The Portable Poker Pro: Winning Tips For Texas Hold'em

By Sheree Bykofsky and Lou Krieger

Make The Next Poker Hand You Play A Winning Hand!

Want to stop leaving your chips on the table and start taking more winnings home? How about moving from your Wednesday night game to the big time? The Portable Poker Pro can boost any player's game--whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player! This easy guide to hold'em poker will teach you the strategies, techniques, and nuances that separate the studs from the duds so you can win, win, win! You'll learn:



   • Poker terms, betting talk, hand rankings, general rules, and poker etiquette


   • Strategies for calling, raising, getting heads-up with your opponent, and staying off the defensive


   • How losing hands--and losing bluffs--can set up a big win later


   • How to unravel your opponents' playing styles


   • And much more. . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pinnacle Books
• Release date: Apr 24, 2012
• ISBN: 9780786032273

Book preview

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INTRODUCTION

Before we begin, we’re going to let you know that we’ll be making a few assumptions about you. The first thing we’re assuming is this: You don’t really know that much about playing poker. The second thing we’re assuming: You’d like to change that. That’s why we wrote this book.

Our goal is to take you from a person who’s seen a little poker on ESPN or played for pennies around the kitchen table to someone who can go into any public casino or cardroom with confidence: confidence that you’ll not only win occasionally, but win regularly over the long haul. (And if you’ve already got some experience under your belt, you can think about skipping some of the earlier chapters and go right to the more advanced stuff.) So ... what is poker exactly? We’re glad you asked. We’re not going to give you a long lecture about the history of the game from ancient Persia to France to England to America. Although that stuff’s all pretty fascinating, it isn’t going to help you win any more money, which is our main focus. What we are going to do is give you the building blocks you need to play with the pros.

We’ll start with the rules of poker, then talk about good hands versus bad hands. We’ll also discuss your bankroll, and we’ll let you in on some of the secrets of bluffing. We’ll talk about psychology, in poker and your personal life. We’ll give you information on limit poker, no-limit poker, and poker tournaments: By the time you’re done with this book, you’ll have all the basic tools (and some advanced ones, too) to walk into any poker room without fear.

Also, you may find that parts of this book will be useful for reference: everything from our handy-dandy charts telling what to play (and what not to play) to our basic odds tables, as well as our glossary of colorful poker terms.

But whatever you do, there’s no need to be stressed out about learning all this. There’s no quiz at the end of this book. There’s going to be some math, but it won’t be much more heavy-duty than what you use to balance your checkbook.

There will be some psychology, but: A) it’s pretty fun; and B) it won’t be telling you much you don’t already know—it will show you how to use your everyday knowledge of human nature at the poker table.

Here’s a tip before you even begin: Don’t force yourself to read chapter after chapter of this book until your eyes glaze over. Like we said, it’s not homework. This book should be entertaining, as well as informative. Take it in bite-sized pieces, and feel free to keep rereading sections if you don’t get them right off the bat.

But, if you’re a newcomer to professional poker, please do read this whole book first before you go to a casino or get an online poker account. Yes, we know you’re anxious to play. That’s why you bought this book. But waiting a day or two or a week or two to finish this book, depending on how voracious a reader you are, will pay for itself many times over. Please just be patient and hang on until you’ve gone through it all at least once.

Trust us; we wouldn’t be putting anything in this book if it weren’t vitally important. Every bit of information you gain from this book can add up to dollars in the real world. Don’t worry: As soon as you’re ready, the game will be waiting there just for you.

The Beauty of the Game

Why do so many people love the game of poker? The answer is simple (for the most part). First, the simple stuff: Poker is amazingly easy to learn. Even if you’ve never played a hand of poker before, we could probably teach it to you in ten minutes, faster if you’re a natural game player. It’s a game children can, and do, play.

But, and you’ve probably guessed this part already, there’s a whole layer of subtlety and complexity that lies underneath its deceptive surface simplicity. And the beauty of the game is a lot of people do not understand this. The game seems simple to them when they first learn it, and still seems pretty simple to them even after playing it day in and day out for ten years. The only variable for them is luck.

