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When I have decided to start to play limit Holdem in a casino (really it was all three months ago?), I asked council on one site. To me have unanimously advised that before to sit down a table, I need to go and buy the book of authors Malmuth and Sklansky and attentively to read it. It was the piece of good advice – probably, at that point in time the best. But now, after appearance of the book Lee Jones’а «How to win in poker on low limits», that council has become outdated. If you the beginner in poker or play low limits (Jones tells about game on limits $3-6) it is necessary for you to buy this book.
Certainly, I have learnt from book Malmuth and Sklansky tables of initial hands, and it very much helped me. And here with strategy it was more difficult. It was told about the majority of them on покерном a slang which I practically did not understand. And when I at last began to understand these strategy it was found out that they do not approach for games where do not dump a card («no fold’em») in which as it was found out, I participated. I have been assured that one fine day when I, at last, can pass to game on higher limits, these councils will appear are improbably valuable. But until I remained in itself.

Book Lee Jones’а – that management for beginners which I searched. It is perfectly well written and structured textbook for beginning players in Holdem. Jones carefully explains all покерные terms which uses in the book. Its explanatories concerning probability, a population mean for sweat and a prospective population mean put a strong basis for this purpose that goes further. And further there is a practical guidance on participation in such game where the majority of your opponents will be played by any two cards and on the whim коллить to most ривера.

Jones trains you more likely not to play poker, and «to think of poker» – and it it is good, because if you will follow to its council, you will observe more of distributions, than to participate in them. I already two times have read this book (it is easily read), and have played session under its influence (to me it was more interesting behind a table as I understood other players is better; besides, despite bad cards, I managed to win the decent sum).

One more aspect of this book which has appeared valuable to me as full “teapot”: the description of etiquette and norms of behaviour in a game hall. At least, I have ceased to throw counters in the centre of a table during each distribution. I also did not understand, why the dealer looks at me so slantwise!

In end of the incoherent review I will add that at the book very good design – it is completely not similar to the book on poker. For some it can appear insignificantly, but book Malmuth’а and Slansky in its yellow cover with a revolver involved at office of more attention, than I would like.

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One of the major problems in my work of the psychotherapist – to return to clients escaping, but such necessary feeling – HOPE. How many time I met the people who completely have lost hope in a life – concerning love, a family, work and a life as a whole. Some of circumstances in which there are my clients, are really very heavy – горюющие widows, whose husbands have died too young; the men who have realised that because of work have passed the childhood of own children; steams understanding that leaves nothing their marriage, and so on.

They do not know, whether will find in itself forces to move further as the despair forces them to feel cripples. To force the person to believe in itself and to start to hope for the best times – one of the most difficult, but also one of the major problems of my trade. And among players in poker I see many who has lost taste to game. Earlier they represented themselves very successful in the poker, constantly winning and getting profit, however because of a train of weak cards, bad luck and bad game of their hope have disappeared. Their confidence was gone, internal forces have run low, and they are not assured even not, whether it is necessary to them to continue in general покерную struggle.

These lost покерные souls behave absolutely differently. Some damn poker and swear that they will never not play any more. Others are simply boiled, more than ever earlier, and throw in sweat the huge sums to make a foolish bluff or at the wrong time to try to “steal” блайнды. The third become reserved, and play тайтово, thus taking hard inside. As you can see, poker – severe game. It can cause serious emotional failures in many. As players in poker we can be depressed. We can lose hope. We can go astray.

To the players who have lost will to continuation of game in poker, it is necessary to understand it, also as well as to patients of the psychotherapist. If you feel that the hope in poker thaws, understand with emotions before to enter the following game. Take a respite to concentrate and collect the strength. Address to people who will support you (to friends, friends on poker, opponents whom you respect, or to relatives) that they have listened to you. If you give to these people chance they can give you the psychological support necessary for returning to game.

Besides, the success generates success. Therefore, to be charged by a positive, make something such that with a high probability will yield good result. Play quiet game of the house, play tajtovo-was aggressively very low limits online, or postpone poker and be engaged in that the pleasure precisely will give to you. Besides it to restore belief in poker, argue logically. Thoughts will help to resist to negative emotions.

