This is the best game in the house for a gambler and it has to do with allowing each individual to pick the opponents he will come up against and the amount of the betting he wishes to engage in.
And, if you have knowledge of Poker, then you are on the right track!
The reason that this is the best game for the Player, is because you can choose who you wish to engage in combat with. In Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, etc, the house has that built in edge, called Vigorish, working for them. The Vigorish is the difference in what the house pays and what they should pay. Naturally they are entitled to it because they pay the rent, dealers, electric etc. But the bottom line is that we (the players), fight this high Vig every time we go to a table game or machine.
But in Poker, there is no built in edge, except for the rake (percentage the house pulls from the winning hand). Some charge 5% while others are a lot less and the individual players who lose a pot are not subjected to this hidden rake. In private games, you will find there is no such thing.
Plus, you can go to a table and play against people who are worse than you are. A BAD poker player gets the label of FISH or MARK. That's because he/she is a lousy (for want of a better word) player and subject to getting whacked by stronger players. You can also leave a table if you find you are the dubious owner of the terms FISH and MARK.
In other words, if you are playing against good strong players, you can keep table jumping until you find your own MARK. Believe me; it takes only a couple of hands to sort out the strong players and the bad ones. You can bet the ranch that I wouldn't stay at a table where the other players were far superior to me.
If you are just starting out and think you know the game because you wipe out your family at the Friday night penny-ante kitchen table games, then you better read the following, regarding a few things you should be aware of but keep in mind that it is still the best game for you to play:
You gotta know how to READ your cards.
You gotta know the chances of you improving your hand, based on the cards you can see on the table.
You gotta be aware of the TELLS by your opponents.
You gotta be sure NOT to have TELLS of your own, whereby another player can get a read on your mannerisms, which give away your style of play.
You gotta know when to apply discipline.
You MUST have MONEY MANAGEMENT.
You must learn NOT to chase.
You must learn to have the DISCIPLINE necessary to know when you are beat.
The things I listed are not hard to understand and a fairly decent Poker player will know exactly what I am talking about. Don't think that the list cancels out the fact that I believe you should play this game. Play Poker, but at the same time, NOT BEFORE you are aware of what you need to compete with other players.
Being new to Poker, you may not have heard the term: A ROCK!
A Rock is a player who waits for a sure fire powerful hand, before getting involved in a pot. He/she won't call or bet until the situation warrants that his/her hand can withstand anyone else's cards. Other players will pick up on these actions and the Rocks soon find that nobody stays around when they finally do bet, making their powerful hands practically worthless. That is where you must have a balanced way of playing, in such a way that you give out absolutely no information to your opponents as to your strengths or weaknesses.
You should know that the term BLUFFING is over rated. You can bluff once, maybe twice a night, but a good player will pick up on these moves and negate them with moves of their own.
Go back over that list I laid out and see how it applies to your playing. I am not trying to discourage your playing this game but rather want to encourage you to do so, when you're a solid player.
I think it's time to revisit 7 Card Stud Poker, since more and more people are playing this game.
A common mistake made by newcomers to 7 Card Stud is that they fall in love with their hand. I think you can see where I'm going with this. It has to do with players zeroing in only on the full hand they can see - their own. Think about that statement for a second and figure out whether you are guilty or not.
You're playing at a $1/$3 game (it could be any amount table, but let's use this example) and you're dealt a pair of Jacks down with a 6 up. You look around the table and only one hand has a power card showing. Some guy has an Ace up. On the next deal you get an unsuited 7 and still nobody pairs. The ace bets and all players call around to you. Do you raise or call?
With a 6 and 7 (unsuited) showing, you have one single move and that's to call. If you raise, you broadcast your hand to the world, you let on that you have something hidden. There is no reason for you to blow your cover with only four cards dealt. But I see people raise that hand over and over again.
Why? If someone has nothing, they'll immediately drop. If someone also has a hidden pair (maybe higher than your Jacks), a re-raise could occur. This will force you to invest more money into a hand that is barely half completed. With the drops of those with nothing, the value of the pot just diminished. You need to pay extra money, with the chance that you're already behind in the hand.
When I explain this to novices, their first remark is that you don't want someone to stay in and draw out on you. Valid reasoning, but with four cards dealt, a pair of Jacks is not like having a lock on that hand. You still need to improve to have a solid shot at that particular hand.
When I play and see a raise come from someone who merely shows an unsuited 6 and 7 on the board, you can be sure a re-raise will come from either me or some other veteran at the table. We're looking for a re-action on the part of the first bumper. Usually the novice will show hesitancy in calling and looks around the table for signs of who looks strong.
