Hand:

A player’s hand is the combination of cards he holds.

Play:

A single game, from one shuffle to the next is called a play.

Pot:

The pot is the accumulated pool of money bet by players over the course of a game. A round of poker is a battle for the pot, and the winner of any round wins it as a prize.

Hand Tie or Split Pot:

If two players have the same hand then they divide the pot equally between them. When the pool is not exactly divisible then the left over amount goes to the player who called the highest bet.

Ante: An enforced bet that must be made by all players before any cards are dealt. An ante encourages action in a game.

Rake:

A commission charged by a poker room for every hand played. The rake is usually taken as a percentage of the pot in a given hand. For example, if the rake is 10%, and a pot reaches a final of $10, the rake will be $1. Poker rooms generally use rake as their sole source of revenue.

Showdown:

After the last round of betting in a round of poker, a showdown occurs- players must turn over their cards, and compare their five-card poker hands.

Betting Terms:

Call:

A player may call a bet by putting an amount of money exactly equal to the bet into the pot. For example, if Jim bets $2, and Brian wants to call Jim’s bet, Brian must put $2 into the pot.

Fold:

A player may fold his hand by laying down his cards, and forfeiting further play in a round of poker. For example, if Jim bets $2 and Brian wishes to fold, Brian must surrender his cards to the dealer, and will remain inactive for the rest of the round.

Raise:

A player may raise a previous bet by putting an amount greater than the bet into the pot. A raise must be at least double the size of the previous bet. For example, if Jim bets $2, and Brian wants to raise Jim’s bet, Brian may put $4 or more into the pot.

Check:

A player may pass his turn in a round of poker without taking any betting action, only if there are no previous bets in the round. This is known as a check. For instance, if Brian is first to act on the flop in a hand, he has the option of checking his hand, which will put the action on the next player. Also pay attention to the difference in betting structures in limit, no limit and pot limit forms of poker.

Hand Rankings:

Know the order of cards, from low to high ~ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack (J), Queen (Q), King (K) and Ace (A). The ace (A) can usually double as the lowest ranked card as well as the highest. Card suits do not affect ranking- for example, the king of hearts and the king of spades are equal. Final hands in poker are always based on the total rank of five cards. Familiarize yourself with the definitions of different hands, and with the value of each type. The different categories of five-card poker hands are as follows, from weakest to highest:

One Pair, Two pair, Three of a kind, Straight, Flush, Full house, Four of a kind, Straight flush and Royal flush. A given hand beats all hands listed before it.

1. One pair consists of two cards out of a five-card hand with the same numerical rank. For example: A-A-K-7-6 (a pair of aces), or J-J-8-5-3 (a pair of jacks). If two players show down one pair hands of the same rank, they must compare their next highest card (the kicker) to determine the winner. If the two hands have equal kickers, then the next highest card must be compared- and so on. For example, A-A-7-6-5 (a pair of aces, 6 kicker) beats A-A-7-3-2 (a pair of aces, 3 kicker), since the 6 is a higher ranked card than the 3. One pair

2. Two pair consists of two different pairs of cards and one other card in a five-card hand. Examples of two pair hands are A-A-K-K-5 (two pair, aces and kings, 5 kicker), and J-J-10-10-7 (jacks and tens, 7 kicker). If two players both show down two pair hands with equal top pairs, the lower pairs are compared, and the highest wins. For example A-A-K-K-5 (aces and kings) beats A-A-J-J-3 (aces and jacks). If both pairs are the same, the kickers are compared. For example, A-A-10-10-5 (aces and tens, 5 kicker) beats A-A-10-10-4 (aces and tens, 4 kicker).

