold’em and from there the game plays in a very similar manner, the best five-card poker hand wins.

In addition to traditional Pineapple Poker and Crazy Pineapple Poker there is Crazy Pineapple Hi/Lo, a split game where half of the pot goes to the best (high) hand, and the other half goes to the worst (low) hand. Crazy Pineapple is quite often played in hi/lo versions.

Although you don’t see Pineapple poker games spread at many casinos, a lot of people like to play this poker variant in home games because it’s an exciting poker game to play with lots of action.



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How To Play Poker – Alternative Blackjack Strategies

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

The following strategies have been proven as less effective than basic strategy when it comes to lowering the houses advantage.

While this strategy works to win players a larger amount of games, there are also other theories that many players adhere to that have yet to be proven as winning tactics.

One of the most common is the “never bust” method of play. This strategy focuses specifically on a player’s hand totaling from twelve to sixteen on which the player never takes a “hit”, or when the hand is eleven or less on which the player must always take a hit. Under these guidelines the player never runs the risk of a “bust”.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

Some experts suggest that never “hitting” on a “stiff” hand, which is the twelve to sixteen hand values, will increase the casino’s edge to five percent. Meaning that a player who continually “stands” is only increasing the rate at which the casino is taking their money.

There are many percentages, statistics and facts behind Blackjack strategy and theory, and all numbers around the “never bust” method indicate that a player is better off finding a different strategy to use.

Another strategy is the “mimic the dealer” strategy which operates on the idea that if the “house” has an edge it should be a good strategy to copy the tactics and methods of the dealers who represent the casino or “house”.

This however is a bad decision because most house rules have their dealers standing at seventeen. Furthermore dealers cannot use any of the options available to a player, such as “double down”, “split” or even “surrender”. By eliminating their only options for increasing profits a player is increasing the casino’s edge instantly.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

A player thinking of using the “mimic the dealer” strategy is also running the risk of busting because the dealer must always play last. If the player is acting along the lines of the dealer, working at any risk to hit twenty-one, then they are sure to enter into a losing streak.

Most experts recommend that players use all of their available options according to the proven strategic methods, even those that feel “wrong”. For example, basic strategy says that a player must “hit” on a 16 if their dealer is showing a 7 or higher. This is because statistics indicate that the 16 hand is often a loser for the player, and so the best strategy is to always “hit”in this situation

While many people try to develop their own theories and systems, the best way to win at Blackjack is to take the time to memorize the standard Blackjack strategy tables. Many people will even make flashcards for themselves to memorize before they head to a casino to practice. While some alternative theories may slightly increase, or even greatly decrease, a player’s chances, the basic strategy for Blackjack has been proven over and over again as the best way to decrease the house’s edge.







Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Terms: Range Merging

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Range merging is when you bet with a medium-strength hand on the river, where the board makes your opponent believe that you can only be betting with either the nuts or bluffing with nothing at all .

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

If you merge your range frequently, opponents will get wise to your game and start slowplaying strong hands as they expect you to continue betting. Therefore, if the example hand above was repeated, the second time around our opponent may well check with an Ace because they will be expecting us to bet with a mediocre hand on the river.

This is more of a metagame problem more than anything, so I’m not going to go in to the ins and outs of what your opponent thinks and how they are going to react to your plays. Just be aware of how range merging will affect the way your opponents play against you.

Range merging is simply taking advantage of players who are trying to catch you out when they think you are bluffing. This article was quite meaty, but I can split it up in to two main sections of learning:
Figuring out what a bluffcatcher is and when we use it.
Learning how to take advantage of players using bluffcatchers.

If you think of it like that, it might be easier to break down the article and understand the strategy.



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How To Play Poker – Blackjack Etiquette

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

The first tip for Blackjack etiquette is “know the rules” before sitting down at a casino table. Don’t sit down at a crowded table and expect everyone to be patient while you learn how to play the game.

Knowing the rules will also include a basic understanding of the steps that are taken before an actual game begins. For example, a player should only cash in or buy chips in between hands, not in the middle of a hand. Know the denomination you are going to want before the dealer asks, and know chip denominations – red chips are worth five dollars, green are worth twenty-five dollars and black chips are worth one hundred dollars each.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

Know the table limit or minimum bid before sitting down to play, and don’t continually ask a dealer to break a larger chip in order to continue playing, instead break larger chips at the time of buying in. Even better is to purchase all chips from the cashier rather than the dealer.

Next on a list of good Blackjack etiquette is to know the proper procedures for the “type” of game being played. Generally there are two ways of playing; with the cards face down or face up. Each game asks players to follow some simple guidelines.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

In a face up :

A player should never touch their cards
Do not touch the bet placed after the first cards are dealt.
Use the appropriate hand signals – a spoken command cannot be followed by the dealer unless it is accompanied by the correct hand signal. For face up Blackjack a player who wants to “hit” must tap the table with their finger. A player who is going “stand” waves their hand above the table. To “double down” a player must lay their new wager next to the original bet and signal by making a “one” signal with their finger. In order to “split” the player must lay the new wager next to the original and make a “two” signal with their fingers.
A player who “busts” should behave properly, even if frustrated and disappointed. Usually a player should lay their cards face up next to their bet and wait for the next hand if they wish to continue playing.

In a face down game:

A player can touch their cards, but only with a single hand and never drop them below the dealer’s line of sight. This can end a game instantly on suspicion of cheating.
The same rules apply about touching the bet after the game begins.
The hand signals for “face down” play are a bit different – for a player to “hit” they must scrape their cards on the table. To “stand” the player slides their cards under their bet without lifting the chips off the table. To “double down” the player lays their cards face up on the table, places their bet next to the original bet and makes a “one” signal with their finger. To “split” the player does the same process as for the “double down”, but makes a “two” signal with their fingers.
Should the player “bust” they must follow the same process as in a face up game, laying their cards face up near their bet and waiting for the next hand to begin.

