Caribbean Stud Poker

Not to be confused with Texas Hold’em Poker, Stud Poker is a 5 card game where no skill or bluffing is required. It is a flat out race between the players and the dealer – who has the better 5 card hand.

Each player has 2 boxes in which to place the bet. The first bet is placed on the ‘ante’ box before the 5 cards are dealt. Once all the players have put their ante down, the dealer deals 5 cards to each player at the table, and to him/herself.

The players look at their cards and decide whether or not to play the hand. If they do not have a good hand and do not want to play, they can fold at his point, and lose the initial ante bet. If they decide they want to play their hand against the dealers, double the ante amount is put on the ‘raise’ box on the table.

The dealer then reveals all the cards still in play, and the winners are determined and paid out the odds accordingly.

Craps

Craps is a well recognized casino game involving throwing two dice, it is however a little more complicated to play.

There are a huge number of bets available to players, with different odds, and others become available depending on the score of the dice previously rolled. As a quick introduction, players may bet on the outcome of the roll in a number of ways. They may bet on a single number being rolled, any double, a particular double, a high or low score, an even or odd score or a score higher or lower then the previous roll. But watch out for sevens as the house wins a seven, unless of course the player has bet on that outcome! Very confusing, very noisy, but great fun!

Texas Hold’em Poker

This will be the version of poker that you may have seen on TV in the last few years. It has seen a massive increase in popularity due to media coverage, sponsorship and of course the recent Bond film Casino Royale.

If you fancy yourself as a card sharp and think you can out bluff the other players, a Texas Hold’em night is a great way to spend the evening. A full sized table can accommodate up to 10 players. The basic structure for Texas Hold’em is as follows.

Two players must put an ‘ante’ into the pot before any cards are dealt. These are the small blinds and big blinds, and they move around the table every hand so each player has to put chips in at some point. The dealer deals 2 cards to each player in turn, who looks at their cards and decides whether or not to play. The first player to move is the one immediately after the big blind. The minimum amount they can put into the pot is the big blind, the maximum depends whether or not the version of poker is ‘pot limit’ or ‘no limit’. If it is ‘pot limit’ players can put a maximum into the pot of what is already there. There is no ‘all in’ move in pot limit. It is a slower more gradual game to play. In ‘no limit’ poker, players can move all their chips into the pot if they wish and the next player decides whether of not to call the ‘all in’ or fold their cards.

After each player has in turn decided to either fold their hand, call the big blind (put equal amount in, no raise), or raise the bet (double the amount of the big blind or more), then the community cards are dealt by the dealer. These cards are available to all players. At the end of the hand, the player with the best 5 card hand wins the pot. They can make the best hand out of any of the cards they are holding and any of the community cards on the table. As a general rule, the better the 2 cards in your hand, the better your chances are of winning the pot. This is not however set in stone, it is perfectly possible to have AA (2 aces) in your hand and lose to a player who has 72 in their hand, if the community cards come 752J9.

The Flop is the first 3 of 5 community cards dealt. Players have another round of betting here. They may either check (put no money into the pot), bet (put the minimum amount in), call another players bet (equal what a rival has put into the pot), raise (more than equal what a rival has put into the pot), or re-raise again (if you were the first to bet and another player raises, you can re-raise again). Depending on which version of ‘pot limit’ or ‘no limit’ you are playing, there are only so many times players can re-raise.

The Turn is the 4^th card of 5 to be dealt. Again, another round of betting ensues amongst the players still in contention to win the pot.

The final community card that any player may use is called the River. After the river is dealt, a final round of betting may take place before the players cards are turned over and the winner is determined.

The player who makes the best 5 card hand, or scares the other players off with heavy betting wins the pot. It is possible to win pots in Texas Hold’em without having strong hands simply by betting and hoping that the other players will not want to call your bet. This is called bluffing, and is a tactic that serious players use frequently.

SpinSilver can organise a poker league if a group of friends wish to have a regular weekly or monthly poker night. At the end of the poker season, the player with the most points wins a trophy. Please contact us for further details.

The order in which the hands rank are as follows. An Ace can be either high or low when included in a straight, and ranks as the top pair available. A pair of Aces will beat a pair of 10's, and an Ace high flush beats a Jack high flush. There is no ranking between the suits. Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs all have equal standing in Texas Hold'em poker.

One Pair             - 7-7-6-Q-2
Two Pair            - 7-7-5-5-J
Three of a kind   - 9-9-9-4-2
Straight             - 4-5-6-7-8
Flush                 - A-J-8-5-3 all of the same suit (Hearts/Spades/Diamonds/Clubs)
Full House         - K-K-K-4-4
Four of a kind    - J-J-J-J-6
Straight Flush    - 4-5-6-7-8 all of the same suit
Royal Flush        - 10-J-Q-K-A all of the same suit


Wheel of Fortune

This is the easiest of all the games to play. It’s a case of guess where the wheel will stop! Players may bet it will land on a particular number or colour, the dealer spins the wheel for a minimum of 3 revolutions, and pays out all those players who correctly guessed it would land where it did. The payout corresponds to how many times that particular number/colour is present on the wheel, ie, one third on the wheel is red, so any bets on red payout 3 to1. However there is only one silver on board, so the payout for silver is 100 to 1.