Two pair 3. Three of a kind consists of three cards of the same numerical rank in a five-card poker hand. Examples of three of a kind would be A-A-A-3-2 (three of a kind aces), and 5-5-5-K-J (three of a kind fives). If two or more players show down three of a kind hands of equal rank, then the players must compare their kickers. As with pair hands, the hand with the highest kicker wins. For example, K-K-K-A-10 (three of a kind kings, ace and 10 kicker) beats K-K-K-A-9 (three of a kind kings, ace and 9 kicker), since 10 is higher in rank than 9. Three of a kind 4. Straight consists of five cards in sequential order, of different suits. For example, 6-5-4-3-2 is a 6-high straight. Q-J-10-9-8 is a queen high straight. 5-4-3-2-A is the lowest possible straight, and is known as the ‘wheel’ Straight 5. Flush consists of five cards in non-sequential order, all of the same suit. For example, A-9-7-5-2 of hearts is an ace high heart flush. K-J-8-6-3 all of spades is a king high spade flush. If two players both show down flushes, then they must compare their top cards to determine a winner. The highest ranked card wins. If these are equal, then they must compare their second highest cards, and the highest wins. If those are equal, then the third highest cards must be compared- and so on. For example, J-9-7-5-2 of hearts beats J-9-7-4-3 of hearts, since the 5 is of higher rank than the 4. Flush 6. Full House consists of three cards of the same numerical value, as well as a pair. It is useful to think of a full house as containing both three of a kind and a pair. For example, A-A-A-5-5 is a full house, aces full of 5’s. 6-6-6-2-2 is a full house, sixes full of 2’s. If two players show down full houses with three of a kinds of equal rank, the hand with the highest ranked pair would win the pot. For example, K-K-K-8-8 would beat K-K-K-2-2. Full house 7. Four of a kind consists of four cards of the same numerical rank, and any other card. An example of four of a kind would be, A-A-A-A-3 (four of a kind, aces).

Four of a kind 8. Straight Flush consists of five cards in sequential order, all of the same suit. For example, 7-6-5-4-3 of hearts is a 7-high straight flush. Straight flush 9. Royal Flush consists of A-K-Q-J-10, all of the same suit. A royal flush is simply the highest possible straight flush- however because of its very high value, it is given a separate name. The suit of the royal flush does not matter- all of them are equal. Royal flush 10. Any five-card poker hand that does not fit into one of the above categories is simply known as a high-card hand. When comparing two such hands, the one with the better highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal the second highest cards are compared. If those are equal, the third highest cards are compared, and so on. For example, A-J-9-5-3 (ace high, jack kicker) beats A-10-9-6-4 (ace high, 10 kicker), since the J is higher ranked than the 10. High card

DON’T scroll down too fast, do it slowly and follow the instructions below exactly, do the math in your head as fast as you can. It may help to say the answers aloud quietly.

FOLLOW these instructions one at a time and as QUICKLY as you can!

What is:

2+2?
4+4?
8+8?
16+16?

Quick! Pick a number between 12 and 5.

Got it?

The number you picked was 7.

Ready for another?
Just follow these instructions, and answer the questions one at a time and as quickly as you can! Don’t advance until you’ve done each of them. Now, ARROW down, but not too fast, you might miss something………

What is:

1+5
2+4
3+3
4+2
5+1

Now repeat saying the number 6 to yourself as fast as you can for 10 seconds. Then scroll down.

QUICK!!! THINK OF A VEGETABLE! Then arrow down.

You’re thinking of a carrot.

If not….
you’re among the 2% of the population whose minds are warped enough to think of something else. 98% of people will answer ‘carrot’ when given this exercise.

1. The Largest Producer of Playing Cards
The United States Playing Card Company (USPC), located in Cincinnati, Ohio, is the world’s largest producer of playing cards. The company was founded in 1867. USPC vends over 100,000,000 decks of playing cards annually. The company produces Aristocrat, Aviator, Bee, Bicycle and Hoyle brand cards. It also produces playing cards for popular brands and names like Coca-Cola, Mickey Mouse, Harry potter and Mr. Potato Head.

2. When Were Playing Cards First Used?
Another interesting fact about a deck of playing cards is that the first recorded account of their use was in the Orient, sometime in the 12th century. The Chinese replaced their bone or ivory playing cards (tiles) they used to play the game of Dominos with, with a heavy paper kind of playing cards.

3. Where Did the Four Suits Originate From?
The four suits in a standard deck of playing cards is thought to have originated in the Middle East. The suits started out as being coins, cups, swords and sticks. These suits evolved into today’s playing card suits with the coins now being diamonds; the cups, which stood for “love”, turning into hearts; the spades replaced the swords, and the sticks are now clubs.

4. How French Playing Cards Got Their Face Card Designs

An interesting fact about a deck of standard playing cards is that it originally was the French version. The face cards in the deck were named after, and designed to look like, actual historical figures. The King of Hearts was Charlemagne; the King of Diamonds was Julius Caesar; the King of Clubs was Alexander the Great, and the King of Spades was King David from the Holy Bible.