Following these simple rules will insure that a player is playing a proper and well-behaved game of Blackjack





Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Terms: Muck

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.
To fold a hand.
The pile of discards and other dead cards in front of the dealer.

In many poker games, once a card has been discarded, it can not be brought back into play for the remainder of the hand, except under extreme circumstances. This means that discards are considered “dead cards,” and must be treated as such. One of the jobs of the dealer is to collect the dead cards, and keep them in a separate pile, away from the cards in play. This pile of cards is called “the muck.” The “muck” typically consists of all discarded or fouled hands, plus any other dead cards, which typically result from dealer error (for instance, boxed cards, or cards burned and turned too soon.) The dealer keeps this pile of cards face down on the table, either in front of, or to the right of the box. The dealer is expected to do his best to physically protect the muck, to prevent live cards from entering the pile.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

This is important, because live cards entering, or even touching the muck, may be fouled. Sometimes a player will lose a hand he was going to win, because he has had his hand fouled by the muck. Typically, this happens when a player is not careful about the way he shows down at the end of a hand. In most poker rooms, a hand is not considered a valid shown hand until all cards are placed face up on the table so all can see. If a player turns his cards over incautiously, one or both of them may accidently touch or land in the muck. This can result in a fouled hand.

In addition to preventing live cards from going into the muck, it is also the dealer’s responsibility to prevent dead cards from coming back out of the muck. This is called protecting the muck. Players may wish to remove cards from the muck in an attempt to cheat, either by peeking to see which cards are out of play, or more blatantly, by attempting to incorporate previously mucked cards into their live hands.
Although rules vary from poker room to poker room, the muck is often considered a point of no return.



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Terms: Double Belly Buster

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Double Belly Buster is a five-card combination that forms two different inside straight draws; a hand including three consecutive cards, the card two ranks higher than the top card of those three, and the card two ranks lower than the bottom card of those three; double gut shot.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

Example: A-Q-J-10-8 is a double belly buster because a King would complete the inside straight A-K-Q-J-10 and a 9 would complete the inside straight Q-J-10-9-8. This hand is only possible in games where there are at least six cards used, as the term is not used to describe such a hand when there are no remaining cards to be drawn. A double belly buster has the same probability of being completed on a given draw as does an open-ended straight draw, and the probability of completing either is twice the probability of completing an inside straight draw.

Since it always takes five cards to make a DBB, Texas Hold’em and Omaha players can make these on the flop, while Seven Stud players can have them on fifth street. Even though DBBs make a fairly strong flop or fifth street draw hand, they can be a little difficult to spot and often go un-noticed. Since you have two draws to get at least one of two denominations needed for a straight, the strength of the draw hand is the same as a four card open-end straight (about 31% for or 2 to 1 against).

Five Card Double Belly Busters can be any of eight similar but different groups from A to 7 on up. Any one of these can be described as a 7 card “straight” draw with two gaps and a 3 card straight in the middle. Or, if you prefer, a 3 card straight that makes an inside straight draw on both the high and low ends.

If you should happen to have five of the seven cards needed for seven straight and you don’t have both ends or if the gaps are other than shown above, you might have a good hand but you don’t have a DBB.

Here are all of the eight possible DBBs:
A -345- 7
2 -456- 8
3 -567- 9
4 -678- 10
5 -789- J
6 -89T- Q
7 -9TJ- K
8 -TJQ- A

Since five card hands are of course, hardly ever dealt in this orderly way, it helps to be on the alert for DBBs. When you get your first five cards and can’t find anything you like better, look for a 3 card straight to see if it will make a DBB draw that you might want to use.



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How To Play Poker – Slowplaying

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Slow-playing, for the most part, is counterproductive. If your goal is to get the most money in the pot, how are you going to do that by checking? You build pots by betting your big hands, not by lurking in the weeds with them

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

deal conditions for slowplaying:
You must have a very strong hand.
The free card or cheap card you are allowing other players to get must have good possibilities of making them a second best hand.
That same free card must have little chance of making someone a better hand than yours or even giving that person a draw to a better hand than yours on the next round with sufficient odds to justify a call.
You must be sure you will drive other players out by showing aggression, but you have a good chance of winning a big pot if you don’t.
The pot must not yet be very large.”

Here’s an example of your average slow play:

Effective stacks $200; blinds $1/$2. You’re dealt 6♥ 6♣ on the button. A player from early position raises $6 and you make the call.

The flop comes out 3♣ 6♠ A♣. Your opponent bets $10. You call. The turn is the T♦.

Your opponent bets $18 and you just call. The river is the 7♦. Your opponent checks and you bet $35. Your opponent calls. You table your set of sixes and he mucks his A♠ K♣. You scoop a $138 pot.

OK, so you won a $138 pot. You might be patting yourself on the back saying “Nice hand.” This is not a nice hand.

Seriously, you won a $138 pot. Don’t pat yourself on the back.

When you flop a big hand like a set, you want to play for stacks. This is what you’ve been waiting for, folding 6-2 and 5-9 all day. So now that you’ve finally hit your monster, you want to waste it by trying to slow-play? That kind of strategy is just wrong-headed.

Big Hands Want Big Pots

When you flop a monster you want to win your opponent’s stack. It’s very difficult to win someone’s stack by slow-playing.

Why? When you slow-play you often find yourself with a small pot. Your goal of getting your stack into the middle when the pot is small becomes very difficult. You can’t exactly bet $200 into a $4 pot, can you?

If you build the pot the entire way, it will be big enough on the end that you can comfortably bet your entire stack.

The hand in the example was played well by our villain. He played it like most villains would in this spot. He bet two streets into you and when you called multiple times he went for the conservative river approach. He checked and then called a river bet.

