Texas Hold Em' Poker

Wait, I already know what you're thinking! You mean you want me to gamble with my kids! Isn't Texas Holdem the game that's played at the World Series of Poker? Well, yes that's true but just because people play poker and gamble doesn't mean that we can't play for fun! If that were true, that means that we couldn't watch sports either! In reality, its really a great way to help your math skills. Poker is a game of skill, not true gambling.  You make decisions based on the probability of something happening, plus your ability to being able to read your opponent and deduce what he/she has.

The way its played is simple. Everyone is dealt 2 'hole' cards.  After the hole cards are dealt, you go around the table and place your bets.  After the bets are placed, you deal out the 'flop' which consists of 3 community cards that everyone uses.  After that, another round of betting.  Then the 'turn' card is dealt which is the 4th community card and after that another round of betting takes place.  Then finally, the river card is dealt and the players make their final bets.  Now, I'm assuming most people won't want to bet real money with their kids, you definitely don't want to take their allowance from them! But, you want to play with play money or candy or something like that.  That's where the real lessons of risk/reward can be taught.  When players make bets, each player is forced to figure out the risk/reward on that particular bet.  Is it worth to risk some of my candy with the cards that I have? After the flop is dealt, you have to consider how that effects your hand and the players in the hands.  Did your hand improve? Did their hand improve? This all leads into a lesson how a smart player uses probabilty to figure out what exactly are his odds on winning the hand. 

This is a game where the lessons transcend poker.  Risk/Reward is important in everything we do. If you're a bank lender, trying to decide whether to take a new job, or if you're going to move out of your house.  And its good for kids too because they will learn to use those skills in their lives as well.  If kids start thinking in this way, they will be able to see the big picture in a lot of decisions they are faced with.  For example, a child might think "if I hit my sister, I might get caught and grounded or I might get away with it.  You know what, I have a baseball game tommorow that I don't want to miss. I'll hit her then". :) Its a valuable lesson for kids an parents too!