Home poker tournaments are becoming more and more popular. By knowing how to deal with certain circumstances your tournaments will run more smoothly, and be more fun for everyone. This article deals with removing low value chips from the tables by means of a chip race.

When a poker tournament begins, each player usually starts with a healthy stack of chips that are the lowest denomination. After all, you’ll need them to pay the blinds, and probably for all of the betting during the first few blind levels.

But, as time passes and the blinds increase, these smaller chips eventually are more bothersome than helpful. With blinds at $75 and $150, putting up fifteen $10 chips to pay a big blind is not convenient.

So, once a chip value is no longer needed to pay any of the remaining blinds on the schedule, those chips are removed from play. When possible, they are cashed in at face value for a higher denomination chip. But, someone is bound to have the odd chip or two, and that brings us to the question of how to remove those odd chips from play as well.

The first way to deal with this situation is to ignore it. It won’t go away, but those leftover $10 chips will only be put into play when a player is going all-in. At that time you can sort out any situations as they occur. Eventually one player will gather enough of the small chips to cash them in.

Or, you can race off the smallest chips of the smallest value. A chip race begins with the player in the dealer’s position. For each odd chip they have, they receive one card, face up. So, if the dealer has three odd chips, he will receive three cards face up.

This continues around the table until all the players have given their odd chips in exchange for cards.

At that point, the collected chips are totalled and a pile of the same value is made using the next higher chip denomination. So, if $100 worth of $10 was collected, $100 of the next highest chip value (perhaps $25’s) would be set aside to award in the race.

If the numbers do not match, they are rounded up. So, if $120 worth of $10 chips were collected, $125 worth of $25 chips would be awarded in the race.

Now, the awarding of the chips. The player with the highest card receives one chip. Then the player with the second highest card. And so on. Each player may only receive one chip, so once a player is awarded a chip in the race, all of his cards are taken from him.

It is important to note that a chip race cannot eliminate anyone from a tournament. If a player has only one small chip left when the race begins, that chip is traded in for a card as usual. Should he lose in the chip race, and additional chip of the new value is given to him so that he may keep his place in the tournament.

Chip races can be fun and interesting, or bothersome, depending upon the situation. In our local tournaments we simply leave the odd chips on the tables until the final table is formed.
At that point we race off all the unused colors.

Handle things in a way that works for you when hosting a tournament. Still, should someone ask about chp races, now you know the ins and outs of the process.

Are you looking for some inside information on internet poker? Here’s an up-to-date report from internet poker experts who should know.

There are several types of poker games now played around the world, privately, in a casino, and now, online. Each variant has its own strategy and set of rules, though the concept remains the same. The best hand wins. Developing your strategy is key to playing a good game. In poker, you are almost always playing to win, especially when money is at stake. You want to minimize your risk while maximizing your winnings. There are two types of poker discussed here, limit and no-limit.

Limit poker is recommended for beginners where a set amount is bet. In no-limit poker, however, you are able to win big pots with all-in bets, even when you don’t have the best hand. This is not recommended for beginners as they often make mistakes that wind up costing them a lot of money. If you are a beginner it is advised that you stick to limit poker until you are a more experienced player and have had an opportunity to develop your strategy.

No-limit texas Hold’em strategy. In no-limit Texas Hold’em poker, the all-in factor is what allows you to bully your opponents and take a dominating position in the game. This strategy can work for you if you know how to use it.

One of the best times to go all-in is when you steel a pot from your opponent, however, when you do this, you must be sure the hand meets these conditions.

You want outs. If your opponent calls, there should be cards left in the deck that could help you win the hand. Even if the odds are bad, you still want outs.

You must have a solid read on your opponent. If you are going to steel a pot, you must be confident that the other player will fold.

Those of you not familiar with the latest on internet poker now have at least a basic understanding. But there’s more to come.

You want to have good positioning. Though this isn’t considered to be as important as the first two conditions, positioning is what usually allows you to get a solid read on opponents.

The key is knowing that your opponent will fold. If you choose to play a hand aggressively, know that it could lead to higher bets. This is why you want to go after players who have shorter stacks than you. If a worst-case scenario occurs and you lose an all-in match, you are still not out of the game.

A secondary benefit to this strategy is that if a player has fewer chips it will be easier to play the hand more aggressively and will further lower your risk.

No matter what strategy you try to adopt, remember that it is important to know as much about the habits of your opponents as possible. You will want to use different strategies in different situations, and in different games with different opponents.

When you break out the 52-card deck and deal a hand of 3-card poker, the first strategy you need is a firm understanding of the rules. Rather than competing against other players, you are competing against the dealer. You need a better hand than the dealer (and at least a pair) to win. Each of you is dealt three cards, and the cards are shuffled after each hand. Because there are fewer ways to make a straight with 3 cards than a flush, straights rank higher. Aces are high or low.

You can make two bets: the Ante and the Pair Plus. The Ante is the fee charged to you for playing the hand. The Pair Plus is your bet that you will get a hand with a pair or higher. You don’t have to make both bets, but you do at least have to bet the Ante to stay in the game.

You ante when you put your bet on the game table’s Ante spot. Both you and the dealer are dealt three cards face down. Your next decision? Are these cards good enough for you to bet or should you fold? Fold and lose the ante. Bet and you place your bet that equals the ante in the game table’s Play spot. Win and you get the Ante and the Pair Plus payouts.

The dealer has to have a Queen or better to stay in the game. If not, you get payment on their ante only if it pays even money (1 to 1) – and as long as you didn’t fold.

Ante Payout

- A straight gets a 1 to 1 payout.
- A three of a kind gets a 4 to 1 payout.
- A straight flush gets a 5 to 1 payout.

Pair Plus Payout

- A pair gets a 1 to 1 payout.
- A flush gets a 4 to 1 payout.
- A straight gets a 6 to 1 payout.
- A three of a kind gets a 30 to 1 payout.
- A straight flush gets a 40 to 1 payout.

Remember these tips to help your strategy:

- If you have a Queen or better, bet the Pair Plus. If not, fold.
- A dealer will get a Queen about 66% of the time.
- The house has a 3.4% advantage.