He did this to avoid getting raised (which is what you would have done). In this situation it’s very difficult to get paid off after having just called two streets. If you had raised the flop then he most likely would have had to call with his top pair, top kicker, thus building the pot further.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

Let’s look at an example where there is no slow-playing:

Effective stacks $200; blinds $1/$2. You’re dealt 6♦ 6♣ in the cut-off. The player from early position makes it $6 to go. Everyone folds to you; you make the call.

The button and blinds fold and you take a flop heads-up of 3♣ 6♠ A♣. Your opponent bets $10. Opting against the slow play, you raise the flop to $45. Your opponent calls.

The turn brings the T♦. Your opponent checks. There is now $102 in the pot and just under $150 left in your stack. You bet $70.

Your opponent tanks and calls. The river comes down 7♦. Your opponent checks and you bet your remaining $80. Your opponent calls and tables A♠ K♣. Your set of sixes takes the $400 pot.

By building the pot the entire way it made it easy to get your entire stack into play. When the pot is large it also gives your opponent incorrect odds. He may have felt on the river he was pot-committed since he had already put 60% of his stack into play and the pot is offering 4-1 on his call, making it extremely difficult to fold.

Still, There Must Be Times When Slow-Playing Is Correct

Yes, you’re right. In poker, one strategy is never always correct. You always need to take into consideration the table dynamics, your image, your opponents’ playing tendencies, etc. before you decide how to act.

I’m not advocating never slow-playing. I’m just encouraging you to use it sparingly.

One situation where slow-playing is correct is against an ultra-aggressive player whom youknow to have a history of betting three streets strong with weak holdings and who will continue their aggression until they are played back at. In that case it is not terrible to slow-play.



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Terms: Suited Connectors

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Basically, suited connectors are cards which link together and they are very useful to have in your hand. A connector would be something like a 7-8, but a suited connector would be a 7 of clubs and an 8 of clubs (because they both belong to the same suit). Bear in mind that suited connectors are pretty rare, but lucky to stumble across.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

But even if two of your cards are not directly linked to each other – maybe you hold a 9 and a jack – we would say that they are still worth holding on to. Why? Well, if the right cards appear in the flop, you still have the chance to make a straight (a run of cards of any suit) or even a flush (a run of cards in the same suit).

Suited connectors can also help you achieve a flush draw. Let us explain what a flush draw is. Say you have a suited connector in your hand (like A♣ and 2♣), then in the flop a 3♣-4♣-x appears. You are said to be in a flush draw. You simply need one desired card (which would be any ♣) to be drawn to make a flush. Of course, poker is unpredictable and you may not get the card you so desperately need on the turn and the river. And if you don’t, sadly this is called a busted flush.

An open-ended straight flush draw puts you in an even better situation than a flush draw. Okay, so let’s imagine you have two suited connectors (a 7♣-8♣ for instance), and the flop comes down revealing a 5♣-6♣-K♣. What does that give you?

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

It gives you a run of 5-6 from the flop, plus 7-8 from your own hand. It’s called an open-ended draw because you only need one more card on either end to make a straight. In this case, all you need is for a 4 or a 9 to turn up and you’ll make a straight. So overall, you are actually doubling your chances of winning, which is pretty good.

Open-ended straights like this are quite rare and most of the time you’ll only have one end to form your run from. Let’s just say you had A-2 in your hand, then the flop comes and reads 3-4-J. What will you end up with? You’ll have A-2-3-4 so you can only use a 5 to make a straight.

So what would the perfect situation for a suited connector be? If you held a 7♣-8♣ and a 5♣-6♣-King♣ turned up in the flop then you’re in an excellent position because not only would you have an open-ended straight draw, but you would also have a flush draw. You would be so fortunate if you ended up with these cards since it massively increases your chance of hitting a good hand. But how?

Well, because not only are there eight cards in the deck that would give you a straight (four 4s and four 9s) but there are also nine cards in the deck which would give you a flush (13 spades minus the 2 in your hand and the 2 in the flop). In all, they’ll give you a 54% chance of hitting your hand. Those odds are pretty good, wouldn’t you say?





Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How To Play Poker – 5 Card Stud Poker Rules

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Five-card stud is the original form of poker and dates back to the time of cowboys and outlaws sitting and gambling in old West saloons. It’s not as popular as it was during the American Civil War, but is still a game worth learning as it’s the basis for so many other games and is super easy to learn.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

How to play:

Each player is dealt one card face-down and one card face up.
The first bet can come from one of two options:
The first is that a forced bet or “bring in” where the player with the lowest face-up card must put in a certain amount.
The second option is that there is no forced bet and the first choice of whether to bet or check goes to the player with the highest face-up card. If two players have the same face-up card (say two people have kings), the first one clockwise from the dealer gets the option to bet first.


After the round of betting, each remaining player gets another card dealt face-up.
From now on, the player with the highest hand showing gets to bet first.
After each round of betting, the remaining players will be dealt another card face-up, until each player has four cards face-up. After the fourth face-up card is dealt, a final round of betting occurs, then the remaining players reveal their face-down or “hole card” to reveal their entire five-card poker hand.
The highest hand wins.

What You Need:
Two to Ten players
A deck of cards
Poker chips







Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Terms: FOUR-BET

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

A Four-Bet is the act of placing the 4th bet (= 3rd raise) on a single street of a poker hand.
Pre-flop the bb is counted as the first bet, so the first raise is the second bet, the re-raise is a 3-bet, and the raise of the re-raise is a 4-bet.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How To Play Poker – Omaha Poker Hands To Avoid

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

A♦6♥9♣Q♠

This hand has almost no low possibilities since the six is too high. There are no flush possibilities and only a straight possibility for a high.

3♣8♣9♦K♠

Even if you hit a low, an 8 low almost never wins. If you hit a flush or a straight, either one is too low to win in most cases. This hand has almost nothing going for it.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

5♥7♦8♣9♠

This hand has a very weak low draw and very little high possibilities.

