The number of people making the transition from traditional poker to online poker has been on the rise, in recent days. By traditional poker, we mean that which was played around tables with physically tangible cards, whereas by online poker, we mean that which is played over the Internet using ‘virtual cards’ by people who can be, and often are, miles apart.
Now most of the people making this transition will usually express an interest in gaining insight into the workings of online poker. So will the numerous other people whose first encounter with poker is over the Internet (and there are many such people, especially youngsters, who are encountering many things online before they have had the opportunity to experience them in the ‘offline world’). For all these people, the solution that is usually given as a way through which they can get to learn the workings of internet poker is by getting a good online poker guide.
There are many such real money poker app guides. And as with most things in life, the makers of each will make claims that theirs is the very best. The intended user of the poker guide, on the other hand, will be keen on getting that which can be termed as the very best online poker guide, so as to make their learning of the workings of online poker fast and effective. This is what leads them to a situation where they express an interest in knowing what goes into the making of a good internet poker guide – so that they can use that criterion in making a selection out of the numerous available resources developed and meant to guide poker players, as they get started on the game online.
Few people will argue with the assertion that a good online poker guide would be one that is written by credible authorities. A poker guide written by people who have actually been successfully involved in the game (over the Internet) would be better than one written by people whose understanding of poker is purely academic. It is very hard, actually impossible, to properly teach people that which you do not actually know at a personal level. A good way to check out the credibility of the authors of the various resources that are meant to guide poker players as they get started on the game online would be by conducting (internet) searches using their names, to see whether they have successful poker playing histories. At the very least, you should look at the credentials they present on the said poker guides, to see whether those make them authorities in the area.
A good online poker guide is that which is comprehensive in its coverage (rather than one that is skimpy in its coverage) of issues to do with Internet-based poker. In this regard, a good guide would be one that answers most questions that a novice would be likely to have regarding online poker. And this is important because we have seen resources meant to guide poker players who are making their first steps in the game online – but which far from answering the questions such novices to online poker are likely to have, ended up leaving them with even more questions! Comprehensiveness therefore becomes a very important factor here.
A good poker guide is one that is readable. This entails a number of things. Ideally, it should be presented in a reader-friendly format, which at the most basic level, would include careful choice of things such as fonts styles, font sizes graphic design and so on. At a more fundamental level, it would be the sort of a guide that moves the reader from ‘the known into the unknown’ – using things that the reader is obviously likely to conversant with as the foundations on which to build new knowledge.
It should be a guide that takes into consideration the readers’ likely ignorance of matters to do with online poker without insulting their intelligence. It should be a guide that is clear from ambiguities. The makers of an online poker guide (as indeed the makers of any other type of guide) are supposed to know that the main reason people make reference to such guides is in an effort to clear ambiguities. It therefore does not make sense to present them with even more ambiguities, right in the guides they refer to in a bid to get clarification.
Poker Hands
Poker hands are always five cards. They are the first thing you have to learn if you want to play poker. They fall into one of several categories, such as flush, straight, or two pair. Poker hands win or lose according to their strength (assuming you get to the showdown) so knowing where various poker hands appear in the official poker card rankings is essential.
The winning hand takes all the pot. According to those who are knowledgeable about poker, poker hand rankings may affect the position of players in a game. Their strategies may also be based or dependent on the cards that they have so it is advantageous for players if they are well-informed about poker hand rankings. According to the strict hierarchy of card’s value we differentiate the ranks of poker. Only five cards make a poker hand, it always consists of 5 cards.
Ace is the highest ranked, followed by K, Q, and J down to two, which is the lowest, ranked. Single cards play an important role in deciding the winner among players when no deciding combinations are possible. Aces are always a ‘low’ card when considering a low hand. Please also note that the value of a five-card low hand starts with the top card, and goes down from there.
If two players have Two Pair, the hand with the highest Pair wins. If they have the same high Pair, whoever has the second highest Pair in their hand wins. Since suits have no relative value in poker, two hands can be considered identical if one hand can be transformed into the other by swapping suits.
Poker hands fall into one of several categories, such as flush, straight, or two pair. The player whose hand is in the higher category wins. Poker hands decide who wins and who loses. Poker hands are the first thing you have to learn if you want to play poker.