For example, if you think – «What I poor, with my bad luck all is hopeless» such thoughts will necessarily aggravate despair. Concentrate on thinking over the same thought in another way, for example – «Good luck (failure) – a poker part and if I seriously approach to game to me will carry». Replacement of negative thoughts and replacement with their positive in the long term will necessarily yield good results. Psychotherapists among themselves name it «a principle of a self-executed prediction» – we frequently come to that result which to themselves we predict. Therefore the upset player will almost necessarily lose. And the player, who has spent work on self to replace disgust and despair with escaping hope, will necessarily become successful. If your emotions disturb to you in game – do serious work to eliminate this problem.

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After long unpleasant evening during which you lost with pocket А-К to players, коллировавшим yours рейзы on префлопе only because they «had a presentiment» concerning their variegated 5-8, you can long stay in a bed, trying to understand, why all has gone not so. I know it, because to me such happened time and again. If you in something are similar to me, you can even lose a dream, scrolling these two or three distributions in a head. You very much are angry that the opponent continued distribution with the bad cards, and on ривере to it has carried! Eventually, you have played a true hand, did correct a beta, but have all the same lost.

In this to article I will tell to you what exactly so thought earlier and I. Earlier I considered that I have deserved a prize because did not play bad hands, and opponents – played. I have been assured that to win in the long term, I need to play good hands simply. However poker is not reduced at all only to it. Everyone who plays regularly, knows, at least, one or two players which fly into a rage each time when lose only because they are assured of the superiority over opponents. ­­­ And if you such do not know, that is probability that you one of them. Such players meet very often, and in most cases they are very easy for “reading out and deducing from themselves.

If you have fears that you can have a similar view on game (with me such once happens) I advise to you to pay attention to your own errors, instead of on errors of opponents. Not very well, how much well you play, all are inclined to play from time to time frankly badly. The majority of skilled players, whose level however not above an average, even know that play badly, but all the same it do. Among the most widespread excuses it is usually possible to meet, for example, the following: «I have already been adhered to sweat» or «I understood that it will beat my hand, but it was too good, that it to dump». I did not meet any player not inclined to similar errors. I will give an example.

I played limitless poker behind a table habitual to me when after two hours of bad cards to me two nice black kings have come. More truly, these kings were simply magnificent! But that it: the player sitting before me, declares рейз on префлопе!? I hardly constrain excitement. I weigh variants and I decide to confuse the game and consequently simply I declare колл. I have thought that kings are too good for re-rejza at present games. After mine колла the player sitting at once me, declares re-rejz. During this moment over a table fireworks start to blow up, and singing – «At it ases is distributed!» . I cannot simply believe in it is first distribution in which I have seen флоп, and this clown thinks that his hand has beaten mine. So, I decide that should find out all for certain and consequently after фолда the player who has made рейз first, I I declare re-re-rejz for the considerable sum (a component about a quarter of my stack which at that point in time was the average size). Also what occurs? He AGAIN declares рейз! I was simply out of myself. In that unique distribution when to me kings have come, to it ases have come. You already know, than all has ended? I have dumped cards and all night long suffered, thinking, whether it actually has beaten my hand? NO!

Actually, it and me needed to be made. But I проколлил it рейз, and as a result already on префлопе have appeared “is adhered” to sweat by three quarters of the counters. On флопе come: Х, the king and an as. Ha-ha. During this moment I was ready to turn a table simply. Now it has appeared that my kings not only were insufficiently good on префлопе, but also now the useless set was made of them. The opponent does бет on the rest of my counters, I in despair declare колл. It did not need to open cards.

And what morals of this history? I and itself would like to know. The obstinate part of my consciousness repeats that the morals consist in hoping that opponents will not have ases while to you kings have come. But such belief is inherent in often losing players. One more part says something like that if to me kings have come, and to someone – ases, I congratulate, you will win quite good sweat at my expense. When I come to a conclusion that I needed to minimise loss right at the beginning, the third part starts to abuse me, speaking: «So, you will never play now kings? You will play what cards in general if now you already and them dump?»

I think that actually that I knew, what cards it is necessary to play morals of this history, I have played them, and have played very-very badly. The knowledge, what cards need to be played, has much smaller value, than understanding of HOW to play cards about which I have told in my example, and many other things. Definitely, I should not come so far in that distribution. To me followed reduce loss.

Determining the Number of Discounted Outs

When calculating odds, you need to use the number of discounted outs that will help you win the hand. As discussed before, it does you no good to improve your hand only to lose to a better hand. Let’s look at some examples to see better how you determine the number of discounted outs.