This last example illustrates an important point. Many players might think this hand has great straight potential. While this is true, even if you do hit a straight, it will rarely be the best possible straight, and most of the time it will be because there are three cards 8 and below on the board, which makes a low hand for someone else. So you will be playing for only half the pot, and you will rarely have a lock on that half because your top potential is so low. Do you see why this hand is a dangerous one? If you are playing for only half the pot, make sure you are drawing to the best possible hand.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

Here is some specific advice about your starting-hand selections. As you are learning to play Omaha/8, play only the following hands. An x denotes any card of any rank.
A “w” denotes a wheel card (2, 3, 4, or 5).
A “t” denotes a ten through a king (T-J-Q-K).
[A 2 x x] You must be careful with just an A-2 and no counterfeit protection.
[A 3 x x] Play this hand if the ace is suited to one of your other cards.
[A w w x] Play as long as the two wheel cards are not the same
[w w w w] Play four wheel cards even if you have one pair, but not if you hold two pairs or trips.
[A t t t] Play an ace with three high cards, especially if the ace is suited. This is a strong hand, particularly if the board doesn’t come up with a possible low.
[t t t t] Play four high cards, even with a pair or two pairs. This hand is also a good high-only hand.

These guidelines are extremely tight and are meant to be used while you are learning the game. As you gain experience and learn your opponents’ playing styles and hand selection, you can play a few more starting hands. Hands with an A, 3, and two high cards are often playable as well as hands containing an ace suited to one other card that offer flush and straight possibilities and some low potential.

Beginning Omaha/8 players often overrate pairs, especially pocket aces. Unlike Hold’em, a pair will almost never win a pot. Even trips are often beat by a straight, flush, or full house.

Game Selection

If you have the choice of more than one game of Omaha/8 to play in, you should look for these type of games:
A game that has over 50 percent of the players seeing most flops. In most poker games, especially Omaha/8 and Hold’em, the player who starts with the best hand will win a higher percentage of the time than any other player. If you follow the starting hand guidelines above, you will be entering the pot with a stronger hand on average than the other players.
A game with little or no pre-flop raising. You will learn to prefer a game full of passive players.

Sometimes in a card room it may be difficult to find these games, but if you play on the Internet, these games are plentiful.





Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Terms: Squeeze Play

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

A squeeze play, means to make a large raise after there has already been one raise and at least one call.

The implementation of the squeeze play in poker is determined by the situation, not the cards.

You have to be able to read situations well when putting the play into practice, as it can otherwise prove to be costly. Therefore it is better to be able to understand how to use the play from the start, rather than taking a trial and improvement route.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

Squeeze play example.

A typical situation for a squeeze play will occur when a loose-aggressive player opens for a raise pre-flop. Another player will then call this raise and the action comes to you. At this point you make a reraise or move all-in, causing both the initial raiser and caller to fold, allowing you to take down the pot. The basic layout is:

Player A: Raises
Player B: Calls
Player C: Re-raises All-in

Players A+B: Fold
Player C: Wins

There are other players at the table, but for the purposes of this example we will assume that they all folded before or after Player A raised.



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How To Play Poker – Camouflage Blackjack Strategy

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Camouflage means blending into one’s surroundings so as not to be noticeable. A polar bear blends into the white snow, as a deer blends into the forest. Likewise, the professional blackjack gambler wants to blend in among the amateurs. He wants to look like them and to speak like them and to act like them. He doesn’t mind winning more than they do, as long as he appears to be a lucky amateur and not a skilled professional.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

Until Uston’s book was published, team play was a good camouflage and, even afterward, it remained the best way to beat the system. A solo card counter is easy to spot and many a lone card counter has been ushered out of Vegas casinos.

Teams played in such a way that the big bettor — the Big Player — was not the one actually doing the card counting; that was the job of another, less noticeable player. The counter himself would give signals to the big player, indicating when it was time to raise his bet and when it was time to sit back. This system of subterfuge worked for years and there are still teams of blackjack players out there that successfully camouflage their actions in this way.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

Card-counting teams have encountered great opposition over the years. Casino owners who fell prey to the teams’ wily camouflaging ways hired detective to flush out the counters and expose them. And all the while, these brilliant teams were winning at the blackjack tables, using super-sly methods to hide their techniques and their talents.

The Griffin Book — a photo album featuring pictures of suspected card counters — put a damper on the success of these teams, but it didn’t stop them. There is simply too much money to be won at the blackjack tables and camouflaging — along with basic blackjack strategy and card counting — is the way to win it.







Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Terms: Four-Bet

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

A Four-Bet is the act of placing the 4th bet (= 3rd raise) on a single street of a poker hand.
Pre-flop the bb is counted as the first bet, so the first raise is the second bet, the re-raise is a 3-bet, and the raise of the re-raise is a 4-bet.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How To Play Poker – Omaha Poker Hands To Avoid

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

A♦6♥9♣Q♠

This hand has almost no low possibilities since the six is too high. There are no flush possibilities and only a straight possibility for a high.

3♣8♣9♦K♠

Even if you hit a low, an 8 low almost never wins. If you hit a flush or a straight, either one is too low to win in most cases. This hand has almost nothing going for it.

5♥7♦8♣9♠

This hand has a very weak low draw and very little high possibilities.

