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What Are Face Cards in a Deck and How Do You Play Them?

Card games have always combined chance, mathematics, and cultural tradition, and few symbols represent that more clearly than the face cards. These illustrated royalty cards have carried meaning through centuries of play,...

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How to Play Badugi

In poker there are three main game variations; Flop games (i.e. Texas hold'em and Omaha) Stud games (i.e. Seven-card stud, Razz) Draw games (i.e. Five card draw, 2-to-7 Triple Draw) Badugi is...

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What’s the Difference Between Texas Hold ‘Em and Omaha Poker?

Texas hold ‘em is one of the greatest card games ever created — but you can only play so many hands before you’re ready to tear your hair out. Fortunately, poker is...

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How to Play Short Deck Poker (6+ Hold’em): Rules and Strategies

Ever felt like hold ‘em could stand to be a bit more exciting, but you don’t want to get dragged into the confusion and chaos that is pot-limit Omaha? If so, short...

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Big Blind vs. Small Blind: What’s the Difference in Poker?

The big blind/small blind structure isn’t just a formality: it’s the engine that keeps the game alive. These two forced bets are what ensure there’s always something to fight for, and without...

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Ruling! #13 – The Mucked / All-in Scam

The Scenario There are two players involved in a pot. After the flop Player A, who is first to act, decides to have a stab at it and makes a bet. Player...

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Ruling! #12 – Asleep at the Table

The Scenario A player falls asleep at the table due to his medication and is unable to be awoken. He is in the big blind and there has been no raise pre-flop....

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Ruling! #11 – Verbally Binding

The Scenario During a hand Player A announces “all-in” and moves his stack forward. Player B then repeats this and says "all-in" in a quiet puzzled tone as he considers why he's...

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Ruling! #10 – Phone a Friend

The Scenario In a cash game a player talked on his phone throughout the night. He would whisper into the phone and pause when he played. I was sitting to his immediate...

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Ruling! #9 – The Blinds Went Up

The Scenario In a poker tournament where the blinds just went up from 500/1,000 to 1,000/2,000, Player A placed $1,000 into the pot, Player B quickly said, “call” and also placed $1,000...

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Ruling! #8 – An Abandoned Pot

The Scenario While playing in a poker tournament, three players were all-in. Player A held , Player B held , and Player C held . The flop came , at which point...

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Ruling! #7 – Two Burn Cards Before the Flop

The Scenario During the deal a card is exposed and is swapped for the top card, and the exposed card becomes the first burn card. The hand continues, and after the flop,...

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Ruling! #6 – I See You… Are Very Strong

The Scenario Two players are involved in a hand. After the river player A makes a large bet, and player B says "I see you," but before he places his chips in...

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Ruling! #5 – Where Are My chips?

The Scenario A player wins a nice pot and he drags the pot toward his remaining chip stack. Shortly afterward, the player to his left says "Where are my chips?" and it...

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Ruling! #4 – Showing for a Reaction

The Scenario A player is all-in and everyone folds except one player who considers calling. He verbally declares that he has a pair of 10's. The all-in player remains silent, and the...

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Ruling! #3 – Three Hole Cards

The Scenario In a nine-handed game, four players limp in, so player eight decides to limp in without looking at his cards. Player nine, who is short-stacked moves all in. A sequence...

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Ruling! #2 – I Guess You Got Me

The Scenario At the river during a big hand I made an all-in bet and the girl I bet lifted her cards in the air and said, “I guess you got me.”...

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Ruling! #1 – Is a Mucked Hand a Dead Hand?

The Scenario I was playing in a poker tournament against an aggressive opponent who was on the button when I was in the big blind. All the players folded to him and...

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