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Limit & No Limit - No Limit poker is most likely what you've seen on TV. It means that at any time during the game you can bet all of your chips/money, also known as going All-In. It's a risky move and is often used as a bluff. Limit poker means all bets are limited to a certain amount of chips/money. For example: In a $5/$10 limit game, the most you can bet at any given time is $10. If you raise a bet it must be in increments of $10. So if I bet $10 you could only raise me another $10 and so on. The Dealer Button - This represents the dealer at the table. Although the cards are automatically dealt by the program, the player that has the button in front of them is considered the dealer for positional purposes. This is known as being On The Button. The player on the button is always dealt the last card and is the last to bet. The button is moved from player to player in a clockwise manner. Blinds - You're probably familiar with antes. Blinds are basically a different form of ante. If the blind structure is $5 & $10, then the player to the left of the dealer button is forced to bet $5 (known as the small blind) and the player to the left of him is forced to bet $10 (known as the big blind) before any cards are dealt. This helps to generate action and insures at least some money will be in the pot. In tournaments the blinds will increase after a set amount of time, usually every 15 minutes. When you're looking at all of the available games in your poker program, they'll most likely be sorted by their blind structure. Once you join a game I recommend clicking the check box that will automatically post the blinds for you. This saves time and you won't get yelled at by the other players. Tournaments - I guess this pretty much explains itself. Players pay to join a tournament and they play poker until one player has everyone's chips. The money everyone paid for the tournament becomes the prize pool and a certain percentage is paid to usually at least the top ten players. Freerolls - Freerolls are free tournaments. Most online poker sites have them. In most cases they either pay very little money to the top players or they gain you access to another tournament. You can expect a lot of players in these tournaments, some times as many as 6,000. So it's very hard to win them. But they are a good tool for new players to use as a stepping stone into real tournament play. Sit & Go - This is basically a single table tournament. Usually with only 9 or 10 players. Everyone pays a set entry fee to join and this becomes the prize pool which is divided among the top 3 players. Many poker sites now have Sit & Go tournaments in their play money sections. This can be another good tool to prepare you for real money games. Ring Game - A Ring Game is what you are likely to play most of the time. It is simply a table which anyone can join and start playing poker. Rake - The rake is how poker sites make money. When playing for real money the poker sites "rake" a small percentage of money out of every pot. The rake is also usually the basis of any bonus money you receive. In other words, before you receive your signup bonus at most poker sites, you have to play a certain amount of raked hands. Don't worry though. It is usually easy to play the required number of hands in a very small amount of time.
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