The End of Mark

It was a brutal finish. Within fifteen minutes, Mark. was all-in. Bobby had aces from the beginning. Mark was trailing with two eights after the third card. Last card. Baldwin turned each over slowly, dramatically. It was as if he were parroting some scene from an old western movie. But the drama died suddenly when Mark’s card failed to help. Bobby made aces-up, but that was irrelevant. “Play some more,” Mark urged. “I ain’t got it right now, but I’ll owe it to you.” They played for $10. It was solemnly agreed that it would be the last game, no matter what. After that was lost, Mark cast an imploring look toward Baldwin. He couldn’t ask to play again. That would be less than honorable. But it’s hard to maintain honor under stress. Especially for a twelve-year-old miser who is suddenly penniless. Still, Mark refrained from begging. Instead he tried to convey pity. But Baldwin declined to respond to this emotional blackmail. He did pat Mark affectionately on. the back. “Could you.. .could you loan me $5. My mom’s gonna have a birthday and...” The last of Mark’s words were obscured by a semi-deliberate mumble. Bobby gave his friend the money and left. He had twenty-five dollars more now than when he’d ridden his ‘bike over to Mark’s. Plus, he was owed fifteen more. poker was going to be easy. My exaltation was not merited by my play. I’d drawn out on Mark more often than he’d drawn out on me, gone in with the worst hand repeatedly and come out best. Of course, I didn’t realize this at the time. I was floating on a cloud hut I was destined to fall through it. Some things I had done right. For the first time in my life, I’d sandbagged a hand that Saturday afternoon, it had worked perfectly. Also, I’d agreed to play for that double-or-nothing freeze-out. And even though Mark was the better player, mine was the right decision. He was psychologically beaten. I think he knew he was going to lose. He played several hands terribly, even though he knew better. He was desperate, and I’d taken advantage of that. But I wasn’t ready to win at Poker Games. I didn’t even understand the fundamentals of a game as uncomplicated as five-stud. That game is seldom played seriously in big- time poker today. But, because it’s a game made popular by movies and dealt in friendly home games, I’m going to discuss it briefly. Since it was the first form of poker I ever played, this would be an appropriate time to talk about it. I’ll tell you what the most common mistakes are and then provide you with a very simple winning formula. BeforeI do this, I want to point out that in the popular movie, The Cincinnati Kid, the Kid makes a gigantic mistake which costs him the world title. That’s in spite of the fact that it was the most realistic, well researched and expensive poker movie of all lime! I’ll tell you about that mistake shortly.

Video Poker

Poker is the game full of ups and downs. In this game you got to make maximum utilization of the opportunity that comes your way if you want to fulfill your dreams. Now a day’s video poker is catching the eyes of many people but at the same time there are some questions in the mind of many people like this.

Q. Will I win every time I play video poker?

A. Of course not. No one, not even the casino, wins on every playing session. Most people win occasionally at any game they play. If they didn't, they would quit playing; the casinos know this and structure the games to allow occasional big winners. With our methods, you will be able to gain an edge that will make you a favorite to win in the long run.

Q. How big a bankroll do I need?

A. That depends on the game and the denomination, but it has been covered quite extensively in this book. Go back and read the bankroll and risk sections.

Q. What if I'm really serious about winning at video poker?

A. Then you should subscribe to Video Poker Times, and you should use cue cards when you are playing any game if you haven't memorized the strategy.

Q. It says that your cue cards give the strategy as a hand rank table. What is that?

A. Many card combinations that are dealt as your first five cards can be played several ways. For example, Q"- J"- 10. 9"- 4"- (in any order) can be played as a four-card straight (holding Q"- J"10. 9"-), a four-card flush (Q"- J"- 9"- 4"-), a three-card inside straight flush (Q"- J"- 9"-) or a two-card royal flush (Q"- J"-). If the particular machine pays a big bonus for a sequential royal flush, you would also want to see if the queen is in the center position and the jack adjacent to make a sequential royal possible.

The hands on the strategy card are ordered according to Expected Value in descending order. You simply look in the hand rank table to see which combination appears first, and you hold the cards for that draw. Within a half hour of play you will memorize most of the decisions without thinking about it. (Expected Value is explained in the chapter "What Does Expected Value Really Mean?" and on the supplement sheet that comes with the cue cards.)

Q. Are cue cards hard to use?

A. Abbreviations are necessarily used to make the cards pocketsized, but the cards come with a detailed sheet that tells how to read the tables. You will quickly be able to identify any hand in the table. All serious players use hand rank tables, but if that seems too difficult then stick with the Precision Play method.

Q. Why don't you develop Precision Play rules for the cue cards instead of hand rank tables?

A. Some games are too complex to reduce the strategy to a set of rules without either a significant loss of accuracy or very complicated rules. A prime example is Double Bonus Poker.
Q. How can I be sure that a game's payback is as you state? Can't the machines be set for any payback the casino wants?

A. You're very astute. A video game is actually a special purpose digital computer, and a computer can be made to do whatever the programmer desires. Your protection is the Nevada gaming regulations which require that any machine representing a card game must be completely random, and every unseen card must have the same probability of appearing at any time. Since the Nevada Gaming Control Board tests each game before it can be used in Nevada, and it continues to spot check the machines even after they're installed, we are confident that the games obey the laws of probability close enough for our analyses to be accurate and useful. Also, the experience of many pros over years of play in the Online Casinos supports this conclusion.

