Poker is a game of strategy and chance where players bet on the outcome of hands of cards. The game has many different variations, but the two most popular variants are Texas Hold ‘Em and Omaha.
In Texas Hold ‘Em, the dealer puts two cards face down in front of each player. Players then select one card to hold and one card to put into the middle of the table. The player with the highest card in their hand (or if there is a tie, the player who played first) sets off to the left, and each other player follows suit. Play then continues clockwise.
If a player doesn’t have a card that suits their current hand, they can “call” (put) money into the pot – this makes them put up a matching bet with all other players. If a player has a higher ranked card than any other player, they can “raise” (put more money into) the pot – this makes them put up more than anyone else. The highest hand at the end of the round wins the pot.
In Omaha, each player is dealt four cards face down and must discard one before looking at their hand. There are no wild cards in Omaha – meaning that any combination of cards can be used as an opening hand. After everyone has looked at their hand, all players put money into the pot and then play passes around clockwise until someone folds or until there are only two people left playing (the “flop”). On the flop, players must decide whether to keep their original hand or switch it out for another one – this is called “checking.” If someone checks, they must put all original money back in to the pot and everyone else may then check or bet.
The next card played is called “the turn.” After turn, either player can either check or bet again depending on what was played on previous card; if no one checks, then another card is played (“the river”). If someone checks on turn and there’s already money in pot for that particular hand, that person collects all of that money and new hands are dealt starting with whoever was sitting to their left (clockwise). Play then proceeds as normal with new hands being turned over on each subsequent round until someone either loses all their chips or goes out (matches everyone).
In general, Texas Hold ‘Em has better odds because there are more possible hands to win than in Omaha. However, Omaha can be more exciting to play because it’s less predictable than Texas Hold ‘Em.
