Be A Winner At Poker
Copyright 2011 by Pat Budd
Smashwords Edition
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Be A Winner At Poker
By Pat Budd
SECTION ONE
Introduction
Almost everyone likes to play cards. Most of us started as children, playing fish or old maids and as we became adults we may have switched our choice to poker, blackjack, canasta or bridge. In fact the popularity of poker is at an all time high.
Whether you play just for fun with friends and neighbors or you want to step it up a bit and play in a casino or participate in a tournament, there will be something in this book for you.
I caution you to remember that in a casino or card club your play is not just for fun. If you lose money playing cards, your opponents keep it. You don’t want to find yourself in the position of trying to win back the grocery money or car payment, so always remember that casino card players are generally skilled. Doubtless you are not yet, so play accordingly, using only money that you have designated for gambling entertainment.
That being said, my opinion is that you have a better chance to win money playing cards than you do playing slot machines or roulette. When playing cards you get to use your own computer (your brain) and you can make choices that work for you such as:
Play conservatively
Be aggressive
Bet small amounts or bet your
bank
Pick your table
Pick your dealer
Play with strangers or play with friends
Drink while gambling or sip only water (I recommend never drinking alcohol while gambling)
Choose which casino
Set limits of losing or goals when winning
Use your intuition or rely strictly on rules you have established for yourself
And on and on.
When you play cards, you get to make the decisions that most affect your outcome. The only thing that you can’t affect is which cards are dealt to you. But when playing cards you can be assured that the casino and the other players don’t know which cards you or they will be dealt either.
So I believe your random odds are better playing cards than they would be with a computerized slot machine, which may not be programmed fairly or loosely, or a roulette table which may or may not be mechanically sound.
I never recommend playing poker on an electronic machine. Computer programmers set the win and lose patterns on these machines, just as they do on slot machines, and winning requires you to be sitting at a particular machine when the computer program determines a winning pattern will appear. (And to be very opinionated, it is not wise to play online gambling games for money, whether cards, slots, roulette or whatever.) Not so with live card play, where winning hands can appear again and again without software picking when or where.
WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT
So what’s all the fuss about poker? It seems that everyone is playing it now, either in card clubs, in casinos, at home, or online.
Well, the big deal is that poker is fun to play and you can win money if you learn the game well and play wisely. Winning requires that you develop good skills and good discipline. There are some ways to enhance your chances of winning and reduce your chances of losing in the LONG RUN. Nobody wins all the time, but you can develop the skills and wisdom to do well if you learn what you need to do and DO IT ALL THE TIME. Discipline is necessary if you’re going to do well at poker.
To play successfully, you have to have a hand that is higher rank than the other players at your table. It isn’t always necessary to have the best hand at the table, but it is necessary to make everyone else think that you do. You win when either all the other players drop out of competition or you have the best ranking cards at the showdown.
Most Poker games, regardless of the rules or number of cards used for playing, require you to achieve the best possible hand made up of five cards.
In poker, the four suits are irrelevant, since all four are equal. The rank of the cards is what counts.
SECTION TWO
What You Really Need To Know About Playing Poker
Selecting the right table is probably the most important element of poker.
Change tables if the one you are playing at is not working for you. You should feel comfortable and confident. You should also be having a good time.
Play at tables with seven or less players. This will make your job of evaluating your odds and the other players abilities easier.
Bluff when you believe you can win by doing so. If you have a weak hand, act as if it is strong. If you have a strong hand, act as if it is weak. Know when to be aggressive and when to be conservative.
Be prepared to win and be prepared to lose. Both are possible, so know the odds. This is gambling after all.
Remain controlled, follow your plan, don’t worry overmuch if someone else is winning more hands than you. A person winning the most hands at your table is not necessarily going to be the one who goes home with money. He may be recklessly bold and betting too much money on bad hands. Eventually it will catch up with him.
Be careful but not overly cautious. Sometimes you have to stick your neck out, but do it in a thoughtful, planned, controlled way.
Take risk when you think it will work for you. However, don’t play recklessly.
