Apr 16
Bluffing
The art of bluffing, as experts play, is seen in some of the biggest games, where a player with a weak hand forces another player with a stronger hand to fold. Ultimately, whatever you do that helps you win a hand or a game of poker is something to at least be aware of.
Control over your expressions and emotions is an important aspect of bluffing. Hide your cues, or tells, that you give off when you pick up a strong hand or a weak hand. Keeping other players from seeing your strengths and weaknesses is the first step in being able to bluff effectively. Acting predictably can also help - your opponents are watching your behavior as much as you are watching theirs, and they will try to pick up patterns of betting and action. If you always fold on weak hands, they will assume that you have a strong hand if you don’t fold the next hand. This is when bluffing can let you fake your way into an advantage.
Know the cards well - if you are playing a version of poker that uses community or other face up cards, make note of which ones are showing and which ones you could have that would make for a powerful hand. For example, when playing Texas hold’em, when you see an ace, a king, and a jack get turned up as the flop, you could bet as if you held the missing ten and queen for a royal straight - a powerful hand that would allow other players to think you are very serious if you decided to bet everything you had at that time.
Betting, when done, is done as if you had a stronger advantage - betting higher than you think you should in order to intimidate others from following your lead. Of course, timing is everything - it may be too late to try to bluff after your opponents themselves begin betting high values. If they are betting high, you may assume that they are either bluffing themselves or in fact holding a strong hand themselves. You would likely have to raise the stakes very high to intimidate someone in a final round after they had already contributed a large amount into the pot, and coming on too strong may give your opponents a clue that you are, in fact, bluffing.
Detecting a good bluff is done using much of what you’ve already learned: look for initial tells and patterns of behavior that give you an idea as to what your opponent is holding. As they say, the first flinch is likely the right one - a player may leak out a tell before trying to cover it up with forced bravado. Watch for the cards that come out and know what cards they may be shooting for to figure the likelyhood of them actually having that hand. Remember that a player will want to win as much as they can when they are holding a strong hand, and they won’t be able to do that if they scare everybody off on the first round of betting, so don’t bet too high if you’re bluffing, and watch out for an opponent doing the same thing.
No commentsApr 16
History of Poker
The early European games of primero, brelan, and particularly as nas, from Persia in the early part of the 17th century, all seem to make up the shared ancestry of the game, although Egyptian playing cards have been founding dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries. The late 15th century British game brag was considered the big brother of poker, and in the later half of the 19th century many of the common adaptions of the earlier “American” poker were taken from brag, including drawing for new cards, and adding more cards to allow for more players and more potentially winning hands.
The name poker is not as clearly found through pochen, a German game, and poque, a French game dating back to the 15th century, which first introduced players to the suits as we know them: hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. Of course, being able to carry away a large pot in a sack, called a poke from 14th century english, may be a clue to its etymology.
With these roots extending into French, German and Persian pastimes, poker is found in its earliest documented form in memoires, biographies and other writings dating back to the late 1820’s and early 1830’s in New Orleans and Mississippi, in the US. Further developments made through the 19th century into the 20th century, which added on new variations, styles of play, and brought the deck from the early 20 cards to the more modern 52 cards, make the game as we know it today. Now, online poker websites, TV broadcasts and international tournament games, are all commonplace.
No commentsApr 16
How to Play Texas Holdem
In Texas Holdem, after players place required blinds or antes (see the Robert’s Rules of Poker in the upper right for basic structure rules), all players receive two down cards which remain hidden until the final showdown of hands. After the first two cards are dealt, a round of betting occurs. Next, three community cards are turned over at the same time. This is called the flop. Another round of betting follows. Then a fourth community card is exposed, the turn card, followed by another betting round. Finally a fifth community is dealt, the river card, and a last round of betting ensues.
After the completion of all betting comes the showdown. Players make hands by using the best five-card combination of their two personal cards and the five community cards. A player may use one or both cards out of their hand, or use only the five community cards.
A dealer button rotates around the table so each player is in the dealer’s position once a round. Normally two blinds are used, but other structures, including antes instead of or in addition to blinds can be used. (Click for The Basics of Texas Hold’em.)
Irregularities
If the first card dealt is exposed, a misdeal results, meaning the dealer will reshuffle and re-deal the cards. If during the course of the deal any of the other down cards (hole cards) are exposed due to a dealer error, the deal continues. After completing the deal, the dealer replaces the exposed card with the top card on the deck, and the exposed card is then used for the burn card. If during the deal more than one hole card is exposed, this a misdeal and the cards are re-dealt. There is no option for a player to keep an exposed card.
If the dealer mistakenly deals the first player a third down card, that card is returned to the deck, placed on top, and used as the burn card. If the dealer accidentally deals two or more extra cards, it is a misdeal regardless of any betting that may have already occurred.
If the flop contains too many cards, the cards are retrieved, re-shuffled and the flop is re-dealt — even if it is possible to surmise which card is the “extra” card.
If the dealer accidentally turns the fourth card before a betting round was completed, the exposed card is taken back out of play, even if the remaining player or players choose to not call any final bets. Once betting is genuinely completed, the dealer burns and exposes what would have been the fifth card in the fourth card’s place. After the next round of betting, the dealer will reshuffle the remaining deck, but not burn cards or discards, including the card that had been incorrectly exposed, and then exposes a river card without burning a card. If the river card is exposed prematurely, the deck is reshuffled/re-dealt similarly.
Cards Speak
Cards Speak, which means no matter what a player says about the value of their Texas Holdem hand, the actual value is the best possible hand the combination of cards can make. Player’s should protect their own hands, but the casino dealer should read the proper value of what a player’s hand is.
To win a pot you must show both your cards. Showing one but discarding the other will cause a player to lose the pot. A player must first declare they want to play the five community cards (play the board) before discarding their hole cards. If a player discards their hand before stating they want to play the board, they relinquish their claim to the pot. — Steve Badger
