ShareSomeone who has never watched poker may find it very confusing to watch. Without the hand rankings and an understanding of the rules, it is hard to follow. So, how tough is it to get to grips with the very basics of poker?
If somebody wants to get an extremely basic level of poker knowledge, it doesn’t necessarily take a lot of time. On the surface, poker is pretty straightforward. The basic rules can be picked up quickly. A beginner can learn the hand rankings and the objective—to potentially win chips by having the best hand or by getting others to fold. With a deck of cards and a little bit of instruction, most people can understand a hand of poker in a matter of minutes.
Basic Poker Skills
On a very basic level, the first thing to understand is the rules of the game. This includes the flow and the order in which each player takes turns.
One of the first hurdles in learning poker is understanding the different variations as they all have their own rules and differences. Texas Hold’em is the most popular and widely played version, but there’s also Omaha among others. Learning the ins and outs of each one can be a challenge, especially for someone just getting started – so learners tend to learn the rules for one variation first and foremost and get used to playing this game.
A part of the rules is the poker hand rankings which dictate which hand beats another in the game. There is an order in which are the strongest hands and this can impact how people choose to play the game and whether to fold or check on a certain hand. Understanding the poker hand rankings is important so that a player knows what sort of position they are in during the game.
There is some terminology involved in the game and these terms also need to be understood. Poker is played using big blinds and small blinds which means that some players on each hand put an initial bet in to get a pot started for the hand. Terms like flop and river are confusing at first but they are used during the part of the game where the community cards are dealt.
Players also need to understand how to bet or fold their hands and what these terms even mean if they are going to play the game. There is a little learning curve for the language of the game and many players pick up these skills by reading or watching poker before stepping in.
Poker at a More Complex Level
We’ve covered the absolute basics of the game and these can be picked up relatively quickly if people want to. A more complex understanding of the game involves an understanding of probabilities. Some players never learn the math behind the game, but people may try to get their heads around the way probabilities impact their strategy and make choices in their game based on this.
Poker is a form of entertainment and can be played for free or for money, so not everybody wants to delve into the mathematics or advanced strategy of poker. Those who do want to learn often find it best to learn from other successful players and some of the biggest names in the world of poker have shared their knowledge online. Daniel Negreanu, a high-profile player with a lot of history, created a Masterclass in poker where the basics are taught as well as some of the more complex strategies.
There are also strategies regarding the strength of each hand in these online courses, such as reading the opposition. The behavior of others playing the game introduces an element of psychology as some people try to read the other person and whether they are bluffing (a common term used in poker). People all have different approaches to the game and those who regularly watch interviews with poker players will know that there is a lot of variety in the way people go about this game.
All casino games have an element of luck so it is definitely worth remembering this. In some videos, we see how a good hand can suddenly turn bad with a community card, and vice versa. There are even examples of the bold move to play a 7 and 2 hand that wouldn’t always be perceived as strong…
Do Players Ever Stop Learning?
One of the challenges of learning poker is that it’s a game of incomplete information. Game theory states that unlike chess, where all the pieces are visible on the board for both players, poker requires making decisions with only part of the picture. This means the outcome can always be random in this game and there’s no way of fully predicting it.
Some people choose to tweak their strategies or learn more about the probabilities involved in the game and this is a process that can go on indefinitely as it is not exact. The psychological aspect of the game is something else people may consider themselves students of and some people try and get better at reading others.
