Poker info II
In poker games, many concepts have become important and informed players need to know what they exactly mean. One such situation that arises during poker tournaments is the concept of overlay which can be defined as the gap value between the prize money announced and the total money pool created by the participants’ contribution. So, if a tournament is being played with the total prize money of $15,000 and the buy-in is fixed at $100 with a total of 125 players in the fray, then the overlay is calculated to be $2,500. It has been found that real poker tournaments don’t usually have overlay which is a common feature in online poker tournaments where the volume of play is indeterminate and the competition is fierce.
An important concept in poker is that of the river card and it is frequent in community card poker games like the Texas hold ‘em and the Omaha hold ‘em. This card is the final card that is dealt in that particular game of play and is followed by the last betting round and showdown. Since it is the fifth and final card received by hold ‘em players, in such games the river card dealt on the board is also called the fifth street card that follows the flop (three cards) and turn (fourth street). If the game being played is 7-card stud poker, then the river card refers to the final hole card given to all players. However, if the deck doesn’t have sufficient cards to give each player a separate hole card, the river card may be a single card dealt with face up and acting like a community card.
The significance of the river card is that it can improve a player’s hand so much that he emerges as a surprise winner. Opponents losing the pot after the river card is dealt are said to be ‘drowned by the river’ and the player who risks the game by trying to win it using his river card is said to be ‘living by the river’.
