New to gambling, or just poker in general? Maybe you’re about to head down to the local casino or have a trip to Vegas coming up? Perhaps you’d like to start making the most of all those offers for free spins you see online and would like to know a bit more about some other games rather than slots? If that’s the case, then you’re in the right place. Check out this handy article for a bit more about two different types of poker — Casino Hold’em and Texas Hold’em — and why they are so different from one another.
Texas Hold’em
If you’ve ever seen poker being played on TV, it was probably Texas Hold’em. It’s one of the most popular and well-known versions of poker around. The online poker boom of the mid-2000s was thanks to Texas Hold’em, and it’s the variant you’re probably most likely to play online as well.
The first thing to remember with Texas Hold’em, as opposed to Casino Hold’em is that you’re playing against other players just like you, rather than a dealer or the house. The casino, poker room, or online site doesn’t compete against you, they just provide a dealer to oversee the game and make their money from a small fee from each pot from each bet known as a “rake”.
That means there isn’t a house edge, and a good player can win more often by beating other poor players. Plainly speaking, this is gambling, so the best player won’t always win, but the cream tends to rise to the top in Texas Hold’em. This is usually because experienced players tend to improve as do those who study hard by enrolling in poker sites.
But how do you actually play?
Players sit around a table (either virtual or physical), and two cards are dealt clockwise around the table to each player. These cards are only seen by each individual player. There’ll then be a round of betting where you can either stay in the hand or fold. After that, three community cards are dealt in the middle of the table, before another round of betting, then another community card, then more betting before a final community card and a final round of betting. Anyone still in the hand at this point displays their two private “hole” cards and combines them with those on the board to make the best poker hand, with a Royal Flush being the rare best.
Just hit my first ever royal flush In Live poker pic.twitter.com/2Acqi0cGbj
— ₿it₿oy (@Bitboy_Crypto) June 28, 2019
Games don’t have to be won at the showdown, and often aren’t, as people can fold to prior raises and bets leaving one winner to take the pot without even showing their cards. There’s a lot of bluffing and tactics in this game. Texas Hold’em has a few different variants, including fixed limit and no limit. You can play cash games for real money, but tournament Texas Hold’em is extremely popular. That’s the kind of game you see on TV at the World Series of Poker each year. In tournament play, you simply pay a buy-in fee and then actually play the game with virtual money or chips. The last players remaining in the tournament win a cut of the total prize pool. There could be thousands of people in a tournament and you could potentially win millions in prizes.
Casino Hold’em
Casino Hold’em is a completely different game. While it’s still “poker”, it is hosted by a casino and features a house edge. You play against a dealer and have your own two cards. A number of qualifying bets and draws take place to see if you win money based on a standard paytable. There’s no bluffing; it’s just a way of betting against the casino. This means in the long run, the casino is more likely to win. You can still have fun playing Casino Hold’em, but there aren’t the chances to enter tournaments and win millions like with Texas Hold’em.
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