One of the great things about cards, is that once you spend a very small amount of time learning a game, it's usually a "learn one, know all" situation. Most people never even think about it, they just know that Hold Em' to them is a variation of other games. What they don't realize is that the games come and go, some stick longer than others, but they all share the same traits, there are 52 cards, 13 of each suit, and 4 suits in the deck.
Why am I telling you this? Because once you learn the simple basics of poker you can apply that knowledge to all games, which use a 52-card deck. Have you ever played "Spit in the Ocean"? How about "Pitch and Puke"? The first is popularly accepted as the first "Community board" game (like hold em'), and the second is a heartbreaking asshat variation of Omaha, that is one of the most enjoyable games I have ever played. When I was learning to play, I learned about these games, and my understanding of cards has given me a greater respect for them than ever. Because you love Hold Em' doesn't mean it will always be the predominant form of poker. Omaha and Triple Draw are on their way, and I want you to be ready when they get their moment in the sun.
Poker - Poker is a drawing game. I want you to think about this and remember it well, because it's at the core of all that we are talking about. This statement (in my opinion) is the heart of poker. Unlike bridge, whist, or solitaire, poker allows you to start with a hand and develop it into a greater hand. What's unique is that it allows your opponent to do the same. All forms of poker are drawing games, and the only difference between them is how they allow you to draw your cards (which affects the math of each game). If you keep this in mind and learn the different applications of math that each has, then you can be a successful poker player across the board, but it's not easy by any means. What you have to consider with your starting hands is not "What did Doyle say was the best starting hand?", but "given my position (if it is relative, and usually is) and my opponents, will this hand be profitable for me?" TheJim noted this on the forum that there are times where aces will break you and 7/2 will pay you. Why? Because, the hands while their value is completely different in the starting positions can occasionally offer different positives against certain players. Mlinny was shocked when I played 10/8 suited to a raise and flopped a nut straight. In that case I had to gamble a little, and my gamble paid off. Is it the correct play against a raiser? Probably not. However, I knew that I had to do something different given my situation and played bad cards in position to a lucky advantage.
Luck – Mike McDermott in Rounders said "Why does this still seem like gambling to you? I mean, why do the same five guys make it to the final table of the World Series of Poker every single year? What are they the luckiest guys in Las Vegas? It's a skill game, Jo!" Ohhh, Mike you bastard. You fooled me and so many others into thinking that poker could all be negated by enough practice and time. Here is the reality, poker is a gambling game, but through careful patience and application you can manage the swings and make yourself a profitable player. It doesn't mean that you won't still be in a gambling situation because no matter what skill you have; you can still lose in almost every situation after the flop. The example is most evident in the host of our site, in his signature it says, "I flopped Quads and lost!" He did, really. He flopped quads and his opponent called all his money in to hit two perfect cards to make him a straight flush. Now that is the bad beat of a lifetime.
Outs - Now I know what you are thinking as you read this: "That's stupid". Is it? The primary rule that I want you to remember as a beginner is: The more outs you have, the better. "Outs" are cards that will help you make the best hand; "Non-Outs" are cards that will not help you (by making the other player's hand better, or simply not helping you at all). Poker as a default is a numbers game, like it or not, it is. The real advantage of poker is that once you know the numbers for one game, it takes little effort to know them all. Follow me for a second here in a simple example. Often in cards, there is a fair chance that you will have a situation where you need to hit an inside straight (also called a gut-shot straight) to win the hand. Assuming no one else has your cards, how many do you have to win? That's right, 4. And it's always 4, no matter what. If you are playing 7 stud, Hold Em', or any Draw game, it's always still going to be 4 (again assuming that you know no one has one). The critical component of being a good poker player is making a solid decision about how many "outs" you have available. This is where "reads" come in. I will discuss reads in a later article.
