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	<title>TH Gong :: Winning Texas Holdem Tips and Strategies &#187; Articles</title>
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	<description>It&#039;s time to be a Texas Hold&#039;em winner!</description>
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		<title>Poker vs. Roulette: have you ever tried a roulette game?</title>
		<link>http://www.thgong.com/articles/poker-vs-roulette-have-you-ever-tried-a-roulette-game/</link>
		<comments>http://www.thgong.com/articles/poker-vs-roulette-have-you-ever-tried-a-roulette-game/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:00:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mark</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[casino games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poker vs. roulette]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[roulette]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thgong.com/?p=91</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The casino has been the home for millions of gamblers and almost each one has their favorite game. Whether it be a skill based game like poker or blackjack online free game or a game based purely on luck like the slot machines or roulette, a gambler always has a game that they feel can [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.thgong.com/images/poker-vs-roulette.png" align="left">The casino has been the home for millions of gamblers and almost each one has their favorite game. Whether it be a skill based game like poker or blackjack online free game or a game based purely on luck like the slot machines or roulette, a gambler always has a game that they feel can bring in the big bucks. Though it may seem like it is impossible to ever win big money at the casino, if you stay patient with your favorite game, you just might be able to win big one day.</p>
<p>Many poker players enjoy roulette and vice versa. So if you happen to be an avid gambler, you have probably had the opportunity to play the casino game &#8220;roulette&#8221;. Though it may seem like a game of pure luck, gamblers all over the world have been addicted to the simple game for almost four centuries now.</p>
<p><span id="more-91"></span>The game of roulette requires the player to place their bets before the action starts. The player will place bets on individual numbers, a group of numbers, the color (red or black) that the ball lands on, or whether or not the ball lands on an even or odd number. The more the player bets, the better the chances are of winning.</p>
<p>Once all the bets have been made, the &#8220;croupier&#8221; then spins the wheel one direction and the ball goes the opposite direction. There are 37 (French or European) or 38 (America) different numbers that the ball can land on and if the ball lands on a number that you bet on, depending on how much you bet, you then win a certain amount of money.</p>
<p>As you can easily understand Roulette and Poker have almost nothing in common, nevertheless the Roulette has become one of the most famous games that a person can find at a casino. If you are willing to take a chance on a game that seems to be fair for every gambler, then roulette can easily become one of your favorite games.</p>
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		<title>Tips on Poker MTT (Multi-Table Tournament)</title>
		<link>http://www.thgong.com/articles/tips-on-poker-mtt-multi-table-tournament/</link>
		<comments>http://www.thgong.com/articles/tips-on-poker-mtt-multi-table-tournament/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 Mar 2011 19:32:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mark</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MTT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MTT strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[playing MTT]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thgong.com/?p=68</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A MTT stratagem is the hardest and most vibrant skill in a poker game. Multi table tournaments (MTT) are usually very rewarding with ROIs in the thousands of percentiles. Discussed are the pre-game, early, middle and late stages of MTT tournaments and some in depth knowledge on how to play to win. Pre-game stage When [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.thgong.com/aces.jpg" hspace="15" vspace="8" align="left">A MTT stratagem is the hardest and most vibrant skill in a poker game. Multi table tournaments (MTT) are usually very rewarding with ROIs in the thousands of percentiles. Discussed are the pre-game, early, middle and late stages of MTT tournaments and some in depth knowledge on how to play to win.</p>
<p><strong>Pre-game stage</strong><br />
When starting out on the poker MTT, it is important to make sure that the placing or the winning rewards justify the hard work done while playing. For example, if you are placed 5th in 2500 player contestants after a four hours play, and you win a paltry $4, then you are wasting your time and efforts. Even if your desire is to win while on the tournament, ensure that you have the time to do so. </p>
<p>Most MTT normally take a lot of time to come to conclusion, thus it is essential that you have the time to see the tournament to the end. When the contestants settle to start on the tournament, most are aware that they are likely to lose. There are many variables, for instance the bad-beat chance and all-in’s that the player will have in order to ride on their winning luck. Most likely, the fields will partially be discounted immediately so the contestant has every opportunity of winning.</p>