You have K♦ Q♣ and the board is J♦ T♣ 5♥ 2. You have eight strong outs to the nut straight with any ace or 9 and six weak outs to the king or queen. The six outs to the king or queen are weak since your opponent could ahead; have two pair or a set or is counterfeiting your outs.

In this example, a king would give you a pair but might also give an opponent a straight, two pair, or a pair with a better kicker. Note all the hands you would lose to if a king comes: KK, JJ, TT, 55, 22, AK, AQ. KJ, KT, K5, K2, Q9, JT, J5, J2, T5, and T2. If a queen comes, you would lose to QQ, JJ, TT, 55, 22, AK, AQ, K9, QJ, QT, Q5, Q2, JT, J5, J2, T5, T2, and 98.

How much you should discount your weak outs often depends on how many opponents you are against. In the example above, you have six weak outs. Against a lone opponent, if you feel that 50% of the time a king or queen will help you win, you should discount the six weak outs to three. In this case, you would play the hand as if you had an equivalent of 11 outs to win the hand, the three discounted outs and the eight strong outs to the nut straight. If you are against two opponents, you might estimate that a king or queen would win only once every six times; therefore, you would play as if you had nine outs, eight nut outs to the straight plus the one discounted out. Against three opponents, you should probably disregard the weak outs since it is unlikely a king or queen will win. In this case, you would play only if you draw to your eight nut outs is justified. Let’s look at some more examples.

You have A♣ T♥ and the flop is K♦ T♣ 5♠. You have two strong to the ten, unless an opponent holds KT or T5. Another ace would give you two pair, but your out is counterfeited if an opponent holds AA, AK, or QJ, so you should discount the out to the ace. All your outs should be discounted slightly for the possibility that an opponent holds a set. Depending on the number of opponents and the betting sequences, you should play this hand as if you had between two and four outs.

You have A♣ 9♥ and the flop is J♦ 9♦ 4♣ with several callers on the flop. You probably are against a flush draw, so the A♦ is counterfeited. You could also lose to another ace if someone has AA or AJ. Always account for the possibility of a set.

Advanced Concept: Whenever the flop is two-suited, you should discount a suited out against a lone opponent and probably disregard the out against several opponents for the risk that one of them holds a flush draw.

A common mistake made by many players is drawing to weak hands when flush draws are likely. As a general rule, most draws are not profitable with a two-suited flop arid several callers in the hand. The only exception to this is when the pot is exceptionally large. This is a key concept since you will be playing with a two- or three-suited flop about 60% of the time! This concept is discussed further in the flop chapters. For now, simply understand that you need to discount or disregard your outs based on the likelihood that they are counterfeited.

Another consideration when determining your outs on the flop is the possibility that you could improve on the turn only to see an opponent improve to an even better hand on the river.

Advanced Concept: When drawing on the flop, you should discount your outs a little, and maybe a lot, for the probability that your opponents could draw to an even better hand on the river.

There are very few hands that are a lock to win on the turn. Nut flushes can lose to a full house if the board pairs on the river. The nut straight can lose to a flush on the river. Your two pair could lose to an opponent hitting a set. When the flop is two-suited, these types of situations occur often since there are a lot of river cards that could hurt your hand.

Most players complain about their bad luck when they improve on the turn to lose on the river. Good players recognize that these types of situations occur a lot and include this possibility in their decision-making process. Borderline draws on the flop should often be folded for the possibility that you will lose on the river.

Now that we know how to determine the number of discounted outs and calculate the odds against improving to the best hand, we can look at how to apply odds at the poker table.

Application of Odds

The basic steps in applying odds at the poker table are as follows:

1. Determine the number of discounted outs.
2. Calculate the pot odds. This is the size of the pot in relation to the bet.
3. Calculate the implied pot odds. This is the current pot plus the bets you expect to win in relation to the current bet.
4. Compare the implied pot odds to the odds against improving your hand
5. Determine your best strategy.

Let’s look at a few examples to show how to apply these steps.

A middle player calls and you raise from the cutoff with K♣ Q♥ in a $10-$20 game. The big blind calls and three players see the flop of T♣ 7♦ 5♠. The big blind, a tight rock who never bluffs, bets out and the middle player folds. What should you do?