This last example illustrates an important point. Many players might think this hand has great straight potential. While this is true, even if you do hit a straight, it will rarely be the best possible straight, and most of the time it will be because there are three cards 8 and below on the board, which makes a low hand for someone else. So you will be playing for only half the pot, and you will rarely have a lock on that half because your top potential is so low. Do you see why this hand is a dangerous one? If you are playing for only half the pot, make sure you are drawing to the best possible hand.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

Here is some specific advice about your starting-hand selections. As you are learning to play Omaha/8, play only the following hands. An x denotes any card of any rank.
A “w” denotes a wheel card (2, 3, 4, or 5).
A “t” denotes a ten through a king (T-J-Q-K).
[A 2 x x] You must be careful with just an A-2 and no counterfeit protection.
[A 3 x x] Play this hand if the ace is suitedto one of your other cards.
[A w w x] Play as long as the two wheel cards are not the same
[w w w w] Play four wheel cards even if you have one pair, but not if you hold two pairs or trips.
[A t t t] Play an ace with three high cards, especially if the ace is suited. This is a strong hand, particularly if the board doesn’t come up with a possible low.
[t t t t] Play four high cards, even with a pair or two pairs. This hand is also a good high-only hand.

These guidelines are extremely tight and are meant to be used while you are learning the game. As you gain experience and learn your opponents’ playing styles and hand selection, you can play a few more starting hands. Hands with an A, 3, and two high cards are often playable as well as hands containing an ace suited to one other card that offer flush and straight possibilities and some low potential.

Beginning Omaha/8 players often overrate pairs, especially pocket aces. Unlike Hold’em, a pair will almost never win a pot. Even trips are often beat by a straight, flush, or full house.

Game Selection

If you have the choice of more than one game of Omaha/8 to play in, you should look for these type of games:
A game that has over 50 percent of the players seeing most flops. In most poker games, especially Omaha/8 and Hold’em, the player who starts with the best hand will win a higher percentage of the time than any other player. If you follow the starting hand guidelines above, you will be entering the pot with a stronger hand on average than the other players.
A game with little or no pre-flop raising. You will learn to prefer a game full of passive players.

Sometimes in a card room it may be difficult to find these games, but if you play on the Internet, these games are plentiful.







Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Terms: Check In The Dark

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

What does it mean to “check in the dark” in poker? What is the definition of the term “checking in the dark” in poker?

In poker, to “check in the dark” means to check without looking at your cards.

The advantage of checking in the dark is to negate the positional disadvantage by not revealing information by acting first
The disadvatnage is that it negates the player option to bet if other players check behind.
This option is not available at online poker room

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

EXAMPLE

let’s say that you are playing in a $1/$2 No Limit Hold’em cash game at your local casino.

You are sitting in the BB. The table is playing particularly tight tonight, as there are a number of tourists sitting at the table. Everybody at the table elects to call pre-flop, and eventually the action gets to you.

Instead of looking at your cards, you decide to just check. This is known as “checking in the dark”.

You will be the second play to act after the flop has been dealt (the SB will act first) – at this point, it would probably be a good idea to see what you are holding.



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How To Win On Blackjack

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Whether you play at real tables or in online casinos, we hope these tips will help you win at blackjack.

The following tips are recommended to increase your chances of winning real money Blackjack. Please remember that odds and specifics vary from game to game. But these are generally good rules to follow:
If you have an Ace, Hit until you have at least 17 in your hand.
Double if you have 10 or 11 points in your hand.
Don’t Split pairs if you have 4’s or 5’s.
In general, Stand if you have 16 or better.
Stand only at 18 or better if the dealer is showing a Ten or Face card.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

There is some strategy and thought involved in your success at blackjack, and this allows people to feel some sense of control over their play. With this idea in mind, it’s very important to know the game well and to have some tips at your fingertips before jumping into playing. Here, we provide some important ideas for you to get started.
Take advantage of the All Jackpots Casino bonuses, which are good for all the online Blackjack games we offer.
Next, take a look at the many Blackjack strategy tables offered. Stick to the odds as much as possible. If you are playing Blackjack in an online casino, keep a blackjack basic strategy table next to your computer. The blackjack basic strategy table is the blackjack player’s best friend and your best aid to winning blackjack consistently.
An educated player certainly has a better chance of winning blackjack than one who is playing blindly. But Blackjack is still a game with a lot of chance. You must remember this so that you don’t get frustrated or swear off the strategy tables and declare that they do not work.
Since Blackjack is such a popular game with a rich history, it has developed into many different versions of the game. Before you start to play, pay attention to the rules of each game. The payouts for these different games are basically the same odds, but the rules might be different.
Never assume that the dealer has a ten. This assumption often causes you to make silly moves and Stand before it is necessary. This is a very important and easy tip to follow.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.
Start off playing with small bets. Don’t jump into a very high betting game. If you blow all of your money early on, you won’t be able to continue to play.
Finally set yourself a betting limit. Before starting to play, decide how much money you are willing to bet, how much you are willing to lose, and how much you are willing to win. If you lose your limit, stop playing. If you start to win at black jack, put the winnings aside and play from your initial money. If you reach your winning limit, walk away and feel successful.





Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Terms: Collusion

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

When two or more people engage in coordinated cheating in a poker game, it is called collusion. Collusion takes many forms, and it runs the gamut from relatively benign to malignant. For example, a milder form of collusion occurs when two players agree to “check it down.” This means that both players agree that neither will place any bets for the remainder of the hand, and at the end of the hand they will simply turn their hands up to see who wins.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

There are many forms of collusion and almost all forms require the players to settle on a strategy for winning the game.

There are some tell tale signs and common ways that allow others to detect any form of collusion in a game. Soft play is the kind of game where all involved players fail to bet or raise in a situation that would normally increase the worth of that situation for them. This sort of play is normally seen when a person who is part of the collusion team does not want the other partner(s) to lose money on her/his account.

Whipsawing is another major form of collusion that sees these partner players raise a stack and then re-raise the pot mainly to trap the people who are playing other than them on the table. Dumping is a part of the game where the cheater loses deliberately to the partner player and is a common way of trying to disperse any doubts of collusion between the players.

In collusion, there are many major ways of telling partners what hands they hold. There are a number of body signals, hand signals as well as other ways of signaling partners that include different ways of arranging the chips in a stack in a particular way.

