Date: Saturday, March 24th

Time: Doors open at 3:00 p.m. till ?

Location: Church Hall 653 West 37th Street Chicago, Illinois

Texas Hold'em Terms

Hole Cards: The two cards that each player is dealt, that are not shown to the rest of the players

Community Cards: The five cards that are available for use by all of the players, placed in the center of the table

Flop: The first three community cards that are laid on the table

Turn: The fourth community card that is laid on the table

River: The fifth and last community card

Blinds: The two players left of the dealer button put money in the middle, equal to half of what the limits are for the game. For instance, if it's a $1 - $2 game, then the blinds would be 50 cents and a dollar.

Dealer Button: Determines where the game begins. The two players to the left of the dealer button post the blinds. After each game, the button rotates clockwise

Rake: The money that the casino takes from the final pot. If the rake was 5% and the pot was $100, then the casino would take $5 from the pot

Fold: When you lay down your cards and withdraw from the hand

"Queens Over Nines" This indicates a full house. In this case, it would be three queens, and two nines.
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Texas Hold'em Winning Hands
Here are the winning hands in Texas Hold'em, listed from the most powerful hand, down to the least powerful hand, with an example of each hand:

Royal Flush -- the most powerful hand. This is when you have an ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10, all of the same suit.


Straight Flush -- five cards in a row, of the same suit. An example: 6, 7, 8, 9 and a 10 of hearts.


Four of a Kind -- four cards that are the same. For instance, an eight of clubs, eight of hearts, eight of diamonds and an eight of spades.


Full House -- Three of a kind, along with two of a kind. So, three Kings, and 2 Jacks would be a full house. Or you might hear it be said as "Kings full of Jacks."


Flush -- Five cards of the same suit. So, eight of hearts, nine of hearts, Jack of hearts, Queen of hearts, and an ace of hearts. This would be known as an "ace high flush."


Straight -- Five cards in a sequence. For instance, an 8, 9, 10, Jack and a Queen.


Three of a Kind -- three cards that are the same. For instance, an eight of hearts, eight of spades, and eight of clubs.


Two Pair -- Two separate pairs. For instance, an eight of clubs and spades, and a 9 of clubs and spades.


Pair -- Two cards that are the same. For instance, an eight of hearts and an eight of diamonds.


High Card -- This is when you don't have anything. For instance, if you had a king and an ace and couldn't make anything out of the community cards, you would have an ace high card.
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Texas Holdem Betting Strategy
There are many different possible strategies while playing Texas Hold'em, just as there are many different ways of playing chess. We thought that we would outline a good strategy for beginners, to make themselves at least competitive off the bat. You can practise your betting strategies for free at Full Tilt Poker, against real people.

The basic strategy is: read your opponents, bet when you have the cards and muck when you don't have the cards. Most of the opponents that you run into will follow the basic betting strategy of betting when they have a hand, and checking when they don't. You should pick up on this, and bluff if they are wearing their tells on their sleeves.

Position is very important in poker. If you are dealt strong cards, you may want to limp in early position. This way, if somebody following you raises, you have the opportunity to re-raise. If you are in late position, you have the luxury of seeing what people before you have done, and you have much more opportunity to bluff people out of pots, due to your strong position.

The key to poker is patience; you will find that you have plenty of opportunity to set people up for a big hand. You don't have to play every hand, but don't be a rock either; play enough hands so that when you do have a very strong hand, some people will play with you and not just fold.

If you are just starting out, don't bluff too much; if you do, make sure you are just coming off of a run of strong hands, or else nobody will believe that you are holding a strong hand.

We hope this basic information about Texas Holdem will help you enjoy your night and understand this fun game.

See You There!!!