<p><span id="more-68"></span><strong>Early MTT Stage</strong><br />
Prior to the start of the MTT, the card strength and the table position are the two most essential aspects. At this juncture, the contestant will use their exclusive card choice to play it to their fullest. Your persistence is the most important factor in the contestants 1st hour, and it is immaterial even if the leader is ahead of you by 11,000 chips, with your patience you will make advances. This also relates to one large blind in the most late MTT stages.</p>
<p><strong>Middle MTT stage</strong><br />
A slight observation or point-after 1 hour spot in the contest, there is usually some mini frenzy comparable to the 1st, a small number of hands of the competition. The player will then decide when it is time to act and count the winning or start on a second tournament or may want to play in both. The player may shorten the hands choice to three or four hands till the interval has leveled out. In case the player is shifting tables, it is essential to acclimatize themselves to the up-to-the-minute playing environment or development. </p>
<p><strong>Late MTT stage</strong><br />
Stack management happen to be the most important aspect of the game in the late stages of the tournament. The participant will be denied the opportunity to create more hands because the pot is decided by an all-in confrontation. At this phase of the game, suited connectors lose value very quickly whilst other cards of higher standing gain value rapidly.</p>
<p>The player cannot afford to be picky about the cards they play if they are short-stacked. Go all-in on any of the card that had previously been entered and if the doubling won’t provide you with enough chips to get to the next round of blinds. Lastly, in poker MTT, there is nothing as good as spending your hard earned winnings!</p>
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		<title>A few poker rules you should know</title>
		<link>http://www.thgong.com/articles/a-few-poker-rules-you-should-know/</link>
		<comments>http://www.thgong.com/articles/a-few-poker-rules-you-should-know/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:43:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mark</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poker rules]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Texas Holdem]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thgong.com/?p=63</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Poker rules can be complicated if you are new to the game but with a few practice sessions, you will be able to roll your way into winning. No matter if you play poker at one of the numerous variations, the rule of the game is to simply win the pot by having the best [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Poker rules can be complicated if you are new to the game but with a few practice sessions, you will be able to roll your way into winning. No matter if you play poker at one of the numerous variations, the rule of the game is to simply win the pot by having the best hand or by having all the other players at the table fold before the showdown. </p>
<p>As there are many variations of poker available online, this article will focus on the Texas Hold’em poker rules to explain how poker generally works. This poker game is played between 2 to 10 players where one player will act as the dealer. When you are in this position, you are also known to be in the button and the position of the dealer always rotates clockwise after every hand. The two consecutive players to the left of the dealer are known as the small blind and the big blind respectively. These two positions in a poker game entail the compulsory bets of a pre-determined amount. These bets will then make up the base amount in the pot before any cards are dealt.</p>
<p><span id="more-63"></span>Each poker player will then receive two cards face down. These cards are known as the “hole” cards. From here, the first round of betting begins from the player sitting left of the big blind. The options open to this player will be to fold, call or raise. To call simply means to match the amount of the big blind posted. By going clockwise, each player will be entitled to these options. When the first round of betting ends, three community cards are revealed face up on the table. This move is called the flop. Once this happens, the second round of betting commences with the first remaining player seated left to the dealer making his options on whether to check, bet, call or fold. At the end of this betting round, the turn, which is the fourth community card, will be revealed face up. The next round of betting begins in the similar manner of the second round. After the third round of betting is over, a fifth card is slipped face up on the table. This card is also known as the river. The last round of betting will start until the players reach the showdown that is to reveal their “hole” cards to assess who has the biggest winning combination with the community cards.</p>
<p>A poker player should also know that one of the poker rules is that usually during one hand, only one bet and three raises are allowed. Once the third raise is made, the betting reaches its limit for that round and remaining players may only fold or call to continue. When a poker player intends to raise a bet, he or she must either voice out verbally this intent or make the movement of bringing the extra chips (the amount they want to raise) into play. Another poker rule is that the minimum amount of chips a poker player is determined by the house rules surrounding the game. Usually, this amount is about 50 to 100 times the big blind. </p>
