Poker School

Ginger or Mary Ann?

The argument about limit vs. no limit has become as heated as the ongoing spat over Ginger or Mary Ann. No Limit poker, much like the sultry Ginger, is the movie star of the gaming world. It has flash, dramatics, and scoring can seem easy. Whenever somebody on television is pulling in a big pot you can be sure that they are playing no limit hold’em. The limit game is understated, subtle, and requires a combination of patience and skill to score.

It All Comes Down to Money

When you play either, the cards are the same, the game is the same, so what is the real difference? It all comes down to money. Money is in an integral part of the strategy of poker. It is in the back of the mind of each player when they look at their cards and wonder what to do. Unless Thurston Howell suddenly steps in and backs you with his enormously deep pockets, how much you are willing to lose is going to be tied to your strategy.

What Is the Real Difference?

Limit poker means there is a maximum on how much a player can bet or raise. There are also limits on the size of the pot. Once the pot reaches its pre-set maximum, then all betting is done. The advantage here is that it provides a safety net to the player. Someone who is new to the game will be better able to survive their mistakes because there is only so much they can lose on any one hand. It also requires a higher degree of poker skill to win big in a limit game. By taking away the ability for somebody with a large bankroll to bully and intimidate the field with his massive stack of chips, you force it to come down to actual game play. If somebody is holding a pair of Jacks, and raises by two thousand dollars, there is a pretty good chance that most of the other people at the table are going to fold. They don’t know he has a measly pair of jacks, and most are not going to waste a couple weeks pay to find out. In a limit game those pair of jacks will have to stand on their own against what the rest of the table is holding. To succeed in a limit game, a player must be more patient and content to pick his opponents apart instead of trying to tear out big chunks.

It All Comes Down to Money AGAIN!

No Limit hold’em is the darling of the poker world. It is exciting and the money can be big. The advantage to the no limit game is that the rewards for a good hand are not limited some pre-defined pot maximum. Why should the payout on a royal flush be the same as somebody who has won with three kings? Also, in No Limit game, the money becomes part of the strategy. The more chips you collect, the more control of the table you have. Playing aggressive poker with a big stack will make people afraid to challenge your three kings if you raise the pot beyond the comfort zone of your competitors.

Many beginners who play No Limit hold’em generally get used to life without a shirt. Conversely, many seasoned veterans are bored by the limited game. Generally beginners learn the game in the safety of limits. Then go on to the wild world of No Limit Hold’em.

More years ago then I care to think about, a citizen of ancient Greece named Pythagoras, sat down and worked out a theorem of mathematics and how it works in the world. Not only was this a breakthrough in the field of mathematics, but it was the first recorded instance of somebody having way to much time on their hands. There are other, less known theorems. For example, chaos theory talks about butterflies flittering about and changing weather on completely separate continents. Due to the general insanity behind this idea, the message behind this theorem seems to be “Don’t smoke crack”. Less known then these two theorems, but more relevant to our general interest on this site is the “Fundamental Theorem of Poker”.

David Sklansky expresses this theorem beautifully in his book, “The Theory of Poker”. He writes that the ”Fundamental Theorem of Poker states that the best way for players to play is the way they would play if they knew their opponent’s cards”. In other words, “duh”. Obviously though, this is more complex then just the words stated in the theorem. Unless you have superpowers, or somebody behind your opponents with binoculars, there is no way you can actually know what they have in their hands.

Let's say you're holding jh and 10h. While your opponent is holding ks and qd. The flop comes: qh 8c 7h. You check, your opponent bets, and in response, you call. Then the turn comes: ad. You bet, trying to represent aces. If your opponent knew what you had, his correct play would be to raise you so much it would cost too much to draw to a flush or a straight on the last card, and you would have to fold. Therefore if your opponent only calls, you have gained. You have gained not just because you are getting a relatively cheap final card, but because your opponent did not make the correct play. Obviously if your opponent folds, you have gained tremendously since he has thrown away the best hand.

How could the opponent have known what was in your hand? How would they have known raising was the correct call? You are dealing with odds and probability. The odds of you completing your flush or straight were not good. If you pulled another Jack, the opponent could still beat you with a pair of Kings or Queens. The odds that you would pull three Jacks were equal to the odds the opponent would a triplet of Kings and Queens. You can see where this is going.

Staying on the happy side of the odds will result in more wins then losses. Occasionally that 10% chance that a player is going to beat you with an unlikely straight, is going to happen, and you will watch your money go into their stack.

Remember the words from the book, “The Theory of Poker”: “Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponent’s cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose.

My thanks to David Sklansky and his book “The Theory of Poker” for the contributions they made to this article.

Taking something that you really shouldn’t have is frowned upon in the real world. Most in a civilized society call this stealing. Using the principles that work in poker, such as deception and guile, landed the Adelphia boys in a place where striped pajamas are high fashion and strip searches are considered recreational activity. Luckily though, using your position at the poker table to steal a pot will not net you such dire consequences.

