Tip  How to Play Poker

Isaiah Ropeswine

Isaiah Ropeswine

Wanted Pirate
So, you're a new pirate looking on how to gamble? Look here for the basics of Poker/ Trtuga Hold'em.

The Objective.
The objective of the game is to get the best hand out of all the other players, using the 5 cards that are thrown down by the dealer, and the 2 cards you are given. This game requires confidence, as well as a sharp mind when playing against other players, and/or the computer. Even if you don't like Poker, you're going to need it for quests, which means that there is little way to advance in the game without gambling.

The Hands.
Thanks to disney gaming technology, you have the ability to see what type of hand you have. The greater your hand, the more likely you are to win at poker. As far as numbers go, it goes from lowest to highest, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace. Here is a list of the different hands you can have from the hands with the lowest value, to the hands with the highest value:

  • One Pair- Two cards that are the same value, but not suit.
  • Two Pair- Two one pairs.
  • 3 of a Kind- Three cards of the same value, but not same suit.
  • Straight- Five cards that are in order that start from any any number between two and ten, and continue in order to any number between six and ace. They do not have to be the same suit (I.E.-2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
  • Flush- Five cards of the same suit, not in any numerical order.
  • Full House- A combination of a 3 of a Kind, with a One Pair. When you have a Full House, it will usually be displayed as the 3 of a Kind, over the One Pair, I.E.- "3 over Ace".
  • 4 of a Kind- When you have all cards of same value in one deck.
  • Straight Flush- Five cards of all the same suit in numerical order. (ie: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 of Hearts)
  • Royal Flush- The biggest and rarest hand of all, it is the Ten, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, all of same suit.

Card Sub-Titles.
To add to the above, your hands will sometimes have the sub-titles "High", and "Kicker". These are here incase you and someone else gets the same hand. For example, if you get a One Pair of Aces, and so does your partner, the win can be determined upon these sub-titles. If you have aJack High with your pair, and your partner has a Jack Kicker, you will win because you have High, or if you have an Ace High, and your partner has a Jack High, you will win because an Ace is higher than a Jack.

The Set-up.
There are three computer players, then there could be an additional 4 people playing as well. When you sit down, the round always starts out with a Big Blind and a Small Blind. The Big Blind is always double the amount of the Small Blind, and the amount of the Small Blind depends on the location of where you decide to play Poker. The Blinds is what makes up the Pot. The system of who makes the pot goes clockwise, so you can see who has to do the Small Blind, and Big Blind next. The Pot, is the total amount of gold all the computer and pirate players have bet, and is the number of gold you can get if you win the round. You can see what the Pot number is right above the cards played by the dealer.

The Game.
Finally! We are at the heart of how the game rolls. This is the most crucial section on how to become successful in poker.

The Keys
  • Fold- Allows you to leave the round, and you have to wait to the next game to play again.
  • Check- Your "request" to see the next card without placing more gold on the table. (passing on betting) You can only perform this move if no one has said they wanted to bet.
  • Call- Betting the same amount as the previous player. Your call can be Raised by the next player, and in order to continue, you will have to Call again when it is your turn.
  • Bet- You think that you could win the game, so you put down gold because you think the odds are in your favor.
  • Raise- Betting more gold than the previous player.
  • All-In- You're running low on gold, so this makes it so that you have to either bet all the gold you have left (if you have confidence), or fold.
  • Swap Card- This is if you know your numbers, and how to cheat. if you see an opportunity to switch your cards for a favorable hand, you can take it using this.

Part One- Place Yer Bets!
This is usually the first round. The Big and Small Blinds are placed, and all the players go around with only the cards in their hands either folding if they have no confidence, or raise/ calling if they think they have a good hand. Usually, if you have a really good hand, your pirate will do a "pumping fist" emotion, and if you have a bad hand, your player will shake his/ her head. It usually takes all of the players to say call in order to proceed to the next round. Using raise will keep the round going for a while, unless all of the players (including you) said call.

Part Two- Do I have a Chance?
When 3/4 of the players have said "Call", the dealer will throw down 3 cards. You can look down at your hand and see if your hand is good or not. The player who started will have the option to "Check" or "Raise". Usually, the computer will always choose "Check", unless it has a good hand, then the computer WILL ALWAYS choose Bet/ Raise. If the computer chooses Bet/ Raise, it is a good idea to fold right then and there, so you can keep yourself from losing more gold. Now, when its your turn, and the computer has chosen check for all of the computer players, you will have the option to Bet, or Check. If you're not too sure, click check, if you're confident, click bet. When all of the players have chosen Check, or 3/4 of the players have chosen Call, the dealer will throw down another card. Then this entire process repeats.

Part Three- The Last Round!
Ok, now there are 5 cards on the table. This is your last chance to Call/ Check/ Bet/ Raise/ Fold! After all of the players select Call, or all the players choose Check, everyone's cards will be unveiled, and everyone can see each their cards. The winner gets all the gold in the pot, and the losers get nothing. If there is a tie between 2 or more people, the gold will be split evenly.