<p>Another important note for new poker players to keep in mind is that the poker rules differ for a normal cash game compared to poker tournaments. You have to always check out the poker rules stipulated and make sure you have read and understood them in order not to commit any infraction of the rules, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Especially so for tournaments, a breach of the poker rules will get you penalised or even disqualified. </p>
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		<title>Top Online Poker Tips You Should Remember</title>
		<link>http://www.thgong.com/articles/top-online-poker-tips-you-should-remember/</link>
		<comments>http://www.thgong.com/articles/top-online-poker-tips-you-should-remember/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:47:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mark</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Poker Tips]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thgong.com/?p=32</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Online poker rooms would be great places to test out your skills and find out the best playing strategy in poker games for yourself. At online poker room tables, there are chances that you will be faced with opponents that are more skilled than you. First and foremost, you should do your research and study [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Online poker rooms would be great places to test out your skills and find out the best playing strategy in poker games for yourself. At online poker room tables, there are chances that you will be faced with opponents that are more skilled than you.</p>
<p>First and foremost, you should do your research and study the basics of poker games. Memorize every potential poker hand out there, visit online poker forums, read poker books and chat with other players of poker.</p>
<p>After that, try out several free versions of online poker room games. 3-hand, 5-hand, Texas Holdem, Caribbean Stud, and Video Poker are all very fun to play.</p>
<p>Take complete advantage of any live deposit bonuses at your chosen online poker room. Almost every online poker room offers deposit bonuses for their brand new players that usually range from thirty to fifty dollars.</p>
<p>Place limits on money that you wish to gamble off before starting to play live poker games.</p>
<p><span id="more-32"></span>Whenever you play poker games, make sure you analyze the overall playing strategies and habits that your opponents put to use at online poker room tables.</p>
<p>As you start off, don’t play a lot of poker hands since you will definitely lose. Only play starting hands of higher value.</p>
<p>With your chosen low limits, it would be possible for you to play several live poker games for hours while spending less than you would on a regular movie ticket. Therefore, no matter how much you lose, you can think of this cost as small payments for nice evenings spent online, having fun.</p>
<p>Make sure that you only play poker within your current level of expertise. If you happen to be a novice at playing poker, don’t rush into online tournaments in poker rooms. After several months of trying to improve your skills within various live poker games, you can try your hand – but not from the beginning.</p>
<p>Find out how you can fold poker hands and learn when you should do so. If you don’t have anything, fold. There is not limit to how many times you can fold, so do so whenever necessary.</p>
<p>Become an expert at the art of picking out good starting hands of poker, making great use of pot odds, as well as aggressively betting any of your winning hands. We do not pretend to claim that our free tips on online poker will guarantee that you win a lot of money. Please keep in mind that this article was written for informational purposes only.</p>
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		<title>Why Texas Holdem is Best Played on the Internet</title>
		<link>http://www.thgong.com/articles/why-texas-holdem-is-best-played-on-the-internet/</link>
		<comments>http://www.thgong.com/articles/why-texas-holdem-is-best-played-on-the-internet/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:45:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mark</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Texas Holdem]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thgong.com/?p=30</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There are a lot of reasons why some people turn to Texas Holdem on the internet as a means to enjoy this well-known game. Before online Texas Holdem existed, people had to physically go to casinos, bars, or friend’s houses just to play a game of Texas Holdem. However, in today’s fast-paced world, these options [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There are a lot of reasons why some people turn to Texas Holdem on the internet as a means to enjoy this well-known game. Before online Texas Holdem existed, people had to physically go to casinos, bars, or friend’s houses just to play a game of Texas Holdem. However, in today’s fast-paced world, these options aren’t always available to every player anymore.</p>
<p>A lot of players turn to Texas Holdem games on the internet since there are no casinos nearby for them to play at. And even if there were a casino close by, players of Texas Holdem might not wish to go since there is usually a high competition level at such places and huge buy-in requirements.</p>
<p>Visiting bars to practice strategies of Texas Holdem would not be a decent option, either; in fact, if your ultimate goal is to get better at your game, that should not be an option at all. At such games, several people take things far too seriously since they generally play for real money and have alcohol in their system.</p>