There are times when your position at the table will allow you take a pot you would not have otherwise won. Statistically speaking, it is the best hand that wins most of the time, regardless of position. So what we actually mean by “taking a pot you would not have otherwise won”, we are referring to the amount of money. Using your positional advantage at the table you can squeeze out some extra bets that may have otherwise stayed far out of your reach, in your opponents wallet.

The last position is the place you want to be. When your turn comes in the rotation for this spot, take advantage of the opportunity. Most players live in fear of somebody raising behind them. When you are in the last position you are the guy they are looking at and praying you won’t raise. This position gives you the freedom to play more loose and aggressive. The person in last position can dictate the behavior of the table with their play.

Let’s say you have a strong hand and are in the last position. Playing a little possum won’t hurt the pot size. The folks in front of you, who are calculating their pot odds based on your raises, may fold if you look overly aggressive. You can bluff the pot odds by playing it tight and simply calling their bets for a couple rounds, thus artificially inflating the pot. They will feel safe if you pretend to be weak, and stay in the game.

Many poker players are inherently timid, and fold in the face of a challenge. If you have a weak hand, raising from the last place may scare the other folks away, even those who could have beaten you.

The last place is the power position, when you have it, enjoy it. The next round somebody will be doing to you what you hope to be doing to them.

Think of heads up play as the poker version of tennis. It is one on one, with serves and returns. In fact it has almost every element of the game of tennis except for sweating and tiny little skirts.

Like any other game of poker, position is key. Instead of the button going around the table, it goes back and forth between the players. When the button is in your possession you will be the one who is posting the small blind in this format. This means that you get to act first, before the flop and last after it. This means you can take the lead in the pot, and then add some pressure by acting post flop. You want to do most of your attacking when you have the button. The button's main advantage is that there are three rounds of betting after the flop, which means if you wish you can launch three attacks at your opponent and essentially put most of their stack on the line.

Heads up poker is a horse of another color. Even experienced players can get sloppy in a one on one situation. If you keep running into conflicts in the early stages then the chances are that you have exposed some kind of weakness in their play – for example do they frequently call raises or check-raise out of position, thereby making themselves vulnerable, or do they play passively from the button allowing you to take a few more liberties? Do they bluff too much or too little, or always respond to your play in certain ways? Do they raise too much or too little, letting you into hands or ruining the dynamics of their game?

In all of these situation you can behave like the campus bully giving a wedgie to a member of the computer club. All of these are weaknesses that you can look to exploit through the course of the game, and you should of course adjust accordingly to them. Remember this is not about ego and dangerous moves are not often rewarded. It is all about the person who has all the chips in the end.

People are natural liars. It is the one thing that ties together every person of every economic level, every color and creed. In other words, a lie, like death, is society’s great equalizer. The middle aged man who says “Honest honey, the painter must have left it”, to explain why a leather mask with a zipper where the mouth should be is laying on the bed, is as much a liar as the leader of the free world when he announced to a confused nation, “Read my lips, I did not have sexual relations with that woman”. Knowing that we lie as easily as we breathe makes most wonder why anything that is uttered by homo-sapiens is believed. The one force as powerful as the lie is our need to trust. This makes lying a powerful tool in the poker players arsenal.

Because of the nature of the game, the advantage you can gain from deception is limited. Telling the player to your left, “of course I love you”, might be confuse them emotionally, but probably won’t affect the outcome of the hand. This lie is best saved for a third date, when thoughts of how nice the object of your affections underwear would look hanging from your ceiling fan keep bouncing through your head. Prominent forms of deception in poker are bluffing, semi bluffing, and slow play.

Bluffing is traditionally an attempt to fool your opponents into thinking your hand is much better then it actually is. In short, you are trying to use deception to get the players around you to fold their superior hands so you can win with your sub-par cards. Most people think that bluffing is an all-purpose solution to every game, but it’s not. Bluffing in a low limit game is almost useless. It is a rare occasion when folks do not call to a showdown. There simply is so little on the line, players tend to take their chances going all the way. Bluffing is far more effective in high limit or no limit games. Calling in these situations can be expensive and players will think twice if the confidence in their hand can be shaken. For example, betting at the flop with a high card on the board gives the impression that you are holding a high pair, whether you have this pair or not. Raising when a flush is possible signals to the table that you are holding a flush. It doesn’t matter if it’s true, as long as the table thinks it’s true.

Semi-bluffing is the same as bluffing except for the fact that you actually possess a strong draw. In other words, you may only have Ace high, but you stand a good chance of hitting a spade flush or making a pair of Aces or Kings. So yes, technically you’re bluffing, but your bluff may also prove to be prophetic. If you bet with this hand, you have a high likelihood of possessing a strong hand on later betting rounds. The difference between a bluff and a semi-bluff is that with a bluff you are holding nothing and will, in all likelihood, not upgrade your nothing. A semi-bluff may actually be a self fulfilling prophecy. Your cards have potential, and may actually turn out to be a winning hand. Much like a proper bluff, semi-bluffing works best in high-limit and no-limit games.