Online poker makes collusion harder to pick or find out because the partners can message each other over chat software, talk on the phone or text message each other. This way, they can discuss their cards openly, without anybody finding out about it.





Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How To Win At Casino Games

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Here are some tips to help you win at casino games and to enjoy your online casino gambling experience.

Take the Casino Bonuses

Take advantage of online casino welcome packages and sign-up bonuses.

Play Free Online Casino Games

It’s true if you’re playing the piano, and it’s true if you’re playing online roulette: it pays to practice. At All Jackpots Online Casino, you can practice all the online casino games for free for as long as you want to. Then, when you feel confident in your game, you can start to put down some real money bets.

It’s also a good idea to read and learn about the casino games.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

Watch your Cash

Always be aware of your win-loss ratio. At any time, you should know exactly how much you have spent and how much you have won since you began this session. It doesn’t seem like much when you’re playing quarter slots until you realize that you’ve been shoving five-dollar bills into the machine!

Know When to Quit

The casinos love to quote the old adage, “A winner never quits and a quitter never wins,” but the opposite is true when it comes to gambling. Just as small losses add up quickly, so do small wins. We go to the casino to eat about once every two months or so, and when we go, we usually bring a little extra cash (often $5 or $10) to play in the machines. In general, we lose or break even, but we have won (and walked out) often enough that, over the course of three years, we’re up by about $25.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

Try the Progressive Jackpot Games

Imagine winning hundreds of thousands — or even millions — of dollars on a single $3 bet. It can happen only on the online progressive jackpot games, and if it does happen, it will truly change your life.

All Jackpots Casino offers online progressive slot machines, plus progressive jackpot video poker, roulette, blackjack, and poker games. It’s a good idea to try your luck at one of the progressive jackpot games every once in a while, even if it’s not your regular favourite casino game. You never know when it will be your lucky day.

Relax and Enjoy

Playing online casino games when you are stressed is not a good idea. Stress and nervousness lead to mistakes and recklessness. If you relax and enjoy the games, you’ll have a better chance to win.

Never gamble with money that you can’t afford to lose. If it’s money you need for the rent or for household necessities, keep it in a safe place. Gambling is gambling, and while you always hope to win at casino games, you must be prepared for the possibility of losing.





Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Strategies And Tips – Stop Poker Tilt

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

The main difficulty that many of us encounter is the same, we get too involved emotionally in a game that has lots of swings and let tilt alter our decisions when playing.

To stop tilt, we first need to define what it is. And then make adjustments to counter it, just like when playing poker. Here is my definition: Tilt is the effect of emotional stress causing someone to play a hand differently to how they would play a hand at the peak of there ability.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

To stop tilting we cant just tell ourselves to stop doing it. Its not that simple. It requires work, understanding and persistence. We first need to figure out what the causes of tilt are. For every person the exact causes are different, for me however the cause was not losing a big pot whilst allin ahead, it wasn’t even loosing a 150bb flip, yeah it sucks, but that doesn’t make me tilt. What really pushes my buttons and mades me steam is playing bad. So whenever I make a play that I later figure out to be suboptimal, whether its 2 seconds after I click call, or 5 seconds after I bluff shove the river and my opponent timebanks. Whenever I feel like I have made a mistake, I start feeling sick, agitated, uneasy. So in essence, any mistake, brain lapse, tilting play will make me tilt harder.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

Play earlier in the day. I find that my brain is at its peak a few hours after I have woken up. I play my best poker during this time and hence make less mistakes.

Play less hours overall. I find that when I am playing long hours my brain becomes fatigued and I am more prone to make brain farts/mistakes. Regular breaks help sto p this, but humans are not designed to be sitting in front of a PC for 12 hours a day, concentrating at maximum level, playing multiple tables. This is a recipe for burnout, spew and tilt for most people. Take regular breaks! Dont play for too long!

Play only when you want to. I have grown up believing that if you work hard, you will get everything that you want. With poker, this isn’t necessarily the case. Yes work hard, put effort into your game and becoming a better player. But work smart, don’t push yourself to exhaustion. If your body and mind doesn’t want to be playing poker, don’t play. You will start getting bored, agitated and frustrated. Which we all know, leads to tilt.

Be aware of your emotions. If you are a winning player you must be able to tell when your on a total blowup and are spewing money, then stop. Great players are in tune with there emotions and understand what things effect there mental stability and how there playing. Prevention isnt as good as a cure, but some people will never cure tilt. When you feel yourself getting agitated, give yourself a chance to realise these emotions and correct them. If you feel yourself unable to adjust your mental state/emotions back to a level where your acting objectively, quit.



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How to play Double Exposure Blackjack

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Double Exposure Blackjack is played with eight decks of cards. The dealer must hit on soft 17. You may double down only on a hand of 9, 10, or 11. You may split up to three times, you may split unlike 10-value cards, and you can double down after splitting. Split aces may receive only one more card.

The most significant change to the standard rules of blackjack is that both of the dealer’s cards are exposed. This gives you, the player, twice as much information on which to base your blackjack strategy decisions and thus provides a tremendous advantage when you play blackjack.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

There are also some blackjack rule changes that are advantageous to the dealer. This is only right, if you think about it. If the online casino creates a rule that benefits the player, it is only fair that it should also make a rule that benefits the dealer, in order that the blackjack game should be fair and balanced without too much advantage to either side.

One such rule is that the dealer wins on all ties, except that the player wins on tied blackjack. The other one is that a player’s blackjack pays even money, instead of the standard 3-to-2 payout. These are clearly disadvantageous from the player’s point of view, but they are the rules that the Double Exposure Blackjack player must live with in order to gain the significant advantage of seeing the dealer’s two cards.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

Your goal in Double Exposure is the same as in all blackjack games: to beat the dealer by getting closer to 21 without going over. But the means to reaching that goal — the blackjack strategy — is very different.