• Determine the number of discounted outs. We assume your opponent has at least a pair since he never bluffs; therefore, you need a king or queen to improve, which is six outs. You would be drawing dead against TT, 77, or 55, unless you hit a runner-runner straight. Other likely holdings of your opponent include AT, KT, QT. and JT. In this case, a king or queen would not help against either KT or QT. It is doubtful that your opponent would call a raise preflop with K7, K5, Q7, Q5, T7, 75, or T5: therefore, you only need to discount your outs for the probability that your opponent holds KT, QT, TT, 77, or 55.

One other consideration is what could happen if you hit the king or queen on the turn. Your opponent could possibly win on the river by hitting two pair or better. You should discount your outs a little more for this possibility.

To determine how much you should discount your outs, it is helpful to evaluate the probable hands of your opponent. Probable hands that you could beat if you improve include JJ, AT, A7, A5, JTs, and 99. Discounting outs is always a matter of judgment, but you might expect to win this hand 50% of the time when you improve, considering the possibility that your opponent might have a set, KT, QT, or improve on the river. Therefore, you should discount your six outs and play as if you had three outs.

• Calculate the pot odds. The total pot at this point is $75 (three players paid $20 to see the flop + $5 small blind + $10 bet on flop by the big blind): therefore, your pot odds are 7.5 to 1 for a $10 her.
• Calculate the implied pot odds. Do you expect to win more bets when the king or queen comes? You should win bets 50% of the time when you improve, but you will lose more bets the other 50% when your opponent has a better hand. A simplified assumption would be that all future bets break even.
• Compare the implied pot odds to the odds against improving your hand. In this case, we look at the pot odds since the implied odds are the same. The pot odds of 7.5 to 1 are compared to the odds against improving with three outs of 15 to 1 (see out chart).
• Determine your best strategy. The odds against improving are 15 to 1; therefore, we should fold since the pot odds are only offering 7.5 to 1.

Let’s discuss this hand a little further to show the importance of discounting outs. Many players draw to overcards on the flop hoping to pair up, and this example shows that this often is a big mistake. If we played our hand thinking we have six outs to the king or queen, our odds are 7 to 1 against improving. This compares favorably to the 7.5 to 1 pot odds; therefore, we would call expecting to make a small profit. However, this assumes we would always win when the king or queen comes. As we discussed before, our opponent could very well have KT, QT, TT, 77, 55 or beat us on the river.

Some players also justify calling by saying that they have implied odds of winning more bets should they improve. This is true if your hand wins, although sometimes you won’t even collect more bets when your opponent folds on the turn to a bet or raise. The problem is that sometimes you will lose additional bets. If your king or queen comes on the turn, you will probably raise and then be faced with a reraise, if your opponent has a set or two pair.

Let’s look at another example of $10-$20. An early and middle position player call. You call on the button with A♣ 5♣. The small blind calls and five players see the flop of K♣ 9♣ 4♦. The small blind bets and the big blind folds. A strong player in early position raises. The middle position player folds. What should you do?

• Determine the number of discounted outs. The early position player most likely has a pair of kings and might have 99. The small blind most likely has a pair of kings, K9, 99, 44, or possibly a flush draw. You have nine outs to the nut flush and three outs to the ace.

If one of your opponents has a set or two pair, you could hit your flush and possibly lose to a full house; therefore, a small discount I needed. An estimate might be to discount your flush draw from nine outs to eight outs.

Your three outs to the ace need to be discounted since you would lose to AA, KK, 99, 44, AK, A9, A4, K9, K4, 94, and for the possibility that someone hits a better hand on the river. Again, (his is a matter of judgment, but you might estimate that a pair of aces would win about 33% of the time; therefore, you could discount your three outs to one out. As a result, I would play the hand as if J had nine discounted outs.

• Calculate the pot odds. The total pot at this point is $80 (five players paid $10 to see the flop + $10 bet on flop by the small blind + $20 raise by the early position player). You face a bet of $20, so your pot odds are 4 to 1.
• Calculate the implied pot odds. If you hit the flush on the turn or river, you can expect to gain some extra bets, especially if one of the players has a set. Since there are two opponents in this hand, you might expect to gain at least one big bet on the turn and one big bet on the river for a total of $120 ($80 +$20 + $20). Your implied odds are 6 to 1 faced with a $20 bet. Note: A big bet is the amount of a bet on the turn and river, compared to small bets on the first two rounds of betting.
• Compare the implied pot odds to the odds against improving your hand. Nine outs are 4 to 1 against improving, which are equal to the pot odds of 4 to 1; however, your odds compare favorably to the implied pot odds of 6 to 1.
• Determine your best strategy. Calling is profitable. Raising is a consideration to try to buy a free card (see “Deceptive Tactics” chapter).