Q. Okay, but what about machines in other states?

A. It is our understanding that Nevada Gaming Control requires that any manufacturer selling gaming devices in Nevada must certify that all of their machines shipped anywhere meet the Nevada standards. Of course this doesn't prevent someone from changing the program chip after a machine leaves Nevada, but we have had only one report of a machine that didn't appear to be random, and that was a foreign made machine in an Indian casino on the east coast. To be safe, you may want to avoid games in unregulated areas (including cruise ships), especially if you don't recognize the machine manufacturer.

Q. Does the payoff schedule really matter? We have heard that a machine with lower payoffs will hit more often and thus generate about the same payback as a machine with the "full-pay" schedule.

A. This is simply not true, and it would be a gross violation of Nevada Gaming Regulations if it were. Since the games are required to be random, their payback is determined by the payoff schedule and your skill, not by the internal programming.

Q. Will I automatically get a game's rated payback?

A. This is the flip side of the preceding question. Some people seem to think that the machines are programmed to yield a predetermined payback regardless of how they play. Actually, the games are random, and the long-term payback is determined only by the payoff schedule and how you select discards. Since just a few seemingly minor playing errors can significantly reduce the payback, just sitting down at a full-pay machin

Getting rid of marginal hands

I’ve earned a lot of money in only five year while playing poker and still I wish to earn a lot of money. I always play the game with sincerity and I love to help beginners. Now I am going to tell you about vital aspect of poker that is how to get rid of marginal hands.

If the before-the-flop raiser in back of you folds reluctantly, he might well have raised if you had not risen! Your raise tends to get rid of marginal hands in back of you, sometimes including the original bettor, and puts you in good position for the remaining festivities. Sometimes everyone will fold. Occasionally, you will get re raised; but more often a really good hand (in front of you) will just call and wait to check raise on the later (double) rounds.

If you get re raised by the lead bettor and it is now one-on-one, there is much to be said for your folding or reraising! These hands quite often end without a showdown — that is, either you or your opponent backs down on the turn (when the betting doubles). One of the most typical sequences of events is that your raise narrows the field to just the two of you. Then you have to decide whether to compete after the fourth card. This is as much dependent upon what your opponent is like as it is dependent on what you actually have in your hand! If you suspect your opponent is pushing a draw (or two big cards), you might decide to “call him down” (or raise on the turn).

Mike Caro discusses the above situation in the now classic 12 Days to Hold ‘em $ucce$$ (1987, Day Eight Lesson) and is worth quoting:

“...anytime you’re trapped between the bettor and the previous-round raiser with medium power (i.e., a borderline calling decision), either raise or pass. Don’t just call.

“Very little is written about what to do when you’re between the bettor and an aggressive player. A good understanding of how to act in such situations is an essential ingredient in any professional Online Kasino og Poker Rom toolbox. When you really do have an appropriate calling hand, you should raise about one-third of the time; about two-thirds of the time, you should pass.

Remember, you seldom just call. You will fmd that it is not as frightening to raise as you might have expected. Maybe nothing good will happen the first few times, but over the years, you’ll discover that a raise will chase out the threat behind you much of the time! Often, that player will actually throw away the best hand!

“The times you decided to pass with these borderline calling hands, you didn’t sacrifice much. Analysis shows that hands most players consider borderline good calls add very little profit. The bottom line is that a raise now and then (when you’re considering calling) will often chase the player out behind you and put you in a commanding position against the bettor. If the bettor just calls now, he’ll likely check to begin the next betting round (if there is one). ... If you do decide to adopt this policy permanently, you might be giving your bankroll a break. It works!”

Players will notice

Note well that this type of aggressive “hold ‘em mentality” not only makes money for you when “it works,” but sometimes, even when it does not work! Many of the other player’s notice that you sometimes raise on speculation, which greatly helps you win more money when you do have a good hand. There are a number of competitive situations in hold ‘em, such as the above, where it seems “correct” to either raise or fold. It is often theoretically wrong to merely call if you need “the raiser’s edge” to play with Positive percentages.

Thus, there are essentially two ways to get the best of it when you bet or raise, namely either you have the best cards or nobody calls you. (There is also another way to win a hand on early betting rounds — by not having the best cards, being called, and then improving to make the winning hand.) When you are the caller, the only way to win is when you have the best cards (or to luck out and later make the best hand, if it’s not the final betting round). On any given hand, you may have some valid reason for just calling in one of these situations. But if you want to be a winner at hold ‘em in the long run, you must use aggressive betting and raising to gain these extra winning percentages and to have your share of default wins on your side of the ledger. It is extremely important to understand and often employ these two-way actions. Aggressive “hold ‘em mentality” tells us to fight fiercely for the “raiser’s edge”!

So if you want to play winning hold ‘em, you have to adjust your perspectives toward using aggressiveness! After you play hold ‘em for a while, hopefully you will “get into” the game and into this aggressive mind set which we are now calling “hold ‘em mentality.” Sometimes, you can actually “feel” it clicking in! Over the long run the individual hands become a blur, sound practices are rewarded by winning, and unsound practices are penalized by losing. Amen.