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The Free, Online, Concise Guide to No Limit Texas Holdem Poker


Whether you play poker for fun, play for real money or are preparing for a poker tournament fundraiser this guide will tutor you on the basics of poker and beyond.

And it's free.

I assume that you already know the rules of the game. If not, you can find them in the Rules and Terms section. Instead this guide begins with:
  • Playing styles; their advantages and vulnerabilities, how to play against each style and some recommended starting hands to play, and then
  • the mathematics of poker including outs, odds, percentages, pot odds, and implied odds. At the end I include
  • additional suggested readings once you are comfortable with the basic material.
Poker went through a huge boom in 2003 when, as an amateur, Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker. He got to the big game after accidently registering for a satellite tournament online, not knowing that the prize was a ticket to the WSOP. Online poker's popularity took a bit of hit in the fall of 2006 when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) came into effect. After the UIGEA many online poker sites pulled out of the US market, though the biggest ones still take American players.

Apparently President Barak Obama plays poker so along with efforts from the Poker Player Alliance poker may regain what popularity it may have lost recently. And it hasn't lost much. It's still on television in multiple formats and is still the most popular search term on Google year after year. And I don't know about you, but Facebook keeps inviting me to tournament after tournament. If you haven't already joined the fun this guide will help you to get started. If you are playing and are still a bit lost, this guide will help you to evaluate what's missing from your game.


Introduction

d Styles and hands
- Player Style descriptions
- Tight/Aggressive style
- Starting Hands
- Video
- Playing  the flop
- Playing the turn and river

d Odds and Outs
- Count your Outs
- Pot Odds
- Odds on the Turn and River
- Using Percentages
- Bet sizing, expressed versus implied odds

d Rules and terms
- How to play a game
- Poker hand rankings
- Terminology and definitions

d For futher study
- No Limit Hold’em starting hands; the Next Generation
- My Aces got cracked!
- Can I fold KK preflop?
- How to play JJ?
- Playing AK, Big Slick
- Should I move up to avoid the bad players? Part I
- Way ahead / Way behind
- What is ABC poker?
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