Let’s look at one more example of $10-$20. You raise in early position with J♥ J♠. Two middle players, the button, small blind, and big blind all call for a total of six players. The flop is T♣ 8♦ 8♥. It is checked to you, and you bet. One middle player, the button, and small blind call. Four players see the turn card of Q♦. The small blind checks and you bet. The middle position player raises and everybody folds to you. There is $220 in the pot. What do you do?

• Determine the number of discounted outs. Assuming the middle player is not a tricky opponent, your opponent has at least a pair of queens with a band like AQ or KQ. He might also have TT, 88, or A8. QQ is unlikely since he probably would have reraised preflop. Q8, J9, and T8 are unlikely since he probably would have folded to a raise before the flop. You have four outs 10 a straight and two outs to a full house. Your two outs to the full house are strong since the only two hands that would beat you are QQ and 88. Your four outs to the straight are relatively strong unless your opponent has QQ, TT, 88, or 98, QQ and 88 are unlikely, but TT is a decent possibility. Only a weak player would call a raise preflop with 98s. One other small possibility is that your opponent has QJ, in which case you would split the pot if a 9 comes. Therefore, I would only discount your six outs by one out to account for QQ, TT, 88, and QJ, and play the hand as if you had five outs.
• Calculate the pot odds. The total pot is $220 and the bet is $20, so your pot odds are 11 to 1.
• Calculate the implied pot odds. You should expect to earn another bet on the river if you improve. You might lose two bets on the river if you come out betting with the straight and lose to a full house. You might estimate that you would win $15 on average when improving; therefore, the implied odds are $235/20, which are 11.75 to 1.
• Compare the implied pot odds to the odds against improving your hand. 11.75 to 1 implied pot odds compares favorably to the 8 to 1 odds against improving with five outs.
• Determine your best strategy. Given the large pot, calling is correct.

Let’s change the scenario in the above example to look at the effect of a large pot. Let’s assume you raise preflop as before and the middle position player calls, but now everyone else folds. The flop and turn are the same, and he raises once again when the Q♦ comes. You do not believe your opponent is bluffing. With only $135 in the pot and the $15 you expect to earn on average should you improve, your implied pot odds are now only 7.5 to 1. This is less than the 8 to 1 odds against improving, so you should fold.

Advanced Concept: In many cases, it is the size of the pot that determines if drawing to a particular hand is profitable. Given the same exact hand and scenario, your hand could either be folded or played depending on the size of the pot.

The above advanced concept sounds rather simple and obvious, but many weak players play their hands the same way no matter how big the pot is. Weak draws can sometimes be profitable, but you usually need a large pot.

These examples should give you an idea in how to apply odds during a poker game. For beginning players, it will take time and experience before you are comfortable applying these concepts.

Applying odds at the poker table is essential to making good poker decisions. Some experienced players can do this simply by their excellent feel and judgment for the game, but most of us need to rely on mathematics to help guide us with close decisions. Players who understand how to apply odds in a poker game will have a significant advantage over most of their opponents,

Let’s look at an example to demonstrate how to apply odds to make good poker decisions. You are playing in a $1-$2 game and are seated on the button. You hold K♥ T♥ and the board shows 9♥ 2♣ 4♦ A♥. An opponent bets $2 for a total pot of $10. To simplify the example, we assume your opponent is betting a pair of aces but will fold if another heart comes on the river. Should you call to try and improve to a flush?

We will show later that the odds against improving to a flush are 4 to 1. In other words, you will improve to a flush once every five tries. If you played this hand five times, you should expect to lose $2 four times and win $10; once for a total profit of $2; therefore, calling has a positive expectation. What if the pot is only $7? In this case, you would expect to lose $2.00 four times and win $7 once for a loss of $1, so you should fold.

To better understand this process, we begin the chapter with some definitions and then discuss how to calculate various odds and probabilities for the most typical situations in Hold’em. The actual calculation however is not as important as how you apply odds to make better decisions, so we will discuss this process in detail.

Definitions

Odds and probabilities are two ways to express the same thing. Probability tells you how many times an event will happen. For example, you will I dealt a pocket pair once every 17 hands or 5.88% of the time. Odds tell you how many times an event will not happen. For example, the odds are 16 to 1 against being dealt a pocket pair.

