Our "family" gift this year? Learn to play poker (me ,my husband 2 kids)

My question is: is this going to be like teaching someone to drive? Nerve racking,with potential for a lot of yelling and getting upset?

Is this too much forced family fun?

Or is it a good skill to develop?

My kids are girls 17 and 15 ( we aren't going to bet for money just chips so someone can be "winner"

You should have seen our family fight over Monopoly. :)

Four handed poker isn't that fun, though. Have you considered Bridge or Pinochle?

Spades, Hearts and Euchre, on the other hand, are great games that can help develop reasoning skills. Congrats for working at developing a real family, where people interact and have fun together. Some of my best memories are of sitting around the kitchen bar, playing cards with my family. I usually won at poker, my baby brother ALWAYS lost, my dad always bitched and moaned, and I learned just how devious my sisters were. Mostly, everybody laughed a lot. Have fun! :thumbsup:

;) Kidding.
Pokers easy to learn, but if any of you are really competitive I'd watch out. I'm more of a Crib person myself

What are you going to learn? Texas Hold 'em?

Ask me anything! I actually make about fifty books a months playing poker.

I bought a book and we watch it on tv but I'm a little confused about the blinds and the order of betting and the options some players have to check while others don't

Just the first round; once the "action" gets going I get it - it's the starting correctly that sometimes stumps me

Eventually we'd like to have friends in for poker nights. My kids have parties in our home about once every 6 weeks (all their friends parents rotate kids' get- togethers so that it isn't always the same house kids are hanging out at)poker or cards would be a "new "activity for them

None of our friends play poker - I know of three (plus us) that know how to play cribbage; As I'm typing this I'm thinking of my grandmother who had a weekly card game during the depression - cards are a way to "socialize " without incurring great expense. We aren't ready for gambling for money and maybe never will be,but any help you could provide would be appreciated

Ultimate bet is a good choice.

Basically the "button" is the dealer, although it is symbolic usually and the same person deals. (somebody who is good with cards) To the left of the dealer are the blinds and I forget whether it is big blind first and then little blind or the other way around. If you are in those spots you must put in the blind to stay in the game, and therefore you usually play your cards even if they are no good. If you leave the game for any amount of time when you come back in you put in a "dead blind" which I think is equal to big and little together. The person on the button goes last, which is a great advantage because you get to see what everybody else is betting.

But get onto a good site. Don't play for money, though.

if everybody else checks, you're okay sticking too, but if they add to the pot, you have to put in too, or fold (drop out of that hand).

betting goes round in a circle, same as dealing, unless you have cards showing, then the highest hand showing bets first and it goes in a circle from them.

i've played for years and have no idea what the blinds are. LOL. don't feel bad, i'd never be able to pick it up from tv either.
save texas holdem till everybody's comfy knowing what beats what. it's a great game, but you need to work up to it.

playing with him. When we don't use chips I win every hand, when we use them he wins. He has started to teach me what is a stupid bet (you'd be surprised). We don't use real money but he does play once a week with 15-20 friends for real money.

Anyways - yes, it is fun but I think the betting part is more complicated than it seems.

i taught three siblings last year on Xmas eve, youngest was 7 years old. and when i woke up Xmas day, they had their own game going!

less time spent with your nose in a book, the better.


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