Locations and Betting Amounts.
Port Royal- Rowdy Rooster-
  • Big Blind- 2 Gold
  • Small Blind- 1 Gold
  • Bets/Raise- 2-4 Gold
  • Call- 2-4 Gold

Port Royal- Royal Anchor-
  • Big Blind- 2 Gold
  • Small Blind- 1 Gold
  • Bets/Raise- 2-4 Gold
  • Call- 2-4 Gold

Tortuga- King's Arm-
  • Big Blind- 2 Gold
  • Small Blind- 1 Gold
  • Bets/Raise- 2-4 Gold
  • Call- 2-4 Gold

Tortuga- Faithful Bride-
  • Big Blind- 2 Gold
  • Small Blind- 1 Gold
  • Bets/Raise- 2-4 Gold
  • Call- 2-4 Gold

Cuba- La Bodeguita-
  • Big Blind- 10 Gold
  • Small Blind- 5 Gold
  • Bets/Raise- 10-20 Gold
  • Call- 10-40 Gold

Padres Del Fuego- Ratskeller-
  • Big Blind- 20 Gold
  • Small Blind- 10 Gold
  • Bets/Raise- 20-40 Gold
  • Call- 20-80 Gold
 
hi you know you can give gold to a other pirate thats need gold all you half to do i keep raising in tell the player fold so its just you to then the table is all yours to help a friend in need of gold but the player that is giving gold need to fold before the other player go's all in hope this helps to
EDIT (Apr 18, 2011 7:13 PM):
oh one more thing you can give more gold in padres del fuego at the ratskeller because the bets are higher but this will work at any porker table
 
I'd like to offer some advice as well. These are general things I do derrived from playing real texas hold'em poker.
The key to winning at poker...especially if you are doing it for a quest: is how you play less than standard hands. Even if I have 20,000 gold, I don't play every hand, but I do play 90% of my poker hands. You are not always gonna get delt two aces or two kings (in poker slang: pocket rockets and pocket cowboys respectively). It's when you are delt a 3-8 in different suits and you play it like you do have two aces.

Here are the top 5 "worst hands" in texas hold'em. These you might just want to fold before you toss out even a starting bet, though I'm crazy enough to play them 70% of the time: 2-7 offsuit (as in, for example, you get a diamond and a spade), 2-8 offsuit, 3-8 offsuit (Check out my post in the "Post your amazing things" thread where I took this very "bad" hand and it ended up being one of my bigger wins
https://piratesforums.co/threads/post-your-amazing-things.977/page-3#post-46532 ), 2-9 offsuit, 2-6 offsuit.

-If you are delt a pair of anything, Raise, don't call. Chances are you will hit at least 2 pair, 3 o-kind.
-If you are delt two cards in order (ex 5-6 or 3-4) you should consider raise, you have the makings of a straight. At least call, and see if with the first three cards you have a chance to make a straight. I had 3 hands of this kind in that post that ended up as big winners.
-If your are delt two cards that are the same suit, no matter what they are keep, and consider raise. You could make a flush, which is a very hard hand to be topped in poker. If though in the first three cards, you don't see two more of your suit, it's up to you if you are gonna stay in or fold depending on what you get.
-If you put up the big blind at the start of the hand (the biggest starting ante) and everyone checks or calls, don't EVER fold your hand, check, you get to see the first three cards for "free."
-As stated above, watch for the fist pump animation...if you see it, if you are gonna stay and play that hand, you better bring the fire with your hand! It usually means they have a pair of something or perhaps something suited. And if it happens during the fourth or fifth card, it's a huge hand. Probably a straight or fullhouse, it'll probably be obvious to you by looking at what's on the table. Also watch for the head shake, if they for some reason play, Raise, without second thought, they have nothing.
-If all the other players fold before the first bet except for one, I will 99% of the time call and at least see the first 3 cards, if this single player checks...especially if it's a NPC, I will raise, no matter what my hand is, I would guess I win 8-12% of my poker hands vs the computer before the first 3 cards fall. Remember even if you win the blinds...it's a win.
-This one is a bit tricky and will call on you to have some guts. But I won about 10 of my skeleton poker hands doing this. If you are at the 5th card and you have nothing but high card, and all of the other players, again especially computer, have checked every time, bet. Chances are you can bluff them out, because unless they made a pair with the last card they have nothing too. You'll get burned a couple times, but more often than not I can get the computer to fold.
-This is what I'd consider advanced, but if you are playing with lots of actual other players, here is where I employ "real world" poker strategy...which sometimes doesn't work in POTCO, some players will play every hand to the last card, and bluffing is waaay harder vs other players, but simply put...vary your moves. Don't always do "x". Don't always Raise when you are delt a pair. Don't always Raise if you have an awesome hand. Sometimes if I have an awesome hand I'll just check and call all the way to the last card and not actually initiate a round of betting untill that last card, knowing it'll be hard to beat. You can sometimes win more gold than if you bet a whole bunch when I first made that awesome hand.

I don't think it'd be too difficult, but if you are truely lost, want some help with texas hold'em, or at the very least don't want to dread those poker game related sections of quests, I'd be willing to do some virtual texas hold'em training. Find a quiet server and talk you through some hands or something similar. There is of course a measure of luck involved with poker, but I think I could at least help you beat the computer players more. Feel free to message me if your interested.

~Etar1pAI
 
LOL! I haaaaaaaaaaaate playing poker! I earned all my cash early on in Blackjack, and even then.... it was hard. Once lost 40,000 trying to play poker for 500 gold for a quest. REDICULOUS!!!!!!! :cursing::p
 
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