Pot odds are the relationship between the current pot to the current bet. For example, if the pot is $100 and you must bet $10, the pot odds are 10 to implied pot odds is the relationship between the current pot and the bets you expect to win, to the current bet.

Let’s look at an example of implied pot odds. You are playing in a $1-$2 same and your lone opponent bets out $2 on the turn. There is $10 in the pot, so your pot odds are 5 to 1; however, if you improve your hand on the river, you expect to earn at least one more bet from your opponent. You are risking $2 on the turn to win a total of $12, the $10 in the current pot plus your opponent’s $2 bet on the river; therefore, your implied odds are 6 to 1. If you expect that your opponent will bet out on the river and call a raise should you improve, you would earn two more bets, so your implied odds would be 7 to 1.

Advanced Concept: When calculating pot odds and implied pot odds, always he aware of the possibility of a raise behind you.

If your bet doesn’t close the betting, you may not be getting the pot odds you expect. For example, an opponent bets $1 and there is $9 in the pot. Your pot odds are 9 to 1; however, if a player behind you raises, you now must pay an additional $1. A raise lowers your pot odds to only 6 to 1 since you will have to pay a total of $2 to win $12 (assuming the original bettor calls the raise). Note that the total pot would be $14, but this includes your $2 bet, so you don’t include this in the calculation. There are many situations in Hold’em that require folding when there is a possibility that a raise will decrease the pot odds you are receiving.

An out is an important concept when discussing probability and odds. An out is a card that improves your hand. For example, when you hold two hearts and there are two hearts on the board, you need one more heart for a flush. There are nine remaining hearts or “outs” to improve your hand. If you have A♥ T♥ and you think another ace would also win the hand, you now have 12 outs: the nine hearts and the three remaining aces.

An out is counterfeited when a card that improves your hand gives an opponent an even better hand. One of the most common mistakes made by many players is assuming that they will win when a particular card improves their hand; however, it does you no good to draw to a hand that will only lose. For example, you could be hoping for a flush card only to lose to a higher flush or maybe even a full house. You could hit an overcard, a card higher than any card on the board, only to lose to two pair, three of a kind, a straight, or a flush.

When applying odds, you should discount an out whenever there is a chance that you could improve but still lose the hand. Once you know the number of discounted outs that can win the hand, you can calculate the odds against improving to the winning hand to determine your best strategy. How much you discount an out is dependent on how many players you are against and you read on your opponents’ possible holdings given the betting sequences in the hand.

For example, you have three outs to an overcard ace and feel that you might win about 2/3 of the time against a lone opponent if you hit the ace; therefore, you would discount your three outs to two outs. However, against two opponents you might feel you will only win about 1/3 of the time, so you discount your three outs to one out. If you are against three or more opponents, you might feel that even with another ace, there is a high chance that you will not be able to win the pot. In this case, you should disregard the outs to the ace since you are drawing dead.

Drawing dead is when you cannot improve to the winning hand. This occurs when your opponents counterfeit all of your outs or already have a hand better than the one you are drawing to. For example, you might be drawing dead to two overcards if an opponent already has three of a kind, two pair, or your outs would give your opponent an even better hand.

We will go through several examples to look at how you should determine the number of discounted outs you have in a hand based on the probability that your outs are counterfeited or that you are drawing dead. First let’s look a how to calculate odds.

Poker is a game of skill. This is not easy to explain to people who do not understand the game, but good poker players will win the money.

Good Poker Players = The MONEY

However, there is one huge caveat in this equation. That caveat is lime. Good poker players will win the money given enough time.

Good Poker Players = The MONEY…given TIME

In any one hand, the odds are pretty even for everybody. Over an hour, the better poker players have a little advantage, but could easily lose a lot. In a session of eight hours, a good poker player will win the majority of the time, but not all the time. If a good poker player plays 100 hours of $20-$40 limit Hold’em, he could win as much as $20,000. But once in a blue moon, he might lose $10,000. A good poker player could only break even after 1400 hours of play. Given any time below that, he could possibly lose.

As you can see, a good poker player will win given enough time, but it may not be as easy as it seems in a short time period. Granted, these are extreme cases, but they can happen. What happens in between the extremes is a lot of short-term fluctuations, which can frequently last several days, sometimes several weeks, and even several months. We will talk more about these fluctuations in the “Bankroll Management” chapter.

