N00b faq...

DeVore

ok... if you are new to poker and want to know about something (yes you are supposed to have hair there)... then just ask and I or any of the other lads will give you an answer if we can.

Alternatively, if you are regularly asked a question and want to put the answer in here, then ask and answer the question yourself and I'll edit this post and collate as much as I can in the one place...

To start us off here are a few commonly asked ones.

Q: Why do dealers "burn" cards.
A: "Burned" cards are the dead cards that are dealt before the flop, turn and river. They play no part in the game and there purpose is to stop anyone seeing the back of the card which is about to be played (stops card markers and cheats etc).

Q: What are the blinds?
A: They are two compulsory bets put in by the players to the left of the dealer. The big blind (the player two to the left of the dealer) is normally roughly twice the small blind (the player to the immediate left of the dealer). Poker players often refer to the position and the bet in the same way which can be confusing at first... ie: "I was the small blind" "you have to put in your small blind".
They are put in before any cards are dealt and are treated pretty much like regular bets from that point on except that the big blind gets an "option" to reraise even if he's not raised by another player.

Q: Whats that black thing at the bottom of the deck for?
A: Its called a card cutter and its job is to cut the cards normally... in poker it performs a second, more important function of blocking anyone seeing the bottom card on the deck as the dealer deals.

Q: What happens if I misbet?
A: Your bet is announced to the table and it stands. If the players yet to act fold, call or under-raise your bet, then your bet happens in turn just as you announced it. If they raise you, you may retract it. Folding out of turn is bad manners as it gives information to the other players that may effect their betting. Betting out of turn is worse again. Doing either intentionally is extremely poor and warrants ejection from the club imho.

Q: Can I loan my mate some chips?
A: In a tournament absolutely not! In a cash game you can of course. (If you are reading this and play cash games... can I play?)

Q: Whats a rebuy or buy-in?
A: Re-buy or Buy-in: These are the more or less the same. If you lose all your chips in a tournament, you may call for more chips and pay the appropriate amount. Not all tournaments allow this (typically the higher standard tournaments dont and the newbie friendly ones do). At some point during the night that option will be rescinded and if you lose your chips after that then you are out for good. Tournaments that allow this are called Rebuy Tournaments.

Q: Whats a freezeout?
A: A tournament which doesnt allow rebuys. People also use it to refer to that portion of a rebuy tournament when you CANT buy-in again. eg: "I had to buy in three times! Then after the freezeout I started to get decent cards".

Q: Whats a "top-up" then?
A: Ok... we've established that at a rebuy tournament you can buy more chips if you lose all the chips they gave you. You may only do this if you have no chips left. There is one exception to this: when the casino announces that the tournament is about to cease rebuys and enter the "freezeout" stage... they offer everyone the chance to buy more chips. Its a one time, single offer. You cant buy multiples and you must have chips in front of you to do it (if you lose all your chips on the hand just before this point, you can buy in and then top up).
Typically Topups give you more (usually twice more) chips then a "rebuy" will.

Q: Whats a "bubble"
A: "The bubble" is the position that is one away from getting a prize. Typically the unfortunate player gets his entry cash back and sometimes a seat at a special Bubble-only tournament. Packed full of others losers



Ask more and we'll answer them. I'll try and add to this myself over the weekend.

DeV.

Marq

sorry to be pernickety, but you can't retract bet that you made out of turn, even if someone raises you. Some nice people at the table may well let you do it if it was a genuine mistake, but generally the bet will stand.

BTW, there's loads of good material on playing at the fitz that's also relevant to newbies stickied to this forum