<p><span id="more-30"></span>If visiting friend’s houses to play games of Texas Holdem is what you do to enjoy your time, there could be one main problem with that: you will not face variable levels of competition. Whenever games are played against friends, you will end up picking up on their styles of playing in no time and won’t be able to gain any new skills that will help you in improving your overall game.</p>
<p>Playing online games of Texas Holdem would be the best option for a lot of people. Whenever you play games of Texas Holdem on the internet, you will be faced with various players and get to see how the game can be played with various strategies. You will also have the option to play with real money at minimal buy-in amounts.</p>
<p>The main reason why people turn to Texas Holdem on the internet would be its pure convenience. Playing on the internet means that game play can be done whenever it is convenient and it can be done from the comforts of home. A lot of players would rather play online since there are no distractions, no waiting and it can be found there 24/7.</p>
<p>Why not visit several well-known Texas Holdem websites on the internet today, so you can start playing for yourself immediately? It is possible to play Texas Holdem on the internet for free, though you also have the option to play with real money for convenient and enjoyable games whenever you feel like it.</p>
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		<title>Learning Poker – Lesson #9: Analyzing yourself and your opponents</title>
		<link>http://www.thgong.com/articles/learning-poker-%e2%80%93-lesson-9-analyzing-yourself-and-your-opponents/</link>
		<comments>http://www.thgong.com/articles/learning-poker-%e2%80%93-lesson-9-analyzing-yourself-and-your-opponents/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:39:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mark</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poker psicology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poker tutorial]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thgong.com/?p=28</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We can’t say that analyzing is more important than the position. They both are very important. That’s why when you sit at the table you need to watch carefully and analyze the behavior of your opponents as well as your own reactions. It is not easy to do it but you can learn. The facial [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We can’t say that analyzing is more important than the position. They both are very important. That’s why when you sit at the table you need to watch carefully and analyze the behavior of your opponents as well as your own reactions. It is not easy to do it but you can learn. </p>
<p>The facial expression, gesticulation, the body language can give you a lot of useful information relative to your opponents’ hands. You need to analyze them as well as to learn how to control your reactions since your opponents also will try to read you. </p>
<p>You need to be unpredictable, to change your playing style and not to allow them mislead you. Of course, your opponents will try to mislead you in order to make you take wrong decisions. This is their job. Stone face is not the only way to confuse your opponents. You can give a lot of wrong signals with your body, gestures, eyes etc. So there are certain advantages of playing poker online at an online casino, you are not in the presence of other humans, your poker face is less obvious, but actually this may also be seen as a disadvantage because you can&#8217;t catch those important telling signals from your opponents.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.partycasino.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.thgong.com/images/partycasino.jpg" alt="PartyCasino" title="visit PartyCasino for online poker" style="border:none;" align="left" hspace="10"></a>The skill of reading the opponents needs to be developed. The professional players have already developed it. All you need to do is to analyze their reactions: when they call, when they fold, when they raise and what they do when they have certain hand. You don’t need to stare at them but to watch very carefully. And analyze. Analyze your actions too. Always analyze. </p>
<p>No matter whether you win or lose, you need to analyze your actions. Of course, it takes time to learn how to do it. Take your time and be patient. If you really try to develop that skill, you will definitely succeed. And one day, when you manage to make them read your hands wrong, you are going to win a lot of money and respect. </p>
<p>It is not true that good and professional players play only aggressively and don’t make mistakes. Of course, they do. They are humans. But they play very carefully and only when they have strong hands they use the aggressive style. You should do the same. Self-confidence is very important when you play poker. And self control. If you feel that you are not able to control yourself, just leave the table. That needs to be learned as well:  to know when to stop. Just like in life. If you learn it, you already win the half of the battle.</p>
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		<title>Learning Poker – Lesson #8: The importance of position and possible combinations</title>
		<link>http://www.thgong.com/articles/learning-poker-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-the-importance-of-position-and-possible-combinations/</link>
