Gambling - Las Vegas - page 253

inspired, again, by the WSOP. Buy-ins range from around $20 and go into the
thousands. You can find out when they're held by going to the “Gaming” section
of each individual casino's website, or checking out the useful website www.all
vegaspoker.com, which not only lists tournaments, but also buy-ins, administra-
tive fees, returns, and reviews.
The first step to getting in on a game is approaching the floor supervisor. Tell
him what you'd like to play (and how much you're willing to stake—you don't
want to get caught in a high-limit game if you have a small budget), and he will
lead you to an open spot at a table, or have you wait until a spot opens. The most
common game is Texas Hold 'em, and you can often find an Omaha/8 tourna-
ment going on. The goal in all poker games is to get the highest hand at the table.
(Or, at least bluff everyone into thinking you do.) The game surrounds a commu-
nal pot of chips, which accumulate as players bet on whether their own hand will
win. To the victor go the spoils.
THE BASICS
To play poker (and other card games) you first should know that every deck of
cards consists of 4 different suits: clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades, and no suit
is higher in value than the other. There are 13 cards of each suit: 2 through 10,
jack, queen, king, and ace—with ace being the highest and 2 the lowest. Aces can
also be used as low cards when it comes to what's called a “wheel straight”: A 2-3-
4-5. In most poker games, a hand consists of 5 cards.
A royal flush is the highest hand. This consists of an A-K-Q-J-10, all of the
same suit.
A straight flush comes next. Unlike the royal, this can be any ordinal series of
the same suit: 2-3-4-5-6.
Four-of-a-kind is just as it sounds—a hand where four of the five cards have
the same value. If more than one player has four-of-a-kind, the one with the
higher hand wins (four “9”s beats four “3”s).
A full house is three-of-a-kind plus a pair, for example three “4”s and two
queens. If more than one player has a full house, the one with the higher three-
of-a-kind wins (K-K-K-2-2 beats 8-8-8-A-A).
A flush is a hand where all five cards are of the same suit. Cards don't have to
be in any numeric order, for example, 9-2-5-Q-10 of spades. If more than one
player has a flush, the one with the high card wins. If that's a tie, then the next
high card wins, and so on.
The straight is a hand where all five cards are in numerical order, for example
5-6-7-8-9. An ace can be high (10-J-Q-K-A), or low (A-2-3-4-5). If more than
one person has a straight, the highest card wins.
Three-of-a-kind is a hand in which three cards have the same numeric value,
and two cards don't match, such as Q-Q-Q-5-9. If more than one player has a
three-of-a-kind the highest card wins.
A two-pair hand consists of two sets of two cards with the same numeric
value, for example 4-4 and K-K. If more than one player has two-pair then the
highest pair wins. If there's a high-card tie, then the second highest pair wins.
A pair is a hand with a single pair of matching cards, such as 9-9-4-3-2. If
more than one player has a pair, the high pair wins. If two players have the same
numerical pair, then the one with the highest unmatched card wins (Q-Q-K-4-2
beats Q-Q-10-8-7).