In many cases, the exposure of the dealer’s second card will tell you exactly what you need to do to win. Suppose, for example, that you have a hand of 18. Standard blackjack strategy tells you to always stand on 18. But if you are playing Double Exposure, and you see that the dealer has 19, the best blackjack strategy is to hit. After all, you have nothing to lose, and you could get lucky and draw a 2 or 3 to win the game.

Standard blackjack basic strategy tables are worthless in Double Exposure, since they show only the dealer’s up card across the top of the table. But there are blackjack basic strategy charts specially customized for Double Exposure available on the Internet. If you intend to play Double Exposure Blackjack, it is worth your while to find one and print it out. It could make you a Double Exposure Blackjack winner.









Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Strategies And Tips – Blackjack Rules

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Maybe you’re looking for a single-deck game, or a game in which the dealer stands on soft 17, or a blackjack game in which you can double down whenever you want to. If you know the rules of the different blackjack games, you can make an informed decision. Otherwise, picking a blackjack game is just a random shot in the dark.

Knowledge of the rules is also important in making sure that you are using the correct blackjack basic strategy table. If you are playing a 4-deck game, and using a blackjack basic strategy table designed for a single-deck game, you will not be playing the optimal blackjack strategy. You won’t want to play blackjack with a disadvantage like that, especially if you are playing blackjack for real money.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

Finally, you don’t want to have any rude surprises in the middle of playing blackjack online. If you really want to double down on a soft 15, and the blackjack software is not giving you a double down option, you could get angry or frustrated. The better option, however, is to understand that the rules of your particular blackjack game do not allow doubling in that situation. Then you can either decide calmly to hit instead of doubling, or you can search for a different blackjack game that does allow doubling down on soft 15. Either way, understanding of the rules will lead to your playing online blackjack in a good mood and a calm spirit, instead of with rancour and bitterness. That’s certainly no way to have fun.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

The rules for the online blackjack games offered at All Slots Online Casino are as follows:

Atlantic City Blackjack: Eight decks; dealer’s hole card; dealer stands on soft 17; double down on any two cards; split up to three times (but split aces only once); unlike 10-value cards may be split; split aces receive only one card; double down permitted after split; surrender allowed.

Big Five Blackjack: Five decks; no hole card; dealer hits on soft 17; double down on any two cards; split up to three times (but split aces only once); unlike 10-value cards may be split; split aces receive only one card; double down permitted after split; surrender allowed.

Classic Blackjack: One deck; no hole card; dealer stands on soft 17; double down only on 9, 10, or 11; split only one time; unlike 10-value cards may not be split; hit on split aces allowed; no double down after split; no surrender.

European Blackjack: Two decks; no hole card; dealer stands on soft 17; double down only on 9, 10, or 11; split only one time; unlike 10-value cards may not be split; hit on split aces allowed; no double down after split; no surrender.

Vegas Downtown Blackjack: Two decks; dealer’s hole card; dealer hits on soft 17; double down on any two cards; split up to three times (but split aces only once); unlike 10-value cards may be split; split aces receive only one card; double down permitted after split; no surrender.

Vegas Single-Deck Blackjack: One deck; dealer’s hole card; dealer hits on soft 17; double down only on 9, 10, or 11; split only one time; unlike 10-value cards may be split; split aces receive only one card; no double down after split; no surrender.

Vegas Strip Blackjack: Four decks; dealer’s hole card; dealer stands on soft 17; double down on any two cards; split up to three times (but split aces only once); unlike 10-value cards may be split; split aces receive only one card; double down permitted after split; no surrender.



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

How to play Blackjack Redeal

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Your goal in a game of European Blackjack Redeal Gold is to get a hand whose total is higher than the dealer’s hand but without going over 21. The game generally follows the rules of European Blackjack, but with the addition of the Redeal options to give you more chances to build a winning hand.

As with all online blackjack games, you start your Blackjack Redeal game by placing a bet and clicking the Deal button. You will receive two cards face-up and the dealer receives one. As you would expect, you have options to Hit or Stand and, in the appropriate circumstances, to Split or Double Down.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

But what you wouldn’t expect is that you also have the options to Redeal Dealer Hand and Redeal My Hand. And if you choose to hit, you will receive an additional card and an additional redeal option: Redeal Last Card.
Redeal Dealer Handmeans to replace the dealer’s card with a new random card.
Redeal My Handmeans to replace all of the cards in your hand with new cards, regardless of whether you have two cards or three or four or more.
Redeal Last Cardmeans to replace the last card you received, regardless of whether it was your third card or your fourth or fifth or sixth.

You may use up to five redeal options in a game to try to make your hand better or, alternatively, to make the dealer’s hand worse — both good and valid ways to beat the dealer and win at blackjack.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

A redeal option is sometimes offered for free, but in most cases you must pay for a redeal. The price of each redeal option is displayed on the screen so you can make a fully informed decision.

The redeal price tag adds another element to your blackjack strategy calculations. You must try to determine whether any of the three redeal options — Redeal Dealer Hand, Redeal My Hand, or Redeal Last Card — will improve your odds of winning enough to justify the investment in the redeal. Sometimes the answer will be obvious, sometimes it will be difficult, but one thing is for sure: Blackjack Redeal is an online casino game that will always keep you thinking.







Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Strategies And Tips: Dealing With Bad Beats

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Understand equity and the realities of poker.

Some players seem to think they are entitled to a pot, if you get it allin with a set vs a flush draw, you are going to be losing the pot approximately 27% of the time. That’s almost 1/3 of the time. Understanding that these things happen frequently in poker is critical to being able to not tilt when you get bad beat.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

Become process orientated not results orientated.

Results orientated thinking are the downfall of many potentially talented poker players. Everything you should do in poker should be based around how to maximise your expectation in every given hand. If you associate losing with playing bad you are making a mistake. Its perfectly normal to play “perfect” and lose due to running bad and bad beats. Likewise, its perfectly possible to play awful and win on any given day. Don’t be results orientated, be process orientated!