Slowplaying is a bluff in reverse. It is when a competitor is playing possum with a big hand. We all know there are advantages to making players believe that your hand is stronger then it is, but what some don’t know is that there is a huge edge to convincing folks your position is far weaker then your cards actually are. If the table gets the idea your holding a big hand, they will fold without putting money into the pot. This doesn’t do you any good. You want them to grow that pot for all they are worth, if you can fool some folks into going “all-in”, even better. You should slowplay if two conditions are met:

- You hold a whopper and there is almost no chance of someone drawing on you.

- You will only get action if some other cards come out that will improve your opponents' hands. Nonetheless, these cards are not good enough to make their hands beat your hand.

No matter who you are, deception is somewhere in your nature. Make it pay off for you during a hand of poker and lie your little tail off.

Anybody who has ever seen one of the “Discovery Channel” shows on wild horses knows what the term, “wobbly as a new born colt” means. It takes a baby horse a little while to get the hang of walking. Even when young stallion manages to get all its legs going in the same direction, inexperience at life will cause it to make mistakes. It may try to nurse off a confused and angry grizzly bear, or decide that a cliff is its friend. Inexperience can make any situation a veritable mine field.

This is true with poker players as well. Beginners make a number of mistakes that wind up costing them big. Time and experience will eventually put a stop to these errors, but wouldn’t it be better if you could learn about the mistakes before you hand over your bankroll to players who will just point and laugh at you?

When many people start playing, they are excited and keen to get on with things. This over enthusiastic nature causes them to play to many hands. The presence of a face card in their starting hand will embolden into playing cards that a more experienced player would fold. For example, a newbie would get a jack and a two, and go head long into the fray. The rest of us know this is almost a complete waste of money. With these cards, unless you are in a very low limit game, you simply fold before the flop.

Another common mistake is playing above your bankroll. Perhaps you have had a good run in low limit games for a short period of time. Greed gets the better of some players who decide it is time to move up in limit. This is a mistake. Moving up to a higher limit game also means the quality of the competition is going to improve. This is a daunting task for a player who doesn’t even have the fundamentals down yet. Before making this move, ask yourself, “am I really ready to play in games I can’t afford against people I can’t beat yet?”

In the film “A league of their own” Tom Hanks yelled out the now famous line, “There’s no crying in baseball”. This goes for poker as well. Getting emotional at the table will cause you to lose focus and you will start making mistakes that go over and above the normal rookie errors.

Finally, one of the biggest errors made by inexperienced players is not taking pot odds seriously. It is not like they calculate the odds, and then decide they should go forward regardless of how bad their chances are. Most new players do not even bother to calculate the odds. This is because few beginners truly understand pot odds, and underestimate its value in keeping them from calling in a situation that is nearly a no win scenario. Let your pot odds be your guide and your game will dramatically improve.

When most people think about stern discipline thoughts of military boot camp come wafting across their consciousness. Of course just as many start thinking about large women in leather teddies holding riding crops and thumb screws. I guess your thoughts on the subject of discipline have much to do with your past experiences.

There is a difference between the disciplined player who wins and somebody who just exists to feed the pot and borrow money after a game is expectations and advantages. I good player will look for any advantage they can get during a game, leaving as little to fickle fate as they can. The advantage may come in the form of breaking down the opponents betting habits, finding tells, calculating pot odds on every hand, etc. Remember, a disciplined player expects to walk away from the table with a profit. A fish hopes to lucky. The only feelings most good players have about luck is that they hope the opponent doesn’t get lucky. They would prefer to play skill vs. skill.

Good poker players recognize that not all games are the same. Someone who is rather successful at no-limit games may find themselves looking very foolish when they sit down at a limit table. A disciplined player knows their strengths and weaknesses alike, and avoids the trap of setting themselves up in a vulnerable position.

There is a big difference between a disciplined limit player and their no-limit cousin. The disciplined limit player is very stack conscious. They avoid throwing away chips in aggressive charges, opting for the “slow and steady wins the race” philosophy. They are very tight preflop. Playing only the hands they have a very good chance of winning with.

Discipline in the no-limit game does not look like restraint. They can be very loose and aggressive pre-flop, playing hands that would send a good limit player sprinting for the antacids. Despite the appearance though, the trick of the no-limit game is knowing when to toss away a hand that will get you in trouble.

The player who has mastered self-control also knows when to quit. They can feel when they are tilting or when they have just had enough and are quitting while ahead. When they lose, they learn. They take note of their own personal mistakes and don’t cry about what happened. If you master discipline and self-control, you will hold an edge in most games.

