
If a full-fledged poker school is too long and expensive for you, then we suggest that you master the basic theory and move on to practical exercises in a couple of minutes. Believe me, it's best to learn the game in practice, and most poker rooms offer no deposit bonuses and favorable conditions for your start. It is important to remember that we will only cover the basics of online poker, and you will have to master most of the knowledge while playing.
Terms that a poker player needs
If in the future you plan to learn the game online or live, then mastering poker terms is extremely important. This will help you to understand much better the special literature and even your opponents in the poker room. If you don't know what a call or river is, then for sure it will be quite difficult to master even the simplest Hold'em.
Fortunately, with training, you’ll learn half of the terms yourself. We recommend that you carefully study the interface of the poker room in which you play. As a rule, the current distribution street is already indicated there, you see the signatures above your possible actions and all combinations. We recommend that you remember the order of moves on each street of the hand (just keep an eye on who moves after the round of betting - this is understandable in any poker room). Concepts like check, raise or bet will be clear after the first two games.
If you want to play online poker for money, then we recommend remembering a few more frequently used concepts:
- Bankroll - this is the amount of money that can be called "play". In the room, this is the amount of funds in your game account.
- Satellite tournaments - tournament competitions, which the poker room holds simultaneously with large poker tournaments, or those competitions, for the victory in which they give a real ticket to a big tournament.
- Blind bets - a mandatory contribution to the bank of two players before the start of the game (this is practiced in Hold'em and some other disciplines).
- Ante - a mandatory bet in the bank of all players before the start of the distribution.
- Rake - commission from each bet that the poker room charges the user. On the basis of this amount, the rakeback is also calculated - the percentage of this commission returned to the player's account at the end of a certain period of play in the room.
- Buy-in - entry fee for participation in the tournament. Used to buy a so-called tournament ticket (hence the name "buy to be in something").
Basic concept of the poker process
Regardless of which poker discipline you choose, you will have several game processes that need to be monitored first:
- Deal of cards. At this stage, the dealer deals several cards to the players or puts them on the table (depending on the stage of the game or the rules). From the received cards, poker players should collect combinations, the seniority of which is determined by each discipline individually. Also, each type of poker determines how many cards from the table and from the hand you can use to form your combination.
- Bank contributions. Each type of poker has mandatory contributions to the pot before the start of the game (blinds or antes) and replenishment of the pot during the game. The process of depositing into the pot is called a bet, and the order of deposits is also determined by the rules (watch this during your trial games in the poker room).
- Game actions. During the distribution, each player can fold his cards, increase the bet in the bank, skip a move (under certain conditions). Also, playing (mandatory) actions include opening a hand (showdown) or throwing off cards (fold or pass).
- Determination of the winner. As a rule, the winner is determined at the end of the game by the highest combination. For example, in Hold'em, two players show up on the river, the last street in the game.
Such an express poker school is unlikely to tell you everything you wanted to know about the game, but it is a great start to register at a poker room!