		<comments>http://www.thgong.com/articles/learning-poker-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-the-importance-of-position-and-possible-combinations/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:37:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mark</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poker tutorial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[position]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thgong.com/?p=26</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The position at the table is extremely important. The worst position is considered the position of the player who is to acts first i.e. places the first bet during the pre – flop. This position is an early position and it is also known as “under the gun” (UTG) position. This is the third player, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The position at the table is extremely important. The worst position is considered the position of the player who is to acts first i.e. places the first bet during the pre – flop. This position is an early position and it is also known as “under the gun” (UTG) position. This is the third player, the player who is sitting next to the Big blinder (to the left). The third, fourth and fifth positions are the early positions. The sixth, seventh and eighth positions are the middle positions. The ninth position (cutoff i.e. the player who is to act before the last player) and the tenth position (dealer, or button) are the late positions which are considered the best. There are also Small blinders (sitting to the left of the dealer) who are to play before the last players during the pre – flop and first in the rest of the hands. Big blinders (sitting to the left of the Small blinders) on the other hand act last during the pre – flop and second in the rest of the hands. It is very important to build your strategy and make decisions based on your position at the table. </p>
<p><span id="more-26"></span>The possible combinations in poker are 2,598,960 total. Since we know that there are only 4 possible royal flushes (of each suit), you need to divide 2,5 million into 4 and you’ll know that you can form a royal flush if you play about 650,000 hands i.e. the odds are 1 to about 650,000; the odds for straight flush are 1 to 79,193; the odds for four of a kind are 1 to 4,165; for full house are 1 to 694; for flush are 1 to 509; for straight are 1 to 255; for three of a kind are 1 to 47; for two pairs are 1 to 21; for one pair are 1 to 2 (you can manage to form a pair almost every second game).</p>
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		<title>Learning Poker &#8211; Lesson #7: Different styles of playing and types of players</title>
		<link>http://www.thgong.com/articles/learning-poker-lesson-7-different-styles-of-playing-and-types-of-players/</link>
		<comments>http://www.thgong.com/articles/learning-poker-lesson-7-different-styles-of-playing-and-types-of-players/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:35:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mark</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[playing styles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poker tutorial]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thgong.com/?p=24</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Before you start playing poker, you definitely should learn about the styles of playing and types of players. The main styles of playing are tight and loose. You play tight when you enter the game with strong hands only, fold when the hand is not very strong i.e. play very few hands. You play loose [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Before you start playing poker, you definitely should learn about the styles of playing and types of players. The main styles of playing are tight and loose. You play tight when you enter the game with strong hands only, fold when the hand is not very strong i.e. play very few hands. You play loose when you call and place bets even with weak hands i.e you play a lot of hands. There are aggressive players who usually raise and re- raise quite often. Against aggressive players you should call, raise and re -raise only in case you have a strong hand. On the other hand, there are passive players who don’t raise often, no matter how strong is their hand. Passive players usually raise when they have a really strong hand, otherwise, they call. But against a passive player you should not play a passive style. You can use this strategy only in case other players are aggressive.  </p>
<p><span id="more-24"></span>Loose aggressive players are called Maniacs. As you can guess, these players play many hands and raise or call very often. The best technique against such players is to play only the strong hands and play tight and passive. Extremely tight players are called Rocks. They play don’t play a lot of hands and bets only on strong pairs. This technique is good only if you are playing against maniacs. Loose passive players are called Calling Stations. In the beginning of the game they usually call (very often) and later fold. Calling station is your goldmine (if you have it as opponent). Tight players usually win the calling stations. There are also weak tight players who know very well which hands are to be played but they don’t do it always right. Their decisions are usually standard but you need to be very careful when they bet or re- raise. TAGs are the tight aggressive players and they are probably the most successful players. They almost always play the right starting hands. Many professional players are TAGs. This technique is good when you play against passive players. LAGs are loose aggressive players. They play more hands but they are not very predictable. Anyway, the best technique against them is the tight play.</p>