Without bad beats, the fish wouldn’t play!

This is a critical realisation. You don’t get fish gambling on chess (A game where the most skilled player wins every game). The reason fish gamble playing poker is because they are convinced they can win on the days they get lucky, consequently they keep playing in the future despite being long term losing players. Variance and bad beats are what keep the fish playing because it gives them hope. If the fish were to loose every single hand, how long do you think they would play? Not long, that’s right!

Just think of it like this, every time a fish bad beats you, you are giving them hope. They don’t understand odds, probability, ranges, value betting or any of the stuff that makes you a winning player. All they understand is winning and losing. When the fish wins, the fish keeps coming back. Its kinda cruel in a way, you give them hope when we both know they are going to lose a lot of money in the long run.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

Bad beats are an opportunity

Bad beats happen to everyone and are a way in which you can gain reciprocal profits on your opponents. Look at it like this, every bad beat is a test of your resolve, an opportunity to not tilt. If you don’t tilt in a situation when another player would have tilted, you have made some reciprocal money. Just as you can make money from your opponents by making better betting decisions, you can also make money in regards to tilting. If you don’t tilt, and your opponents tilt, you win!

Figure out your breaking point and quit

Every single player in the world has a breaking point. The breaking point is an imaginary amount of money you have to lose, or situations that have to happen to cause someone to play irrationally. The key is to be aware of your emotions and be able to stop playing when you reach that point. Remember, poker is supposed to be a fun and profitable way to spend your time. Any time in which your not having fun and are not playing your best, its best to quit, take a break, re-group and come back playing stronger, better and more profitably.



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Terms: Doyle Brunson

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Named the “Doyle Brunson”, there are two particular hands in Texas Holdem that are given this nickname.

These hands are 10-2 and A-Q. The former was named after the living poker legend because he won the World Series of Poker on this hand, which is traditionally considered to be a very poor starting hand.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

The latter is named after Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson for a very different reason. It’s the hand he hates the most, and will fold it often, even though it’s considered a strong preflop hand.



Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!

Poker Strategies And Tips: Online Blackjack

Check Regal Poker for Latest Poker News, poker strategy tips and more.

Blackjack, also known as twenty-one, is a card game of skill and luck. The object of the game is to draw a hand whose value is higher than that of the dealer’s hand, but without going over 21. If you go over 21, you “bust” and automatically lose.

Learn everything that you need to know about how to play poker, and become a professional in Blackjack and Texas Hold’em

Blackjack Basics

In blackjack, cards 2 through 10 are worth their face value, and all face cards are worth 10. An ace is worth either 1 or 11, whichever is more advantageous. A hand with an ace that is counted as 11 is called a “soft” hand; thus, an ace and a 6 is called “soft 17.” A hand with an ace counting as 1 is called a “hard” hand.

Starting the Blackjack Game

To start a game of blackjack, you first place your bet, and then you receive two cards, both face up. The dealer receives one card face up. In some blackjack variations, he receives a second card face down, known as the “hole card”. In other variations, the dealer does not receive his second card until a later stage in the blackjack game.

If your two cards total 21, you have “blackjack.” and you automatically win, unless the dealer has blackjack too. If you both have blackjack, the hand is a tie (called a “push”). Otherwise, a winning blackjack pays out at a rate of 3 to 2. All other winning hands pay out at 1 to 1.

Looking for best online poker game website? Follow us and check out our promotions we offer you the best online poker bonus.

Playing Your Blackjack Hand

If you do not have blackjack, then, after examining your two cards and the dealer’s card, you play your hand by making one of the following moves:

Stand: You take no more cards, and it is now the dealer’s turn to play his hand.

Hit: You take another card. You may continue hitting until you either bust or decide to stand.

Double down: You double the amount of your bet, take one more card, and then stand.

Split: If your two cards are the same, you may split them into two separate hands. A bet equal to the amount of your original bet is placed on each of the two hands, effectively doubling your bet. Each of your split hands receives a second card. You then play each resulting hand independently by standing, hitting, etc.

Surrender: If you think you are likely to lose the hand, you may surrender half your bet rather than risk losing your entire bet.

Take Insurance: If the dealer’s up card is an ace you can take insurance, which is a bet that is equal to half of your original bet. Essentially, you are betting that the dealer will get a blackjack. If he does, you win a 2-to-1 payout on the insurance bet. If the dealer does not have a blackjack, you lose the insurance bet and proceed to play your hand.

The Dealer Plays His Hand

If you bust or surrender, the game is over and you may start a new game. Otherwise, after you stand, it is the dealer’s turn to play his hand.

The dealer first turns over his hole card, if he has one, or else he receives his second card at this point. In playing his hand, the dealer has fewer options than you do and no freedom of choice. He must play his hand strictly in accordance with the following rules:

If the dealer’s cards total 16 or less, he must hit.

If the dealer’s cards total 18 or more, he must stand.

With a hard 17, the dealer must stand. With a soft 17, the rules vary among the different blackjack games: in some games, the dealer must hit; in others, he must stand.

Determining the Winner of the Blackjack Game

After you and the dealer have finished playing your hands, the winner of the online blackjack game is determined.

If you have blackjack (an ace and a 10-value card) as your first two cards, and the dealer does not, you win a payout of 3-to-2. All other winning hands pay out 1-to-1.

If you bust (go over 21), you lose automatically, regardless of what the dealer does.

If you stand without busting, and the dealer busts, you win the blackjack game.

If neither you nor the dealer busts, the one with the total closest to 21 wins the game.

If you and the dealer have the same card total, the game is a “push” and you get your bet back without winning or losing anything.





Don’t miss our special articles about Texas Hold’em and blackjack, become the best player that you can be! Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!