Hold 'Em

Texas Hold ‘Em poker has become quite popular in the past few years. After watching the televised World Series of Poker and Celebrity Poker Showdown, it’s easy to see why the game has become so fashionable. It’s easy to learn (assuming that one has a basic understanding of hands) and is a lot of fun to play.

I’ve been a casual poker enthusiast for about four years now. I’ve played mostly in small, non-cash or low stakes games, but after absorbing hours of the aforementioned poker programs, I finally felt confident enough to accept the invite to a money game that a friend had offered a few months earlier.

A quick introduction to Texas Hold ‘Em: Every player is dealt two cards face down. Players check their cards and make a series of bets. Next, three cards are dealt face up; this is called “The Flop.” These three cards are community cards available to all players. After another series of betting, a fourth card (“The Turn”) is dealt face up. Another round of betting follows and then the fifth and final card (“The River”) is dealt. Working from these community cards and the two cards that they were dealt, each player builds his strongest hand. After a final series of bets, every player who hasn’t folded reveals his cards, and the winner of the hand gets the pot.

The game that I played in earlier this week was with a group of friends and colleagues. It had a reasonable buy-in of $30 and seemed liked the perfect money game for me to get my feet wet. I was playing with people that I knew and wasn’t worried that I was going to break the bank if I went home a loser.

The group of players was pretty varied in experience level. Out of the seven of us who showed up, three were rookies. With a few months worth of biweekly games under his belt the host had the most experience. He also had a great felt topped card table, real clay chips and an automatic card shuffler. The guy who ended up being the big winner claimed to have no knowledge of how to play the game.

I played a strong game. Over the course of two hours, I won one hand and split another. At the high point, I was up about 15 bucks. With my predetermined exit time on the horizon, I had seven dollars left. I decided to play one more hand and was dealt a pair of kings. I waited for The Flop and then went “all in.” That scared off most of the players, but one guy stayed in. After The River, our cards were revealed, and my pair was beaten by a straight. In retrospect, I should have gone “all in” pre-Flop. Looking back, it was a rookie mistake and one that I learned from.

Texas Hold ‘Em, and poker in general, is fun to play. It has nothing to do with high-stakes betting or high-pressure games. It’s about getting together with good people, having a fun time and bringing a convincing poker face. And hey, I’ll take two out of the three for now.