Early human civilization had no concept for zero. Back then the work was hard, and there was also the possibility of being eaten by a giant ground sloth, but in general folks were happier. They also were not very good poker players. With the advent of zero came the birth of mathematics. With math we got the industrial revolution, nuclear weapons and Microsoft. People are less happy today and tend to fling themselves off tall buildings more often, but we are better poker players.

How does a player use math to figure out what cards their opponent is holding? Well you can’t, not absolutely. You can use your skills with numbers to determine the probability of what might be sitting in their hand. The exact science of math, in this case, works with the subjective practice of observation. Before you can break down the probability of what they have in their hand, you must first use what you have learned about competitor’s tendencies in opening, calling and raising.

A good example of this is that if you know that an opponent will play more aggressively with a three deuces or higher before the draw, you can fall back on math to determine what hand will most likely beat them. If your opponent raises, obviously calling while holding a triplet of threes is not worth the effort on the off chance that they have exactly three twos. Based on what you know of the opponent and what is in your hand, there are simply too many ways you can be beaten. If you have something like three fives or sixes though, the pot odds come into play and make calling the right thing to do. Your chances of improving on the draw have increased and the odds of you getting a full house or four-of-a-kind are better. It will also take a hand of three sevens or better to defeat your cards.

When calculating your chances, sometimes using Bayes’ Theorem can be of help. Baye, a gentleman who probably wore flood pants and understood the functional beauty of a pocket protector, came up with a mathematical formula for calculating conditional probability. I won’t bore you with the actual numbers, seeing as Baye did not go to the sort of parties where poker was a factor, so the game has little to do with the construction of his theorem.

Once you have worked out the hands your opponent is likely to bet on in certain situations, you determine the probability that it is one of those hands they are actually holding. For example, if you know that your opponent will open in draw poker with a three-of-a-kind or two pair but will not open with one pair, and will check (as a slowplay) when they are holding cards they don’t need to improve, than the odds are 5-to-2 against that player’s having a three-of-a-kind when they do open. How did we come to this determination? Easy, according to draw poker distribution a player will be dealt two pair 5% of the time and triplets 2% of the time. By simply comparing the two percentages, you arrive at a ratio of 5-to-2. In short, your opponent probably has a two pair.

This works for Hold’em as well. Let’s say your opponent raises big before the flop. Your observations tell you this only happens when they have premium starting cards such as a pair of Kings, two Aces, or an AceKing combo. The probability that the player get dealt a pair of aces or king as a starting hand is .45%. In short, .9% of the time your opponent will be holding a pair of Kings or Aces. Also, the other starting hand your observations have told you that they are willing to raise on, the Ace, King combo, happens 1.2% of the time. Taking these two calculations into account with what you know about the other player and you have chances that are 4-to-3 in favor of your opponent holding an Ace/King combo instead of a pocket pair of Aces or Kings. Even in the best case scenario of the Ace/King combo, you still should not call that raise if you are holding a pair of Queens or below. You hold a slight advantage in the case of the Ace/King combo…an advantage that is precarious at best considering the outs sitting in the deck, but you lose head to head if they truly are holding a pair of Aces or Kings.

Here are some other percentages that may help you make decisions during the hand:

- Hitting a flush draw (both turn and river, needing one card to hit): 35%
- Hitting an open-ended straight draw (i.e. 4 straight cards, need one on either end to hit on turn or river): 31.5%
- Hitting a gut-shot draw on turn or river: 16.5%
- Being dealt a pocket pair: 5.88%
- Being dealt suited cards: 23.5%
- Hitting a three of a kind or quads at the flop when you hold a pocket pair: 11.8%
- Making a pair at the flop, holding two unpaired cards in the hole: 32.4%
- Being dealt AA or KK: 0.45%

Remember, these numbers are only valuable if you have some idea of what your opponent will do in a given situation. Subjective observation and cold objective numbers work hand in hand to help you make the right call.

Some things are just bad ideas, for example, poking the bouncer at your favorite dance club in the chest with your forefinger while making negative remarks about his mother. This is a bad idea, especially when all you have to defend yourself with is some slurred insults and a blood alcohol level of .10. Other notable bad ideas were leg warmers, metrosexuals and the years between 1969 and 1980. All of these can be deleted from society without any harm to the culture as a whole. Another idea that is generally considered a bad one, from the perspective of good poker playing, is raising from the blinds.

The first big problem with raising out of the blinds is the effect it has on the pot odds. You may be holding a pair of kings while in the big blind, and four other players have called before it is your turn to act. There will now be five bets in the pot. If you simply call on the flop, your opponents will be looking at approximately 6-to-1 pot odds to call. Somebody who is holding a hand like and Ace/9 combo against your pair kings will be about a 7-to-1 underdog if the flop comes out something like a J-10-5. Calling on the flop will not be in their best interests. A smart player will simply just fold.