5. Why Is the Ace of Spades Different Looking?
Playing cards was a popular form of entertainment in France. The rulers saw a way to make more money by taxing the Ace of Spades, and only that card in the deck. Aces were given the most open space so they could be stamped showing that the tax had been paid.

Today, card manufacturers use the space to print their company information in, including trademark information.

6. They’re Not Playing With a Full Deck!
Have you ever heard this phrase, or said it about someone yourself? Nowadays, this phrase is generally used to describe a person who isn’t completely in their right mind.

An interesting fact about a deck of playing cards is, it actually generated this phrase. To avoid paying the tax that was tacked onto the Ace of Spades, people wouldn’t buy that card when they bought a deck of playing cards. So, they were playing traditional games that required using 52 cards with only 51. It was said they weren’t “playing with a full deck” or they were foolish for doing so.

7. What Do the Patterns on Card Backs Mean?
An interesting fact about a deck of playing cards is that usually playing cards have differentiable patterns on the backs of the cards. Unless the cards have advertising or pictures on the backs, that is. Each card manufacturer has their own unique pattern they place on their cards. The normal colors you’ll see these patterns printed in are red and blue.

8. Building Houses With Playing Cards Is Also a Favorite Pastime
Besides playing card games, building houses out of playing cards or “Cardstacking” is a favorite pastime for many people. A man named Bryan Berg has turned this pastime into a career. He earned the Guinness World Record for the “world’s tallest card tower” in 1992. Since then, Berg has won even more honors for building higher towers. His highest to date measured 25 feet, 3.5 inches. Bryan Berg used 2,400 decks of playing cards to build this huge tower with.

9. Playing Cards Assisted American Prisoners Escape During the War

An interesting fact about playing cards is that specially-constructed decks were sent to American soldiers who were being held in German camps during World War II. The United States Playing Card Company collaborated with the government in the production of these cards. What made these cards so unique was, once they became wet, they peeled apart. Inside, the prisoners found parts of maps that would lead them to freedom.

10. The Ace of Spades Assisted the U.S. Troops in Vietnam Too
In 1966, when the Vietnam War was raging on, two United States lieutenants contacted the United States Playing Card Company. The two officers wanted decks of playing cards that consisted of nothing more than Aces of Spades. The aces were used as part of a psychological warfare against the Viet Cong. You see, when the French used cards to foretell the future, the Aces of Spades forewarned of death. The Viet Cong were superstitious, and just seeing this card made them fearful. Thousands of Aces of Spades were dispersed throughout the jungles to make the enemy leave in fear.

You are a person prone to bouts of self-examination. This is in sharp contrast to a striking ability you have developed to appear very socially engaged, even the life and soul of the parrt; but in a way that only convinces others. You are all too aware of it being a facade.

This means that you will often be at a gathering and find yourself playing a part. While on the one hand you’ll be talkative and funny, you’ll be detaching yourself to the point where you will find yourself watching everything going on around you and feeling utterly unable to engage. You’ll play conversations back to yourself in your head and wonder what that person really meant when he said such-and-such – conversations that other people wouldn’t give a second thought to.

 How have you learned to deal with this conflict? Through exercising control. You like to show a calm, self-assured fluid kind of stability (but because this is self-consciously created, it will create bouts of frustrated silliness and a delight in extremes, or at least a delight in being seen to be extreme). You most easily recognize this control in how you are with people around you. You have learned to protect yourself by keeping people at bay. Because in the past you have learned to be disappointed by people, you instinctively keep people at arms’ length, until you decide they are allowed over that magic line into your group of close friends. However, once across that line, the problem is that an emotional dependency kicks in which leaves you feeling very hurt or rejected if it appears that they have betrayed that status.

Because you are prone to self-examination, you will be aware of these traits. However, you are unusually able to examine even that self-examination, which means that you have become concerned about what the real you is. You have become all too aware of facades, of sides of yourself which you present to the world, and you wonder if you have lost touch with the real and spontaneous you.