Learn what “tells” you exhibit. Tells are unconscious signals that you give out about your hand, whether it is good or bad. Have someone you trust watch you while you play to determine if you react to good actions or bad actions in specific ways. Eye movement, body language and facial expressions should be closely guarded, and if necessary should be hidden with sunglasses or hats to prevent them being observed and used by your opponents.
Make sure you have enough cash available to play through your plan.
Play only money that you can safely lose. Never risk funds that you need for other things. Weigh your betting cost to win the pot and decide whether you have a good enough chance to win before you keep making bets.
Your final results will take time. Individual hands or poker sessions may be winners or losers, but you need to keep your eye on long term results.
Never play a game, poker or otherwise, that you don’t understand.
If you are going to gamble, learn which games you are good at and you can win money at. Stick to those games.
Never, never, never attempt to cheat. The risk is not worth the consequences if you are caught cheating.
Be flexible. Things change over the course of a game or a session. Adjust to the changes.
Think long term. You may have to let some hands go to get to the one that will pay off for you.
Remain focused and stick to your preplanned discipline. Getting carried away and caught up in the action of the moment will cost you money that you could otherwise use to keep moving forward to your winning hand.
Remember that you don’t always have to go with the pack. Just because other people are folding their hand against difficult odds doesn’t mean you have to. Think it through and decide for yourself what you should do.
Be prepared with every weapon you can enlist for your arsenal. Know the game, know the casino, try to know the people you play with, know your limit, know your skill level. As Kenny Rogers’ song “The Gambler” says, “Know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em.
Always be learning more about the game, the casinos and the other players.
Practice makes perfect.
Surround yourself with successful, talented players. Poor players make your use of strategy more difficult since they play erratically.
Ask other people for help when you don’t understand certain aspects of poker (but not during a game). Make sure you trust that person for advice. If you don’t, find someone you do trust to answer your questions.
If you love playing cards, then by all means make it a part of your life. You should always love what you do and do what you love.
Be humble about your abilities and good fortunes that come to you. It may not always be so.
Get to know the people you regularly play with, and not just so you can beat them at poker. It’s good to be friendly and well liked by associates and competitors.
Be open to help other people if they ask.
Stay open to and aware of opportunities in the casino and in a game.
Have lots and lots of fun. If you aren’t having fun, then go do something else that is fun for you.
Remember that players come and go and the casino or card club will be doing business whether or not you are there. Adjust yourself to the moment.
SECTION THREE
The Game
Facts About Poker
There is little question that Poker is the most popular card game throughout the world today. More and more people play poker than ever before, and more and more money is played in those games.
In times past poker was played almost exclusively by men, but today women have discovered poker and have adopted the game as a favorite.
Poker derived from a number of games played over the past centuries, even as early as 1834, and originally may have consisted of the use of as few as 20 cards, (Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and tens. The game was played with two to four players and players were dealt five cards.
Today there are many different variations of poker, but all have some aspects in common. For example most poker games consist of a five card hand and the rank of the cards is usually the same across the various games.
Poker games are commonly card combination games. If you are dealt or accumulate certain combinations of cards you have a winning hand. The values of the cards in your combination determine the strength of your hand. If your combination value is greater than that of the other players at the end of the game, you win.
The object of poker is to accumulate a better hand than the other players at your table and win whatever money has been contributed to the pot (the accumulated bets by all players). The pot is generally kept in the middle of the table, but in high stakes tournament play, the chips on the table are representative of who is winning or losing, but the prize is kept out of sight until a winner is determined.
In general there are two main forms of poker: Draw and Stud. In draw poker, each player’s hand is unknown to his or her opponents until the end of the hand. For stud poker, some of each player’s cards are known to the other players as the game is played.
Within each of these types there can be many variations of games, the most basic being draw poker. Most poker games share some common elements. For starters, poker is a gambling game, which makes it a money management game. The goal is to win money every time you play, but obviously that requires a great deal of skill and is a level not very many players achieve.
In a poker game there is generally no ranking of suits and there are no partnerships. A regular deck of 52 cards is used to play the game.
Each player is on their own to play the best he or she can. Competition can become very intense, especially if the pot has grown large or the tournament prize is a lot of money. Every player has the same goal of winning, but only one player can be the winner. What this means for you is that you have to be at your best each and every time you play if you want to be successful. You might get away with a bad day on a nine to five job, but you won’t be able to get away with it in a poker game.