If you raise out of the blind, instead of just calling, it is unlikely that any of your opponents will fold. This will make the pot grow from five bets, in a situation where everyone called, to ten bets sitting in the middle of the table. That same guy with the ace/9 combo will not fold because the pot odds are about 11-1 to call you on the flop. With two more cards to come, this player just needs one ace to show up on the turn or river to beat you. Do you really want to encourage an opponent to chase you? Raising from the blind will change the pot odds to something more attractive and enable a situation where your opponent will get lucky. You can control your play, but not luck. Why even open the door to that X factor.

Another reason to avoid raising from the blind is that people are cheap. You, me, everyone has some frugal bone in their body that sends them to Wal-mart instead of Lord & Taylor. It also means that folks who have limped into a multi-way pot want the flop to cost them as little as possible. Raising from the blinds makes seeing the flop expensive, and this may cause hard feelings. If this happens enough they may take it personally. Do you really want just about every player calling your all the way to the last card just to annoy you? If this happens you had better be holding some impressive cards.

Holding your fire from the blinds will help your bet on the flop. Let's say your are holding a pair of Queens, and flop comes out as a J-8-7. Coming out betting from your position will look more dangerous. If you raise out of the blind before the flop comes, your hand may not get nearly as much respect. Your opponent may think you are bluffing and attempt to run you to ground.

Percentagely speaking, if it's you and your QQ against your four opponents' holding A9, K10, 66 and J9, you have a 35% chance of winning the pot on a flop of J-7-8. If you force the A9 and the 66 to fold on the flop, you will have a 51% chance of winning the pot. By raiseing before the flop, you may just tick these players off, especially if you have made a habit of such behavior, and they will try to run you down. When the river comes you will be facing "true odds" on your hand.

The third reason is the most obvious. Quite simply, you are out of position when raising from the blind on all following betting rounds. Your opponents can cute with their raises and drawing free cards on the turn.

If you are holding a couple of kings out of the big blind, and you make the decision to raise. The flop comes out as a 7c-10d and a 7c. You bet and one opponent calls your bet. You have no idea what they have and it is very difficult for you to bet out of position on the turn. If the turn doesn't go the way you like, you will probably check. If your opponent has the flush draw or middle pair, you just gave them a free card as well as an opportunity to semi-bluff you. If somebody semi-bluffs on the turn they will probably carry on the bluff and try to just scare everyone out of the pot.

In short, raising out of the blinds is usually a bad idea. Like anything else, there is a time and place for it, but that is a different article altogether.

Jiminy Cricket once spoke very eloquently on the topic of ones conscious and how it should direct ones actions. In short, he preached the idea of "Let your conscious be your guide". Now I, personally, don't know any adults who make big decisions based on what a cartoon had to say to them. In the real world we make our choices based on more practical things. When deciding to move up or down when playing a limit game, I'm not sure where your conscious stands on all this, but there are definitely some things that will help guide you through that decision.

There are certain factors that go into deciding whether to move up or down in limit. Chief among these reasons are what is in your wallet. Your bankroll will always be the first consideration for the limit you choose to play at. The second thing you should think about is your skill level. All games are not created equal. When you change the limit you play at, you change the skill level of player you are facing. Third is a more personal reason and has to do with your tolerance to risk. Fundamentally, if going up in limit makes you sweat like the rock singer "Meat Loaf", than you should consider staying where you are.

It's more difficult to know when to go up in limit than it is to know when you should take a step down. If you are dominating a table, you are in exactly the situation you should be in. Remember, poker is not football, you are not going one on one against a linebacker so that you can have the satisfaction of knowing which one of you is better. Poker is about money. If you are winning, why tamper with success? A good rule of thumb is to move up a limit if you think you are comfortable playing at that higher limit for seven sessions or more. Also, make sure you choose a higher limit that does not strike terror into your heart. Play only limits that you are not scared to play. Poker and fear are really bad bedfellows.

Going down in limit is more obvious. If you're getting your clock cleaned on a regular basis it is time to go down.

If you are beginner to the game, always start at a lower limit. You may have a bankroll that gets you invitations to Bill Gates's Christmas party, but your skill level is not quite up to playing the high limit game. Remember, the lower the limit, the easier the competition.

Sometimes when you are looking at your cards along with the flop, you mind starts to wander to exactly what your chances are of making the hand that you are striving for. Usually terms like "A snowballs chance in hell", "A cold day in hell", or some equally colorful metaphor that involves that place were the guy with the pitchfork and pointy tail conducts his business. There are better and more accurate ways to calculate the odds than just uttering some clich? and leaving it at that.

Hand odds are the chances that you will actually make your hand in a game of Texas Holdem. First, a quick review on odds themselves; If your odds of hitting a particular hand are 2-to-1, than you will get that hand one out of every three times. Three-to-one will be one out of every four times, and so on and so on.

Before you can start calculating your hand odds, you first need to know how many outs your hand has. Outs are the cards in the deck that could potentially help you complete your hand. For example, if you hold AK of spades and have two spades are revealed on the flop, which leaves 9 more spades in the deck, since there are 13 cards of each suit. This means that there are 9 cards (or outs) that can help you complete your flush.