You are very creative, and have tried different avenues to utilize that ability. It may not be that you specifically, say, paint; it may be that your creativity shows itself in more subtle ways, but you will certainly find yourself having vivid and well-formed ideas which others will find hard to grasp. You set high standards for yourself, though, and in many ways are a bit of a perfectionist. The problem is, though, that it means you often don’t get stuff done, because you are frustrated by the idea of mediocrity and are wearied by the idea of starting something afresh. However, once your brain is engaged you’ll find yourself sailing. Very much this will likely lead to you having considered writing a novel or some such, but a fear that you won’t be able to achieve quite what you want stops you from getting on with it. But you have a real vision for things, which others fall short of. Particularly in your academic/college situation, you are currently fighting against restraints upon your desire to express yourself freely.

Your relationship with your parents is under some strain. You wish to remain fond of them but recent issues are causing frustration – from your side far more than theirs. In fact they seem unaware of your thoughts on the matter. Partly this is because there are ways in which you have been made to feel isolated from certain groups in the past – something of an outsider. Now what is happening is that you are taking that outsider role and defending it to the point of consciously avoiding being part of a group. This will serve you well in your creative and career pursuits. You have an enormous cynicism towards those who prefer to be part of a group or who exhibit any cliquey behaviour, and you always feel a pang of disappointment when you see your ‘close’ friends seeming to follow that route. Deep down it feels like rejection.

However, for all that introspection, you have developed a sensational, dry sense of humour that makes connections quickly and wittily and will leave you making jokes that go right over the heads of others. You delight in it so much that you’ll often rehearse jokes or amusing voices to yourself in order to ’spontaneously’ impress others with them. But this is a healthy desire to impress, and although you hate catching yourself at it, it’s nothing to be so worried about.

There’s also an odd feeling that you should have been born in a different century. You might be able to make more sense of that than I can.

 There are some strong monetary shifts taking place at the moment. Both the recent past and what’s in store over the next few months represent quite a change.

You have links at the moment with people abroad, which are quite interesting, and will look to yield worthwhile results. You’re naturally a little disorganized. A look around your living space would show a box of photos, unorganized into albums, out-of-date medicines, broken items not thrown out, and notes to yourself which are significantly out of date. Something related to this is that you lack motivation. Because you’re resourceful and talented enough to be pretty successful when you put your mind to things, this encourages you to procrastinate and put them off. Equally, you’ve given up dreams a little easily when your mind flitted elsewhere. There are in your home signs of an excursion into playing a musical instrument, which you have since abandoned, or are finding yourself less interested in. (This may alternatively relate to poetry and creative writing you’ve briefly tried your hand at and left behind you.) You have a real capacity for deciding that such-and-such a thing (or so-and-so a person) will be the be all and end all of everything and be with you for ever. But you’d rather try and fail, and swing from one extreme to the other, than settle for the little that you see others content with.

 Conclusion: It’s very interesting doing your reading, as you do present something of a conundrum, which won’t surprise you. You are certainly bright, but unusually open to life’s possibilities – something not normally found among achieving people. I’d say you’d do well to be less self-absorbed, as it tends to distance you a little, and to relinquish some of the control you exercise when you present that stylized version of yourself to others. You could let people in a little more, but I am aware that there is a darkness you feel you should hide (much of this is in the personal/relationship/sexual area, and is related to a neediness which you don’t like).

You really have an appealing personality – genuinely. Many thanks for doing this, and for offering something far more substantial than most.

Andrew J Speirs Email me at  aj.73@hotmail.co.uk

Think of a number between 0 and 50
Take the two digits and add them together, then minus them from your original number, think of this new number, now check the grid for your number.

00 – magician
01 – chair
02 – cards
03 – book
04 – T.V.
05 – drums
06 – jacket
07 – cat
08 – car
09 – magician
10 – pool table
11 – bed
12 – cloud
13 – book
14 – suit
15 – door
16 – lighthouse
17 – wall
18 – magician
19 – toilet
20 – light bulb
21 – DVD player
22 – guitar
23 – pie
24 – dress
25 – wig
26 – juice
27 – magician
28 – brain
29 – stage
30 – coins
31 – shoes
32 – socks
33 – door mat
34 – bus
35 – camera
36 – magician
37 – hat
38 – glasses
39 – mirror
40 – paint
41 – tree
42 – painting
43 – VHS
44 – computer
45 – magician
46 – moon
47 – star
48 – sun
49 – lipstick
59 – ukulele

Keep that word in mind, leave a comment and I’ll message the word you thought of to you!