It is important to realize that there are subtle differences between a good poker player and a bad one that take effect over time. The beauty of poker is that the bad players always remember the limes they had some good short-term luck, so they keep coming back for more until they eventually go broke.

However, understanding how to play good poker is not enough to win the money. You must APPLY this knowledge at all times. Poker is a fun and exhilarating game, but there is nothing more frustrating than outplaying an opponent only to lose money to him,

MANY players begin to play badly when things do not go their way. This is commonly referred to as tilt. However, I don’t think tilt fully explains the range of emotions. Of course, the first step is preventing yourself from going on tilt, but there is a big difference between playing your “A” game and going on tilt. Many players may not go on full tilt, but they begin to play just a few more hands or make a few more calls than they should. This often happens late at night when a player is trying to get back to even before going to bed. Good players realize that they can always get hack to even the next day.

I expect that the difference between the expert players and the good players is their emotional control. You must have discipline to be successful playing poker.

So remember:

Good Disciplined Poker Players = The MONEY…given TIME

In almost all Hold’em decisions, your position and the position of your opponents can have a big impact on the strategies you decide to use. Position refers to the order in which a player has to act. Your position will change each hand as the “button” is moved around the table. In a ten-handed Hold’em game, early position is defined as the first three players to the left of the big blind, middle position is the next three players, and late position consists of the last two players. The first player to act in early position is said to be under the gun. The player in seat 10 is often referred to as the button or dealer. The player before the button is often called the cutoff.

Note the order of seats and position below:

Learn these positions well as they will be referred to throughout the text. Once the flop is dealt, position is used as a relative term to describe when you have to act. For example, if you are in the small blind, you are acting in “early” position after the flop since you must act first. A player sitting in seat 5 could be acting in “late” position if he is the last player who has to act.

There is a glossary in the back of the text if you come across a term that you do not understand.

One note about the use of the pronoun “he.” For simplicity, I use “he” throughout the text to refer to all players of both sexes.

This book is meant to be read and studied many times. You will find that as you gain more experience, you will be able to better understand some of the concepts with each new reading of the book. Hopefully it will serve as a reference to your play for many years to come.

Internet Poker Jargon

One of the enjoyable things about poker is the social aspect of the game. Although the Internet is very different than live play in this aspect, the chat feature adds a unique dimension to Internet poker. Of course, you can chat in live games, but if people said the same things in a live game that they sometimes say on the Internet, there would be a lot of bloody noses sitting at the table. Although some players abuse the chat feature, in general it adds a great dimension that allows you to talk to players from all over the world.

Internet chat has created a lot of jargon to shorten the amount of typing required. One of the most popular is lol or Laugh Out Loud. Most players use this to laugh at how a hand developed usually in a bad beat situation, but it can also be used as a laugh in general. Arg is another common term used when someone is not happy with something. Some other common terms you will see include:

                     Smiling face

                      Frown

vnh                 Very nice hand

brb                  Be right back

tx or ty                        Thanks

woohoo         Celebration

zzzz                Going to sleep from the slow play

t                       Testing or time

Planet Poker offers sound effects for some of these shorthand expressions, including loo where you will hear a toilet flushing, and tyvm (thank you very much) spoken by Elvis himself.

You will see a few of these terms in the book. I only hope that no one will want to add “zzzz” to the text, lol.

The Internet has created a whole new poker community. Internet poker is exciting, it is fun, and can be very profitable. Hopefully this book will put you one step ahead of your opponents to help you win more money and have even more fun. Best of luck!

Planet Poker first introduced real money action to the Internet in 1999. Since then, Internet poker has grown to degrees few could imagine. On any given night, you can find thousands of players from all over the world playing poker for real money on the Internet.

The dimension of the Internet is bringing the game to thousands of players who never had access to the game before. Many beginning players are able to play online for play money or at micro limits that are not offered in live casinos. Of course, many players do not live in areas that have a live casino, so the Internet now gives them a way to find a game.

Many of these new players born on the Internet are finding their way to the live casino. The tremendous growth of live tournaments around the world is an excellent example. Many of the players going to these tournaments are honing their skills on the Internet. For example, the 2003 World Series of Poker main event featured over 30 entrants who won their $10K entry at Internet poker sites. The winner, Chris Moneymaker, had never played a live tournament before and was able to outplay over 800 of the best players in the world to take home the $2.5 million top prize at the World Series of Poker!