There is no guarantee that the other 9 spades are in the deck though. It is entirely possible that some of those cards are in your opponents hands. If you know for sure there is a spade in your opponent's hand, you will have to count that against your total odds. In other words there are only 8 spades in the deck that can help you. You obviously can't know every card in the other person's hand, so all you can do is make your calculations based on the knowledge you have. So your basically doing the calculations as if you were the only person at the table. Under this condition, there are 9 spades left in the deck. When calculating outs, it's also important not to overcount your odds. An example would be a flush draw in addition to an open straight draw.

A good illustration of this is you hold Jd Td and the board shows 8d Qd Ks. A Nine or Ace gives you a straight (8 outs), while any diamond gives you the flush (9 outs). However, there is an Ace of diamonds and Nine of diamonds, so you don't want to count these twice toward your straight draw and flush draw. The true number of outs is actually 15 (8 outs + 9 outs - 2 outs) instead of 17 (8 outs + 9 outs).

In addition to this, sometimes an out for you really isn't a true out. An example would be chasing an open ended straight draw when two of another suit are on the table. In this regard, where you would normally have 8 total outs to hit your straight, 2 of those outs will result in three to a suit on the table. This makes a possible flush for your opponents. As a result, you really only have 6 outs for a nut straight draw. Another more complex situation is as follows:

You hold J8 and the flop comes 9TJ rainbow (all of a different suit). To make a straight, you need a Queen or 7 to drop, giving you 4 outs each or a total of 8 outs. You have to look at the situation if a Queen drops, because the board will then show 9TJQ. This means that anyone holding a King will have made a King high straight, while you hold the beaten Queen high straight.

So, the only card that can really help you is the 7, which gives you 4 outs, or the equivalent of drawing to and hitting an inside straight. While it's true that someone might not be holding the King (especially in a short or heads-up game), when a lot of money is on the line, this is a very precarious and tense position to be in.

Now that you know how to calculate the outs, there is a quick and dirty way to figure out the odds that you will draw to your hand.

Once you figure out the number of outs you have, multiply by 4 and you will get a close estimate to the percentage of hitting that hand from the Flop. Multiply by 2 instead to get a percentage estimate from the Turn.

This is by no means an exact science, but it does give you a rough guideline. Hopefully you will find this helpful.

The showdown was a staple of old westerns and the music of hairbands from the 80’s. Today it is a big part of a lot of the entertainment we see on cable television. Instead of two guys in hats pointing Smith and Wesson products at each other, or leather clad heavy metal singers singing about how much of an outlaw they are, we have Hold’em players facing off for a pile of money.

In Texas Hold’em, if more than one player remains after the last betting round, all of the players show their cards. Once the hands have been compared, the player who has made the best five card poker hand using their two hole cards in combination with the community cards wins the pot. This is called the showdown.

There is an etiquette to a showdown. All players should expose their hands immediately. You are not allowed to see somebody elses hand, and simply declare yourself the loser without showing what you are holding. Each player is entitled to see every other player's hand. Exposing ones hand is dicey business because showing your losing hand gives information to an opponent. This fact results in players who would prefer to expose their hands until after their opponents have done so.

To avoid a posible deadlock, casinos often have a rules that govern the showing of cards after a showdown. Usually the one who made the last raise will be, by rule, the first one to show their cards. Each player after that is required to show his hand in turn. Some players may choose to discard their hand and forfeit their interest in the pot rather than show their losing hand. If this happens, any other player involved in the showdown may not demand that the hand be shown.

Because the most players would prefer to fold a losing hand rather than showing it down, some players can take advantage of those who do this with a rare play called a "call-bluff". For example, if you know that a bluffing player always folds rather than showing his hand, call his last bet even when you know your hand is inferior to the one you suspect him of bluffing with. He will probably fold before he sees that you don't actually have him beat.

At most poker tables' restraint is the word of the day. Playing in a shorthanded game, though, gives a player the chance to explore their more aggressive side. In short, these games should be played as if you were a crabby wolverine with a migraine.

Bet early, bet often. Even when you're beat you have to keep betting. Bet the good hands, bet the bad hands. Most hands will start off by someone raising and followed by a call or a raise from other players. From there the person with the last raise pre-flop has the initiative and they will keep betting until someone takes the initiative away from them. Don't even try to think of slow playing in a shorthanded game, it will not work. You won't get enough cards to compete with them blinding you to death. You will need to get in the mud and mix it up with the other players.

This is no longer a game of numbers and math, it is a game of person against person. If you check, they will bet. Odds are less of an issue; you're only goal is victory over the person you are in the pot with. A hand that is not worth a call in a longhanded game is one that is definitely worth a bet in shorthanded play. Try to always be the bettor or raiser. Pay attention to the type of person you are playing against and try to get a handle on what sort of cards the raise with and how they play their hands after the flop, on the turn and river. Ask yourself the following questions. Will they raise from late position every time and bet religiously unless you re-raise? Will they check raise on a bluff? Will they raise or re-raise with no pair on the flop or draw? Answering these questions accurately will help you save a few bets.

