Let me first congratulate you for your interest in one of the most fascinating games ever invented.
And by the way poker is not for dummies....
When to bet
Winning money in poker is the main objective. Betting is probably the most critical and important part of the game (along with bluffing). However, the structure of the betting seems to be the most difficult area for a new player to handle.
When you bet money in poker game your money goes into the middle of the table along with every other player’s money. The collection of money in the middle of the table is called “the pot.” Once a player puts money into the pot, it stays in the pot. You cannot retract your money from the pot once it is in there. The winner (who has the best hand) collects the pot. Online Casinos naturally take their small share of the pot. After all that’s their business.
Check, Fold, Call or Raise
There are four fundamental aspects to betting that is common to all forms of poker: Folding, calling, checking and raising.
Checking
You check (or tap the table) when you do not wish to bet and you are not required to call. When the first player checks, the second player checks and it's your turn. You can check too, simply because no one has bet. While you are not betting or calling when you check, you still remain in the hand. If you check and then a player behind you bets, you will then be obliged to either fold, call or raise. You cannot check if someone has already bet. Checking is a usually a sign of weakness, however skilled players sometimes slowplay their hand to make other players raise the pot. Beware that you are not the one who raises the pot with bad hand. Simple rule of thumb is all cards below 7 are poisonous cards. Your are not allowed to play with poisonous cards. By avoiding playing by poisonous cards will learn you poker discipline.
Folding
When a player does not want to play the hand and surrender the pot to other player(s), he/she folds. This is done by passing your pocket cards (the cards that other players would like to see) to the dealer face-down. One should never reveal your pocket cards to the table when folding if there are other players still in the hand. If you show your card that gives unfair advantage to other players. (Someone waiting for a certain card might see you folding the card he was waiting.) Folding is also called ‘mucking’ or ‘muck the cards.’ The folded cards go into a pile next to the dealer which is also called the muck. All mucked cards do not play any further part in that particular round.
The advantage of folding is that it is free. As such, if you think your hand is a losing hand, you can always fold and you will lose no more than you have already put in the pot. However, if you continue playing with a losing hand, it may cost you more money to reach the showdown. Therefore, folding is a way of saving money when you are in a losing proposition - a very important aspect of the game. See also the checking section about poisonous cards. - And remember when in doubt, fold. Don’t try to see the flop if there might be something for you, it’s all about discipline.
The negative side of folding is that your opponents may have been betting with a losing hand or at least weaker hand that what you might have had. Therefore, when you fold instead of calling or raising, you may throw away the winning hand. That is where human psychology comes in. You understand that you might lose this hand, but in the same time you hope that you might win the hand. Every time you have to make a decision when to fold and when to do something else. That’s the reason Texas Hold’em Poker is so exciting and challenging. You should pay attention who your opponent is playing, if he/she is betting all the time, you should call (or even raise) he’s bets.
Calling
Calling is when you pay the matching the size of the last bet. If another player bets 1$ and it is your turn to act, you need to call that 1$ bet by putting 1$ in the pot. Once you have called the bet (and any other potential players in pot), the betting round is concluded and the next card(s) will be dealt (flop, turn or river). For example, if you are in a Texas Hold'em Poker game and a player bets 2$ on the flop, you can call by matching his bet and putting 2$ in the pot. The betting round is then concluded and the dealer will then deal the next card. In other words, every betting round will end with a call (or raise or re-raise). Internet poker is often very aggressive and you might see a table where there are raises after some people call the pot. That is just the nature of the game.
If there are many players in a hand, every player must call the size of last bet before the hand goes any further. In other words they all have good enough hand and they are agreeing on a price by calling. For example, if players Joe, Jack, Jim and Jill are in a hand and Jack bets $1 on the turn, Joe, Jim and Jill will all have to "call" $1 bet before the river is dealt. However, if Jack checks, Joe bets $2 and Jill raises to $4, all have put $4 in total into the pot if they wish to call. Since Joe has already put $2 into the pot, so he only needs to put in another $2 to call Jill’s raise.
Simple rule here again. If you think your hand is something you should call, think again. If someone after you raises the pot by double. Would you still call, or rather if you want to be in control of the game, shouldn’t you be the one who raises and doubles the pot?
Finally the players reach the river, the showdown will occur if one of the players bet and the other player(s) call. If no one bets (ie. everyone checks) then the showdown occurs automatically at no additional cost.
Raising
If a player has already made a bet, you can raise that bet. The size of the raise depends on the betting structure of the game. For example, in a texas hold'em poker game with a limit structure, a bet on the flop is fixed at a particular level. Let's say that all bets on the flop are fixed at $10. If a player bets $10, you can raise to $20 (call their $10 + bet another $10). In other words, every raise is an incremental increase of $10. If one raises, opponents will then need to match one’s $10 raise if they wish to continue with their hand.
Alternatively opponents may raise again, which is often referred to as re-raising. To re-raise, opponent will call $10 raise and then raise another $10. One has now option of either fold, call or re-raise again. Usually, there is a limit of three raises per betting round. As such, if player first bets $5 on the flop, second player raises to $10 (raise one), then first player re-raises to $15 (raise two) and the second player re-raises to $20 (raise three), that is as far as they can go. The first player cannot then re-raise again to $25. He is forced to call that third and final raise and that concludes the betting round.