Don’t snicker at these people, and please do not mock them, any more than you’d laugh at someone who wanted to buy your old used car for twice its value. You’d just smile and say, Thank you, come again.

The harder stuff: Yes, we hate to break it to you, there is math involved here. But don’t panic, it’s easy to learn and will soon become second nature to you. And, even better, the math in poker has gotten a whole lot easier in recent years. How can that be?

Simple: the rise of Texas hold’em. It used to be that seven-card stud and five-card stud were among the most popular games in America. And in those games, there were a lot of cards dealt faceup, which had to be memorized before they were folded. Sometimes you might have to keep twenty or more cards in mind, all the while doing the math as to the likelihood of, say, another diamond being dealt to your opponent, or the chances that you could pick up another jack with three more cards to come.

Lucky for you, it’s almost impossible to find a seven-stud game any more (and five-stud long ago went the way of the leisure suit). Basic hold’em odds are pretty easy. There are some spin-off games, like pot-limit Omaha, where the odds are a little tougher, but we’re not going to be talking about those other games in this book.

Another thing we’re going to try to drive home to you is how critical the concept of money management is. Without going into too much detail here, think of it like this: somebody offers you shares in a restaurant chain called Cap’n Bob’s Frozen Fish Sticks! A money-making proposition? Maybe. You can’t always know. But it’s probably smarter to wait until someone with a better idea comes along.

That’s the essence of poker. When you get your two cards down, your hold’em hand, there’s always a chance you can win with it. But if you say yes to every hand that comes along and play it to the bitter end, you’re going to be a loser, and a big one, at that.

You have to learn to distinguish between trash hands (which you would virtually never play), mediocre hands (which you might play, depending on the circumstances), and premium hands (which you almost always play).

Also, of course, you’re going to need to learn how to play the hands we recommend. Aggressively? Deceptively? Cautiously? It’s all going to depend on the situation.

You’re also really going to have to focus on psychology. A lot of it is going to come from the power of your own observation, which we can’t directly help with.

That is, let’s say you’re going to your regular cardroom every afternoon. Eventually, you’re going to get to know all the various local characters, and you’re going to be able to anticipate how they’ll react to a given situation ahead of time (based on how they’ve played against you in the past). We don’t know your local opponents, but we can assure you, whoever they are, we’ve played people a lot like them. We’ll be able to give you a basic grounding in how to spot and categorize these recurring personality types at the table, and how to do it quickly.

Why the Game We’re Going to Teach You Is Not Your Home Game

We made an assumption about you at the beginning of this book, and now we’re going to go ahead and make another one. Of course, we’ve never met you, but part of being a good poker player is making snap judgments about people you’ve only recently become acquainted with. And here’s our snap judgment: You’re smarter than the average poker player. That’s our read on you. Why do we think that?

Because you bought this book.

That says a whole lot about you: It means you’re curious and you want to be better informed. It also means you realize you don’t have all the answers, and you’re willing to take advice from others in order to get better. That’s important in any endeavor, but it’s especially important when you’re first starting out.

Now we’re going to take our assumption one step further: If you play poker with your friends on a regular basis, you’re probably beating that game. Maybe you’re playing poker with your high school friends for nickels and dimes in the garage or maybe it’s for a little more money with your work buddies in the dining room.

Whatever the case, we think you’re probably significantly better than Jim over in accounting or Heather from your biology class. Does that mean you’re better than a lot of the people you’ll be playing with online or in a public cardroom? Actually, it does.

But not yet.

Why? Because even the weaker players in a public cardroom will have way more experience playing poker than you have.

But you’re the champ of your home game, right? Poker is poker, right? Well, you may be the champ, but hold’em poker has almost nothing to do with Southern Cross, acey-deucey, dime-store, one-eyed jacks, and the king with the axe wild.

We don’t want to insult you, but those sorts of games, games with tons of common cards or lots of wild cards, are for people who don’t really understand poker very well. They value the fun of showing down a hand like five aces over having to think too much. There’s skill in those games, sure, but it’s nothing like what you have to bring to bear in a game like hold’em.

