How to Play Texas Hold 'em (Angelos)

If you watch any of the ESPN’s or the Fox Sports channels between the hours of midnight and say 8AM (though it is randomly on other times) you are bound to catch some scintillating televised Poker action. Many people click right past these shows because in all honesty for most people it is like watching paint dry. But for some watching these masters of the green felt card table do battle is the most thrilling form of entertainment any sports channel can offer. This is because they play they game, they know how it feels to lose and win and they have felt the exhilaration and disappointment of both ends of the spectrum.

Whether you just want to understand whats going on in those incessant card tournaments on TV or if you are looking to join in a game some time soon you need to know the rules, procedures and etiquette of Poker.

First it is important to understand the different hands a player can have. A hand can range from a simple high card to the coveted royal flush. I will not go into explaining every hand because almost any new deck of cards will have a list of them all and what beats what.

There are many forms of Poker and though I have been playing for years I must admit I still do not understand them all. The most common and popular form of the game is Texas Hold’em. It is what you see on almost all of those World Series of Poker events and is the game of choice for almost all home games you may be invited to. This form of Poker combines gives each player two individual cards and the entire table five community cards to make the best five card hand possible.

To start a game of Texas Hold’em the action begins before the first card is even dealt. Thre are things called the “blinds” where the player immediately to the left of the dealer puts in half of whatever the blind amount is and the player to their left puts in the full amount. These are called the “big” and “small” blinds. After that the cards are dealt with each person receiving two cards face down. These are your “hole” cards and only you may look at them.

Once everyone has looked at their cards the betting begins with the person to the left of the big blind. The minimum you must bet is the amount of the big blind, but a player can “fold” or give up their cards if they feel they do not have a good enough starting hand. After everyone has bet there is a “burn and turn” where the dealer places one card to the side face down and three more face up. Those three are called the “flop” and are community cards. Another round of betting occurs in the same manner as the first, but this time and every subsequent time the person immediately to the left of the dealer starts. Another slight difference from the first round of betting is the “check.” If no one has bet or raised a player can “check” and see what those after him will do or if they are the last to go the next burn and turn will occur.

The second burn and turn involves another card being set aside face down and a fourth community card being turned face up. Again players bet just as before, then a final burn and turn and one more round of betting. If everyone folds and only one player is left in that player wins whatever money has been put into the pot. If two or more players go all the way to the end matching all bets placed on the table all remaining players flip over their two hole cards and the person with the best five card hand wins the pot.

This is just a basic overview of how to play Texas Hold’em Poker. There are many other nuances and strategies which a player must learn to play the game effectively. Those will come with experience. For now you are ready to join a friendly game or begin to understand what is going on with all of those odd card playing characters on the television. Enjoy!

Defamation of Religion? (Banner)

Recently the United Nations adopted a non-binding resolution that urges it’s members to “effectively combat defamation of all religions and incitement to religious hatred, against Islam and Muslims in particular.”

You have got to be kidding me! What is the UN doing? Why are they taking such steps backwards toward the dark ages of ignorance and intolerance?

It is not the fact that this resolution specifically names Islam as the offended party (though that is an issue I will discuss). I actually do agree that in this post Sept. 11th world Islamic peoples are unfairly profiled and discriminated against. It is sad that such a dichotomy has been created between Muslims and non-Muslims and that we, as a world community, do not see the true enemy infiltrating all societies: violent fundamentalist perversion of all religions. Instead of realizing this as the problem we make blanket generalizations and treat entire countries and races as sworn enemies.

So what does the UN do to combat this problem? They fight intolerance with more intolerance. Granted the resolution was pushed through by the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference) and does not represent the view all countries associated with the UN. In fact most all Western European and North American countries were opposed to the resolution. But the fact that such a blatant disregard for free speech could find the worldwide support to get passed through the UN is scary.

There are several fundamental problems with this resolution. First off, how do you define defamation? Defamation of character in the US applies to libel and slander against an individual but as Kevin “Seamus” Hasson, founder and president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, is quoted by Fox News as saying, “ideas can’t be defamed. Ideas don’t have rights, people have rights.”

Second why is only Islam named in the resolution? The resolution is being pushed forward by countries were open hatred and defamation of western governments and peoples is violently expressed in the streets. That is worse than irony.

People should be allowed to freely criticize thoughts and beliefs they disagree with, without fear of reprisals. The free and open exchange of ideas is crucial to a forward progressing society. The idea of homogeneity of thought and belief was something that Adolf Hitler advocated in Mein Kampf. We have seen this sort of silencing of critics in nearly every tyrannical totalitarian regime in history. All this resolution is, is a step in that direction.

For some this stroy is relatively old news, but for many this may be the first time you are hearing about it. National media has been somewhat silent on this topic and I believe it needs more attention so that proper outrage can be expressed. I heard Lou Dobbs talking about the issue a while back, and when I searched the topic on the web most of the articles were not from major news outlets (the Washington Times had a column about it, and I found one Fox News story). We have to wake up and make sure our government does not give in to international pressure to restrict our or anyone's freedom of expression.