ARTICLES
Odds Calculator - pt2
An odds calculator can be like an ace up your sleeve. It helps you to calculate the odds of all possible hands so that you can make a better decision about what to do with your pocket cards. It can also direct your no limit Texas Holdem strategy during the all important flop. In this article, we explain how odds calculators work and how to use them effectively when playing Holdem.
There are separate odds calculators for poker available that include Texas Holdem, Heads up Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, 7 Card Stud, and 7 Cards Stud Hi-Lo. Odds calculators can be especially helpful for Holdem novices. If you get a hand that you're not sure about, say pocket aces, then simply plug in several starting hands against pocket aces and the calculator will evaluate your advantage. Knowing the real odds can help you to determine what to do with the hand.
An odds calculator is very easy to use and there is no typing involved. Players simply drag the appropriate cards into place and click the "calculate" button. The calculator will then display both the percentage of hands won and the percentage of hands tied. Once you...
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There's more to poker than Texas Holdem!
Texas holdem is taking over the world, but believe it or not there are many other poker games you can play. Most of them fall into one of three categories:
- Stud Games (for example 7 card stud)
- Draw Games (for example 5 card draw)
- Shared Hand Games (for example Texas Holdem)
There are also some other obscure games that don't fit into these categories, some of the more popular of which are high/low pig, bid poker and guts. In almost all types of poker game the hand rankings are the same, with a very few minor exceptions which have become more or less “home-made” rules.
Here are brief descriptions of some different poker games:
5 Card Draw Poker
Played by 3 - 7 players. Each is dealt five cards and there is a round of betting based on the hands. After the betting players can now put up to three cards back in exchange for new ones. (There's one exception where a player can exchange four cards if he shows the fifth to be an ace).
There's a further round of betting and the best hand wins. Draw poker was once the standard way to play but it has of course been...
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