Somebody once said that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. This is exactly the sort of person who should have spent his time shopping for Volvos instead of writing platitudes to explain his walking. The crux of the statement, though, is that to everything there is a beginning. In Texas Holdem the beginning is the player's hole cards. They are given by the dealer and will set the tone for the entire hand and dictate a lot of their activities. This means that it is helpful to know exactly which starting hands should be played, and which ones should be folded.

Top Cards:
Ace-Ace (pair of aces)
King-King
Ace-King suited
Queen-Queen
Jack-Jack

When you're dealt Aces, Kings, or AK suited, it is almost your moral duty to raise and even re-raise before the flop, despite your position. Play more cautiously with a pair of queens or jacks, but the chances are still pretty good that you hold the strongest position before the flop. Raise and drive out the draw hands. Do this only if there are no raises in front of you.

Strong Cards:
AQ, AJ, A10 (all suited)
AK (off suit or unsuited)
KQ suited
Pair of 10's
KJ, QJ, J10 all suited
AQ, AJ
Pair of 9's
KQ
K10 suited, Q10 suited

The power in these cards is their strong flush or straight draw potential, as well as the possibility of matching the face cards with a twin after the flop. The pairs of 10's or 9's have to be included simply because of the rarity of being dealt a pocket pair, and these being on the high end.

If you are sitting in the middle or late positions with these cards, raise. Only do this if nobody has raised before you. If you raise in middle position and someone in late position re-raises, proceed with caution. If they're a strong player they probably have you beat in card strength. Be mindful that they may be bluffing in an attempt take the blinds and antes.

Decent Pocket Cards:
Pair of 8's
Jack-9, 10-9 both suited
Pair of 7's
9-8, 8-7 both suited
Ace and any other suited card
KJ, QJ, J10

The only time to raise with these cards is if everyone before you has folded. Also be careful playing these in middle position. You of course want to see the flop, but get that as cheaply as possible. These cards have the potential to become monster hands though, because of their deceptive value. If you have a reputation as a strong player, other players won't be expecting you to make a straight with a 9-8. Another reason to at least play these cards sometimes is to protect your reputation. If you only play nut cards and every time you raise, everyone else folds, you will rarely get any real action from the competition.

Barely Playable Pocket Cards:
Any pair, 6's and under
Connected suited cards, not shown above (ie. 4-5 suited)
A10, K10, Q10
K9, Q9, both suited

These cards are on life support. Try to get to the flop, but only if you can get it cheap. There is some potential with these cards to become flushes and straights, and you may hit trips with your low pair. These cards can make good bluff hands when you have the dealer button. The bluff is only worth trying if everyone in front of you has either folded or called the blinds. Make no mistake, playing these cards are like throwing a "Hail Mary", but in low limit games they might be worth it.

If you have any cards other than the ones listed above, in most cases you should fold.

Some bluffs are the hot sauce that makes poker exciting. It is spicy, interesting and can either be tasty or burn the person running the bluff. What makes it interesting is that you are trying to win with a hand that has no business still being in play on on the Turn or the River. If bluffing is hot sauce though, the semi-bluff is a vanilla ice cream cone. It is intriguing, tasty, but not something a person will get themselves excited about. This is because a semi-bluff is done with mediocre cards that can quickly become a winner. In other words, what is a bluff after the Flop can become a legitimate winning hand on the River.

With that said, a semi-bluff is a valuable tool in a tight-aggressive game. In fact, if applied correctly, it can be the basis for the majority of your winnings.

Let's say you have been dealt the following cards:
Kh Ah

and the flop comes:
8s 10h Jh

With these cards you would bet. You are kind of bluffing because at this point you are holding nothing but potential. You have the possibility of hitting a nut flush, but a possibility is all you have. In a high limit game, considering the general weakness of the Flop, a bet or raise could result in you winning the pot right there. In a low limit game, though, you probably will not be able to claim victory at this point.

Because of the financial nature of a low limit game, players will hang in longer simply because it does not cost them much to hang around for the Turn and the River. For this reason it is almost never worth semi-bluffing in a low limit game unless you are trying to build a reputation as an unpredictable and insane player.

For a Holdem player, reading the board is one of those base, critical skills that one needs to learn in order to effectively play the game. Reading the board means that a player can look at the community cards on the table and calculate the strongest possible hands. For example:

... After the flop the highest possible hand is:

... The next biggest hands would be:

... Following that, the next most powerful hands would be a two pair and then aces with large kickers. The fourth card comes out, and the board now shows the following:

... The choices have now been limited, and the highest possible hand is a straight flush:

... Right after that would be a four of a kind:

... The River card appears and the final board is the following cards:

... A higher straight flush is possible:

... It is not always mandatory to have the best hand to win the pot. In the above example (depending on the betting) a hand that contained a single king of diamonds would give you the nut flush. This could very easily be the winning hand, and someone with a pair of aces as their hole cards shouldn't hesitate to bet and raise (and re-raise) with their hands on this board. The idea, though, is to know what hands are possible so you don't get trapped. Think outside of your own hand because the hands that are possible for you are also possible for your opponents. You don't want to get caught up in a raising war thinking yours is the best hand when it isn't.