This hesitancy, or any kind of tell-tale sign, could alert the veteran that the novice is raising on the come or is not as strong as indicated by the early raise. At best, the novice could have trips, and if that's the case, an immediate re-raise would now come and the vet would have reason to drop and figure it was worth the re-raise to get a handle on how strong the original raiser was.
If the novice (first raiser), does not immediately come back with a re-raise, then everyone at the table knows that there are only two options left: an open straight or a high pair, which was the case in this example. This is just a move on the part of experienced players, to try and flush out a person, making an early raise, with no power hand showing on the board, such as a high pair or two Power Cards to a Royal.
So, let's get things straight here: I'm warning you now - giving any hint of your hand to people that you're not sure are pros, even sitting in a low stakes game, is a big mistake. The example I gave you is a snap to read because of the two cards that were showing on board (unsuited 6 and 7), but there are many combinations of cards that give a good player a pretty good idea of what the player has in the hole, based on how he/she plays those cards.
I admit having a hidden pair of Jacks is a great start but it won't be a great hand if and when a third one finds its way into the mix. Until then, don't think you've discovered the fountain of youth, just because you're starting off on a good note. There are seven cards per hand for up to six other players and they too will be drawing high pairs and even stronger cards.
Raising early in the game, with hidden power, just swings the concentration of the other players in your direction. I would've just called that 4th street bet. This way, the others are only judging my hand on the unsuited 6 and 7 that they can see. If you improve in the next card or two, there will be plenty of time to build up that pot. But it's better to keep a low profile for the first 4-5 cards and get a true feeling of how all of the others are handling their hands.
Some of you may claim: "Hey, we're talking about a small $1/$3 game, not a multi-zillion dollar pot". Well, my friends, you'd be surprised to find out how many great players, looking for a nice pay-day, go and play in these low limit games, hoping to find novices making mistakes that will allow the "pro" to cash in, hand after hand. We're talking about money here...and when money is concerned, people turn into different species. When money is involved, people will do crazy things. And in a poker game, there are pros who know every trick in the book, so don't discount the value of the table. Money is money and it's a no holds barred matter in any poker game. So watch out!
PROFESSIONAL GAMBLERS: 7 CARD STUD POKER - WHY YOU SHOULDN'T CHASE STRAIGHTS
In a few hours I will be heading out for a night of Poker, which comprises 4-5 of my nights each week. My favorite is High/Low 7 Card Stud, but tonight is strictly the 7 Card Stud people and THEY are good. You don't make mistakes with these people.
Talk is minimal, tells are invisible, mistakes are costly and mercy is absent. Talk too much, they'll pick up a tell. Look the wrong way and they get a read on you, make a dumb move and it'll cost you. Newcomers to the game would be better in a tank with sharks. These guys would eat the sharks!
The point I'm making is that if you really want to be a great poker player, or even a successful one at kicking off some decent profits, the key is being perfect in every phase of the game.
Today I'm going to dwell on one tiny thing: STRAIGHTS. I don't win with straights because I don't go for straights. Obviously if one is dealt to me in the first 5 cards, I'm not throwing it back. But chasing a straight, even open ended, is a waste of time and money - mostly money.
A straight is only a freckle more powerful than 2 pair and needs 5 cards in order to be made. Two pair needs only four cards. Trips are even more powerful than two pair and require only three cards of the same value, of course. But measured against the difficulty of trying to fill a straight is the all important facet of EXPENSE.
Just think for a second how long you have to stay in a hand in order to get your straight. It doesn't just happen all the time in the first five cards you are dealt. Yet once you cross over to sixth street, and definitely on seventh street, the betting increases by leaps and bounds.
The person chasing the dream of catching a 5 or a 10 to complete his slightly meager valued straight is caught between players looking for, or worse, HAVING their Full House, Flush or Higher Straight. The catch might be made but the hand may not be strong enough to off-set others who end up stronger.
The amount of money a poker player uses in CHASING hands eventually comes back to eat into overall profits. I'm not saying to drop every hand unless you are dealt trips or three cards to a Royal. Just for smiles, put away the chasing of straights for the next three poker sessions you find yourself involved in. Watch and see if it doesn't leave you with more money to use, going after better valued hands.
And with that said, I will now spray on my shark repellent and enter the room, set aside for all aspiring poker players, who hope to get out of that rat trap in about 7 hours with more money than they went in with.
You can be sure that IF I win tonight, it won't be because I caught a gut straight or two but because I had enough chips in front of me to go for broke with three lovely cowboys wired.
Chasing straights will lead you STRAIGHT to a quick dent in your session money! Don't do it.
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