Starting Hands - There are really only two types of starting hands in all of poker (in any form), there are "made" hands like pocket kings in Hold Em' or 9/9/9 (called a "rolled up set") in 7 Card Stud. These hands are already "made" in that if nobody improves at all, they could win. This is why Aces are the best starting hand in Hold Em', if they improve great, they get better, if they don't fine, and you are probably still, OK. Compare this to A/K, which is not a made hand. It's a drawing hand, but it's THE drawing hand (especially suited) if you are going to have one. The reason for this is that it gives you the best draws to the best hands. If you have A/Ks (Ace-King of Spades), then before the cards come out you are drawing to: Top Pair with a great kicker or Top Two Pair if A/K falls. You are 1 card out of 2 into what will be top pair, and you are 2 cards out of 4 into top two pair. You are 2 cards out of 5 into the nut straight, and two cards out of 5 into the nut flush. The problem is…you can miss with it. If you miss with A/K, you have to be willing to make a decision about whether to let it go, or to stick with it. If you miss with Aces…you still have top pair. See why pairs are good now? This is why deuces can be considered slightly better than A/K because they can miss and if your opponent also missed, you are still in the lead.
Card Selection - In accordance with the above paragraph I want to explain why cards are what they are. The numeric value of the cards does not make them more or less likely to be dealt, you are just as likely to be dealt a 2/3 suited as you are a J/10 suited. You are just as likely to be dealt a pair of Aces as a pair of Deuces. So why tell you this? The strategy of the game is based not in the actual cards you hold, but in their value. This is why you wait for Aces. If someone with a King in their hand (just 1 vs. your 2), which has a greater value than the deuces in your hand (I know you know this), he also has more chance of improving his hand (3 outs versus 2). So his one King (in essence, has a fair chance of beating your Deuces by…simply being a King. This leads us to another key point of ALL poker games, remember it: Big cards win pots.
Limited Cards – Another interesting point about poker is that the game limits the cards available to you. In 7 card stud with 7 players there are still three unknown cards. In a 10 handed Hold Em' game, less than half the deck is used (25 cards with 10 people). In Omaha, it's almost all of them (45 cards 10 handed), in 7 stud it's almost all of them (49 cards seven handed), and in Triple Draw and Draw it can be all of them. But in each of those cases the cards are still unknown to you, so you play them like they are live draws. If you notice in hold em' though, the deck is only halfway scathed when you hit the river, so you are 23 cards into the deck at the major "decision point" of the game. You're outs are more likely to be live in this game than in any other, because you really are likely to be the only one drawing to the hand, at worst you are against someone, and if you are following the big card rule above, you should be drawing to the better hand.
Combining Card + Draws - Finally we get to the point of all this silly theory. Remember this is just card theory that we are discussing, not the human element yet. In the end I will say this, in a non-tournament situation you will always be rewarded in the long run by using Big Cards and/or Big Draws. Using big cards you stand the best chance of improving your hand. In the forums I noted this, but remember again 8 is the middle of the deck. Why tell you that? Because if you are drawing lower than that, you are not likely drawing to a nut hand, or you are drawing "thin" to the nuts. People will disagree with me on this, because there are low straights, like the "Wheel" (A-5 straight), that can make a hand for you. For now though, trickery is out, I want to make us profitable, and that means we focus on big hands with big draws.
Preferred Hands and Why:
Pairs over 8 - This is simple, If you have a made hand that is over the halfway point in the deck, you are already a step ahead. Pairs increase in strength the closer we get to the top, because fewer hands can beat them.
Draws to the nut straight – This is strange to think, but a hand with a 10 in it, is more likely to make you a combination of the nut straight than anything else. It's the bottom of the "Broadway Straight" (A-10 straight), it's a part of every straight down to a 10 high straight (10-5). In that I will say that connecting cards are better, with suited connectors being the best offering you a better chance at the:
Draws to the nut flush – The flush is a funny hand, because it's so obvious (in community games) that you are catching it that it won't pay you much in a limit game. However, suited connectors give you a better chance for this than non-suited connectors do. I will caution about playing A/(any card) suited. Unless it's a large pot to play in, there is no reason to mess with these hands. Stick to the hands that offer you straights as well 10-A is best with A-5 a very distant second.
Week #1 Challenge
I would like you to play 200 hands of poker (they can be live, online, real, or play money) this week and record your results. Specifically, start time, end time, and note at least 5 key hands that you won or lost on, that the forum can comment on. You can send them to me, and I will post them anonymously for you, or you may post them on your own.
The reason for this exercise is that it helps you to focus on your recording skills (which we will discuss in the next section), and will allow you to see that even if you played a hand perfectly, you will find that people's opinions will differ on many situations.
The unique challenge of the week will be to tell me what hands A/K suited will allow you to make and how many "outs" this hand offers you. Name two hands that have the best odds against it preflop, and why.