Object of the Game
As mentioned above, every poker player has one objective only: To win the pot. The only way to do this is by having the best hand at the end of the game (the showdown) or by having forced the other players to drop out, either because they have a poor hand or believe another player has a stronger hand.
When the game ends with two or more players holding hands of equal value, the pot is divided between them.
Ways To Bet
In most games players are required to put in antes or blinds (covered later) before the dealer deals the cards to each of them. Players determine the value of their hands and the betting begins with the player to the left of the dealer usually starting.
Different games have set rules for rounds of betting. All play, including dealing and betting, normally rotates in a clockwise method. You almost always cannot take any action until the player to your right has acted.
When your turn comes you have choices about what you will do. You may:
Check, which means you stay in the game without making an additional bet. You can only check if you are the beginning player or all players before you have checked.
Fold, which means you don’t want to continue the hand because the stakes have gotten too high or you don’t have confidence that your cards can win. You drop out by placing your cards face down on the table in front of you, or push them into the muck (the center of the table).
Bet, by putting chips or money into the pot. Players who follow you must bet the same amount as you did or raise the bet to a higher amount.
Call, which involves betting the same amount as the previous bet, minus any amount you may have previously bet on that hand. Calling is also known as seeing or matching. If you want to stay in the game, calling is the cheapest way to do so.
Raise, which is betting the amount of the previous bet and adding an extra amount. Be careful to say that you are raising, not than you’ll call and raise. Opponents may say the raise was an afterthought and you have only called.
Go all-in. This works when you have less money than the last bet made by another player. It also works if you believe you have a good hand and want to end the betting and take the pot.
Some games use a spread, such as allowing a bet between $1 and $10. A player’s bet must still be as large as the previous bet, however. Other games limit the amount of a bet to what has accumulated in the pot. Still others require that the bet be in specific increments, such as $5. A player could make a $5, $10, $15 bet and so forth.
Sandbagging is betting nothing, or checking, in the early part of the round. You can do this only if you are the first player on the hand. Sometimes this will result in players that follow you making a bet, and building up the pot, while you wait for the second round, then raise with a large amount or go all-in.
This is a tricky strategy and some games will not allow it. Players who are first will often use this strategy out of fear that a bet or a check & raise, might scare other players out.
Poker Etiquette
Like most everything else in life Poker has accepted etiquette practices. Following are some of the more common etiquette practices:
1. Be careful to not play out of turn. Generally waiting until the player to your left has indicated he is done will prevent this from happening.
2. Don’t discuss the ongoing action. Wait until after the showdown if you want to make a comment. (Obviously this does not apply to bringing up rules infractions.)
3. Don’t pick up or look at other people’s cards after the game is completed (unless you think there was an irregularity, of course). No one wants to hear what you think could have happened if you had known their cards.
4. Keep your cards above the table. You might be perceived as cheating by marking the cards or swapping for a card that was not dealt to you.
5. Hold your cards so that other players can’t see them. Revealing your cards can not only hurt you, but can hurt the other players as well if one player gains an advantage by seeing your cards.
6. Avoid “string raising”, which is to call first then add that you want to raise. Some players attempt to see the reaction of other players before making the raise.
7. Don’t toss your bet into the pot (splashing). Place your chips on the table in front of you so that everyone can see how much you are betting and that you gave the correct amount.
Limited Poker
Limited Poker is played frequently because it limits the amount that it costs to bet or raise. This may be a good way for you to play before you have enough experience to play for higher stakes.
SECTION FOUR
Basic Poker
For the most part poker is a simple game, but some variations can be very complicated.
Just in case you have never played card games of any kind, a standard 52 card deck has four suits, all of equal value in poker:
Clubs . Spades . Hearts . Diamonds
The cards in each suit are ranked from high to low:
Ace, King, Queen, Jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two
In the most common game, Five Card Draw, each player will be dealt five cards. The goal of each player is to get the highest-ranking hand. Poker hand rank is based on the odds against drawing them, which is determined by the cards scarcity in the deck.