Okay, we’ve mentioned the basics of the game and even given you some hints about a basic strategy on the “positional” page. But not only haven’t we done more than scratch the surface, we can’t say that we’ve even made a deep enough scratch!

• The phrase “no-limit” goes with Texas Hold’em like jelly goes with peanut butter, or like progressive jackpots with online slots…and by that I mean that you don’t need to put one with the other, but it’s done a heck of a lot of the time.

No-limit means exactly that — you’re playing a game without limits, so you can raise as much as your stake can stand. No-limit Texas Hold’em is the most popular version of the game, in a ‘real life’ tournament — the most popular version of poker in the world right now (it’s still strange to us that future generations may stare up at us with big eyes and say, “what does 7-card stud mean?).

• This makes absolutely no difference in a professional environment (where you don’t usually have to worry about the dealer doing anything too shady), but Texas Hold’em traditionally “burns” (discards) the top card in the deck before the flop, turn, and river.

• We probably should have mentioned this before, but if the hand goes past the river round and more than one player is left, you get a showdown, where the best hand wins. In case of a tie, the pot is split — but because kickers count, this doesn’t happen often.

• I knew you’d ask. Kickers are the cards that don’t matter when you’re making a hand, but become very important when your opponents’ hands are worth as much as yours. For example, if you and your opponent can both make two pair of the same value, the winner is the one with the higher ‘useless’ fifth card.

• One way that this can happen is when the best hand is actually the five cards on the table. When this happens, it’s called playing the board, and (obviously) any remaining players have that same option.

If your new to online poker and nervous to bet, try out online blackjack to see how the online games work and to get a bit more comfortable betting online.