When it comes down to it, poker is all about the money. Sure some of us will play for fun with the family, using M&Ms as chips, but it always comes back to the cash games. We do our best to educate ourselves about how to protect our money from aggressive competitors, but what about other people in the poker industry who have their hands in our wallets?

The "rake" is a term used to describe money taken from the pot and given to the cardroom as compensation for their hosting of the game. The rake is only the most known method that the cardroom makes money. Some brick-and-mortar cardrooms force the player on the dealer button to post an additional fee every hand. Other places take big blind from the pot and put it directly into their till on every hand. Our personal favorite is those places that charge a seat rental by the half hour (this is especially common in 10-20 games and above and is usually the best deal for the player).

Online cardrooms depend heavily on the rake system, so this means that a percentage of the pot is taken for the house up to a maximum amount which is traditionally $3 in a typical low limit game ($2-4 to $5-10). There are those cardrooms who have adopted a "no flop no drop" policy. What this means to the player is that if the pre-flop action causes everyone but the last raiser to fold, then no rake is taken from the pot. This is obviously a favorable situation for the player. If your favorite cardroom does not subscribe to this idea, you could email them and suggest it.

The truth of the situation is that if you have won the pot, paying the rake is the cardroom's way of reaching into your wallet and taking money. At least when players sap you off cash, it is done in the fair light of competition. Think of this as a tax on your winnings.

There are ways to minimize how much money you are giving to the cardroom. First of all, it is better to win a few big pots than to win a bunch of little ones. The way to pay the most rake is to play any two cards and always call or raise your way to the river. Since this is the surest way to win (and lose) the most hands, you will be paying the largest share of the rake. Even the very worst players rarely take this approach though. In short, to pay the most rake, win the most small to medium pots. This means to pay the least rake, you need to win the occasional big pot.

People do not start playing poker because they are good at sharing. Most poker players are selfish, and want every cent of the pot for their own. Any player worth their salt would rather wax their nose hairs then share money with one of their opponents. That is why Omaha players simply cringe at the idea of Quartering.

Quartering in Omaha Hi/Lo is when you tie with another player for half the pot (perhaps the Lo part) while they win the other half of the pot outright (for the sake of argument we will say they won the Hi part).

Let's assume you are holding:

... The final board gives you:

... In this situation you have the best possible Lo (A2367) and a pair of 9's representing your Hi. The cards clutched in your opponent's sweaty little hand are:

... You now have a problem because they have tied you for the Lo. What is worse is that they have two pair (7s and 6s). This beats your lousy pair of 9s, so not only do you split the Lo part of the pot, you have lost the Hi part. Your opponent walks away with 3/4 of the pot while you get the remaining 1/4.

Because most players consider this an intolerable situation, they play their nut lows very cautiously. This is often the wrong thing to do.

If you have the lowest low hand possible and any high hand worth mentioning, it is often in your best interest to play the hand very aggressively from start to finish. This is especially true when there are more than two people in the pot which is almost always the case in Low Limit Omaha.

The reason why aggression is the right play in this circumstance is that while you may be quartered you will often lose very little (if anything) from this by the end. If you manage to quarter someone else though, you'll stand to make a very good profit.

Most folks who are new to the game of Omaha Hi/Lo will find the Lo aspect of the game a little confusing at first. For those of you who are scratching your heads over this part of the popular poker game, here is the bottom line: a low hand consists of five different cards that are eight or lower. Three of these come from the board and two must come from your hand. Below there are the general implications for those who want to play a Lo hand:
- There must be three cards, eight or lower, on the board for any low to qualify since you must play exactly three low cards from the board.

- There must be at least two cards, eight or lower, in your hand for you to qualify for a low.

- A low straight or flush still qualifies as a low. The best possible low is A,2,3,4,5, the worst possible low is 4,5,6,7,8. Here are some examples of what we are talking about. The board shows: 2c Qd 5s 10d 8s.

This makes a Lo possible because three of the cards are 8 or lower. The cards in your hand are: Ad 2h Kh Kd. With these cards you cannot make a low hand. This is because you need two cards from your hand to make a Lo hand, and the cards you are holding simply don't have what it takes. The two of clubs on the board has "counterfeited" your two of hearts. The two on the board has cancelled out the two in your hand.

If the cards that are clutched in your hand are: Ad 3d 10c Qc then you can qualify for the Lo because the Ace and 3 that you are holding are combined with 2, 5, and 8 on the board to form a hand that contains five different cards eight or lower.