House Rules-Lesson 4

House rules go by the person that is hosting the game. Our house rules stay the same from each home as we are friends and implemented these rules as we began playing consistently. Always find out what house rules are before you start playing. The person that haves the game at their home is the person that sets the house rules.
House rules consist of but are not limited to:
5 to 7 seven people play poker at one time. (preferably 5 in our games)
How many raises you can have after each card is dealt. (we have up to 3 raises)
Sometimes we have no limit it means you can raise as many times as you want.
Our house rules require you to make the initial bet while calling what game you are going to play.
Our rules also include 1 joker to only be used with aces straights and flushes. If you have a natural Pair or Three of a kind, Aces, Straight or Flush (The wild card used to create Aces, Straights or Flushes does not beat a natural hand. FYI-A natural hand is no wild card.
No cards leave the table at any time.
Dealer may call for a fresh deck when it is their turn.
Everyone bets in order.
If no one pays to see the hand then it is not shown.
The person on the right cuts and the dealer deals to the left.
The Ace can be played as Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5 or at the end 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace.

House rules can vary some from game to different people so make sure you understand them. This for respect and to deter any arguments later in the game when someone jumps up and says someone is cheating. As I said we have a lot of fun playing poker and the rules are embedded in our heads so we just know them. We can relax and a great time and play POKER.

HOW TO PLAY POKER -LESSON 1

What you need:
A DECK OF PLAYING CARDS-just being silly
5 Friends that have a sense of humor and are willing to play with a beginner.
Poker Chips 3-colors (WHITE, RED, BLUE) or you can be creative and get designer poker chips. I actually hand-painted my own poker chips which are collectors items.



To begin you need to practice shuffling the cards. There are several ways of doing this. Shuffling the cards is an art and the more experienced you are at this the more professional you will look. When real money is involved people take everything you do very seriously, which include but are not limited to, insisting the seal of the deck of cards be broken at the start of the game to making sure all bets are made in order. We will talk about the strict rules of poker off and on throughout the learning process.

Right now we are going to focus learning the very basics. It is very important to be able to shuffle without anyone seeing the face of the cards during this process. There are more than two ways of doing this but for the beginner I will try to teach you the easiest ways. If you know someone that knows how to deal this would be a great person to help you learn. To describe it is quite difficult but I hope this will help you some. Practice makes perfect.
Shuffle #1

1. Divide the deck in half or close to it, keeping the face cards as low to the table as you can at all times.
2. Next using your thumbs you flip them together approx. 1/4th of the length of the cards length letting them flow together  A few from each half of the deck.
3. Placing your 4 fingers under the outside edge of deck and thumbs on top to stabilize the top of the cards, arch the cards and let them flow together.
4. Do this 3 times or so. It's up to you on how many times you shuffle but don't overdo it as this can irritate people.
5. Always let the person to your right have the opportunity to cut the deck. A good poker player will only cut them in half. Someone cutting the deck several times is not professional and when playing with people that really take poker seriously they do not think it is cute.

Shuffle #2

1. Divide the deck by eye in half  keep both halves flat on the table.
2. Take the corners of each pile moving them together and using your thumbs flip them together flipping the corners of the cards into each pile.
3. Without picking them up push the piles together and repeat this step 3 times total at least.

Shuffle #2 is actually the best method if you cannot do the #1 shuffle well as no one can see any of the bottom cards which is very important.

Practicing shuffling cards several times prior to playing a real poker game can make you look like you know what you are doing. Most people can shuffle a deck of cards and have learned how to do this in their own way. Do what makes you feel the most comfortable. Even in poker games with friends there are "gentleman's rules" you should follow. There is always one in the crowd that is inpatient with people that do not play in an orderly fashion and follow the unspoken rules. Poker can be exciting and fun and I want you to learn how to play by instinct so you can concentrate on having fun. That is what it is all about and of course if you win it makes it that much better. Get ready for lesson 2 "dealing the cards".

Playing Poker With Friends

One Friday a month our friends get together, both men and women, to play poker. It is a great time and but we hold to a strict set of rules. We play with 5 people at a time, nickle, dime and quarter depending in inflation it can get more exciting when we are all feeling lucky. Is the game poker a game of chance or skill? This blog will focus on many aspects of games of chance of all kinds.

Basic poker is the first game we will cover. You will learn everything you need to know to play with the big guys. Get out a deck of cards and start learning the difference between clubs, hearts, spades and diamonds. Just to let you know  there is more to poker than the cards but never fear you will learn it all. See you soon so come back for more.