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		<title>Learning Poker &#8211; Lesson #6: Poker hand ranking and evaluation</title>
		<link>http://www.thgong.com/articles/learning-poker-lesson-6-poker-hand-ranking-and-evaluation/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:34:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mark</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hand ranking]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Before you start playing poker, you need to know how to evaluate your cards (hands). In order to do that, you must learn all poker combinations and the value of the cards. There are ten possible combinations you can get in poker (A combination of 5 cards). They are from the lowest to highest as [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><!-- 		@page { margin: 2cm } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->Before you start playing poker, you need to know how to evaluate your cards (hands). In order to do that, you must learn all poker combinations and the value of the cards. There are ten possible combinations you can get in poker (A combination of 5 cards). They are from the lowest to highest as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>The lowest combination is called 	high card – it may sound good, but it isn’t. High card means 	that you have five not related cards. In case tall players did not 	manage to form other combination, the winner is determined by the 	ranking of the cards. For example, A, K, 10, 7, 5 beats A, Q, 10, 8, 	5 since A –K is higher than A – Q.</li>
<li>One pair is the next combination 	and it consists of 2 cards of the same rank and 3 not related cards. 	If two players have the same pair, the winner is determined by the 	cards which are not related.</li>
<li>Two pair is a combination 	consisting of 2 cards of one rank, 2 cards of another rank and one 	card which is not related. The higher rank determines the superior 	pair and the winner. In case two players have the same higher pair, 	the second pair ranking determines the winner. In case that these 	two players have the same two pairs, the winner is determined by the 	rank of the card which is not related. If they are also the same, 	the pot is to be split between the two players.</li>
<li>Three of a kind is a combination 	consisting of 3 cards of the same rank and 2 cards which are not 	related. It is also called set, triplets, or trips.</li>
<li>Straight is a hand which consists 	of 5 consecutive cards of mixed suits. For example, Q of hearts &#8211; J 	of spades &#8211; 10 of diamonds &#8211; 9 of diamonds &#8211; 8 of clubs (queen-high 	straight) will beat 10 of spades &#8211; 9 of spade &#8211; 8 of diamonds &#8211; 7 of 	spades &#8211; 6 of clubs (10-high straight).</li>
<li>Flush is a hand 	which consists of any 5 cards of the same suit which are not in 	sequence. If they were, the hand would be a straight flush. If two 	players managed to form a flush, the highest card ranking order 	determines the winner. <span style="font-size: x-small;">For 	example, A-Q-J-7-6 of spades is higher than A-Q-J-5-4 of clubs;</span></li>
<li>Full house is a hand consisting of 	one three of a kind and one pair. The hand is also called full boat. 	The ranking of the triplets determine the full house. For instance, 	10 of spades, 10 of hearts, 10 of clubs, 9 of diamonds and 9 of 	spades are to be called 10’s full of 9’s.</li>
<li>Four of a kind is a hand 	consisting of four cards of one rank and one not related card. For 	instance, Jack of spades, Jack of diamonds, Jack of clubs and Jack 	of hearts and 10 of spades. Four Queens beat four Jacks. The hand is 	also called quads.</li>
<li>Straight Flush is a hand 	consisting of 5 consecutive cards of the same suit such as 8, 9, 10, 	J, Q;  6, 7, 8, 9, 10 etc.</li>
<li>Royal flush is nothing but an ace 	high straight flush and it is considered the best poker hand since 	it is the highest. There are four possible royal flush combinations: 	10, J, Q, K, A of any of the suits.</li>
</ol>
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		<title>Learning Poker &#8211; Lesson #5: Basic folding strategy</title>
		<link>http://www.thgong.com/articles/learning-poker-lesson-5-basic-folding-strategy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.thgong.com/articles/learning-poker-lesson-5-basic-folding-strategy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:33:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mark</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[folding strategy]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[You usually fold in the following situations: When you have a weak hand; When a tight player has opened the game in early position, you fold even if you have a strong hand; When you believe that other players have stronger hands than yours; When there are too many players; When your hand is not [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><!-- 		@page { margin: 2cm } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->You usually fold in the following situations:</p>
<ul>
<li>When you have a weak 	hand;</li>
<li>When a tight player 	has opened the game in early position, you fold even if you have a 	strong hand;</li>
<li>When you believe 	that other players have stronger hands than yours;</li>
<li>When there are too 	many players;</li>
<li>When your hand is 	not strong enough, so you can’t call or check –raise;</li>
<li>When the players are 	too many and you are in early position;</li>
<li>When you do not 	intend to use bluffing strategy</li>
</ul>
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