And the good news is, if you’re beating your home game, you’re a really good candidate for learning how to beat a public game. And if you’re not, well, this book can help you get there. It might just take a little more effort on your part.

Special features of this book

Amateur Alerts: These are basic mistakes you’re likely to make if you’ve not had much experience. Don’t twist yourself in knots over it—we all make mistakes. But the more you indicate that you don’t know what you’re doing in a casino, the more people are going to take advantage of your ignorance.

When you sit down at the table, you could be anyone from a poker expert to a rank beginner. Your opponents have almost no way of knowing. But the minute you say something like, "I see your ten ... and raise you ten more!" the vultures will start circling. (We’ll explain why later.)

Expert Extras: These are small but important tips, windows into some of the habits that professional poker players indulge in. Like the Amateur Alerts, it’s our way of giving you a little extra poker know-how.

We’ll also have some charts along the way, and some fun lists about everything from what to wear to what to eat for you to mull over. And finally, a glossary, including common names for poker hands.

SECTION ONE

Hold’em Basics

Part A: The Table

Okay, let’s take you through it step-by-step. A standard modern hold’em table looks like a rectangle/oval with a green felt top and a padded armrest running around the edge. There are seats for ten players, plus the dealer.

That sounds a like a lot of opponents to play against, and it’s one of the first little bits of poker shock you may encounter. When you’re playing seven-card stud or five-draw with your friends, playing with ten is not an option, usually because people don’t fold often enough and you’d run out of cards long before the hand is over. But since everyone only gets two cards to begin with in hold’em, you can play with ten quite easily.

Sometimes a casino will seat as many as twelve at a table, although that’s rare. And usually it’s only temporary, since the tables are built for ten people and twelve squished people get pretty uncomfortable.

You can also play with fewer than ten people, as little as two, really, but for the most part, unless otherwise specified, we’re going to assume you have nine opponents.

Expert Extra: Try sitting at the end of the table, the short side of the rectangle (seats three or eight), when you can. That way, you can see everyone’s face. In all other seats, someone will be blocked from your view.

Part B: The Dealer and the Cards (What Beats What)

Cards are dealt by a dealer, who is employed by the house. He or she is seated in the center of one of the longer sides of the rectangular/oval table. The dealer never gets a hand but only deals cards to the other players. Each seat is numbered, one through ten, starting with the seat to the left of the dealer.

After each hand, the house dealer will move a plastic disk the size of a small coaster marked Dealer, called the button, clockwise to the next player. This is done so that in a full round of play, every player will get to be the notional dealer once. The players don’t actually deal the cards, but it’s important to have a dealer button anyway because being the last person to bet on any given round gives you a huge advantage.

Expert Extra: When you’re playing in a game that charges time as opposed to raking the pot, consider helping the dealer by moving the button yourself when it’s near you and announcing loudly enough for the dealer to hear, Button moved. This speeds the game along, giving you, the winning player, more hands in a night to win, and dealers will appreciate it since it means less arm work for them (and more hands gives them more tips).

The dealer deals the cards to the players in a clockwise manner, giving the player to the left of the button the first card. Proceeding around the table, each person is given their first card. The first player is then dealt a second card, then everyone receives their next card.

There is a round of betting, followed by the flop, which consists of three cards dealt faceup in the center of the table. These cards are called community cards and can be used by all players to form their best five-card hand out of seven cards.

There is another round of betting; then the dealer deals a third card faceup, called the turn. This card is also a community card, as is the next card, which is dealt after a round of betting.

The fifth and final card is called the river. Any player who is still on the hand at the end (the showdown) can use any five-card combination of seven cards, their own two, plus the five on the board. The hands, in rank from highest to lowest:

Five of a kind: This hand doesn’t exist in any variation of hold’em we’ve ever played in a casino. It’s only found in home games with wild cards.

Straight Flush: This hand consists of five cards that are in sequence (for example, 56789) and all one suit (for example, hearts). The best straight flush is called a Royal Straight Flush (TJQKA, all suited). It beats straight flushes of lower value and it’s the best hand you can have in hold’em. (And you will have to wait a mighty, mighty long time