Poker Articles

Poker 'Stocking Stuffers'
by Jason Pohl

It's holiday time here in the United States. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Every year I look forward to good food, my family's reunion, and my favorite football teams playing Thursday and Friday. As fate would have it, my dream Thanksgiving was spoiled this year by an untimely virus. Rather than good food and good company, I spent the entire holiday watching TV and going through two boxes of Kleenex. My head was so stuffed I couldn't even play poker.

Missing the festivities did give me time to panic a bit about Christmas shopping, since I had not purchased a single gift. Trying to puzzle out what gifts I would buy for my friends and family, I realized was that when I was younger, the gifts I enjoyed the most were the stocking stuffers, those small trinkets and toys placed in a large knit sock on my family's fireplace. There were times when I would pour over the number of small gifts in that sock; the value of those presents far outweighed their monetary cost. So how does this tie in with an article about poker? Well, I realized that poker advice is often like those small gifts at Christmas time; the amount of words required to write an article does not reflect the value of the guidance.

In this article, I am going to write about several smaller items. While each subject is relatively straightforward, their lack of complexity does not make them less valuable. In fact, I think most of the ideas in this article are far more valuable than some whole books I've read. But like poker in general, while understanding each idea is relatively simple, mastery of the concepts is very difficult.

Pot Size

In order of emphasis, pot size might be the most important factor in any discussion of limit poker. The fundamental strategy of tight play (starting with strong hands and strong flops) is just another way of saying, "When the pot is still small, don't play marginal hands."

There are simple ideas relative to pot size that will make your game much more profitable.

• Check-raising on small pots is far superior to check-raising on big pots.
• Slowplaying on small pots is far superior to slowplaying on big pots.
• Semibluffing on big pots is far superior to semibluffing on small pots.
• Calling with marginal draws on big pots is far superior to calling with marginal draws on small pots.
• Folding on small pots is much safer than folding on big pots.

This advice might be considered elementary. After all, the premise is straightforward: "One should accept more risks when the rewards are high." Check-raising and slowplaying risk free cards, semibluffing and marginal draws risk the loss of extra money when the bluff or draw fails, and folding risks giving up a pot to an inferior hand. But the truth is that pot size is overlooked by many players. The first thing (beyond poker fundamentals) a beginning player should learn is the ability to count the pot quickly. Then, that player should make decisions based on the size of the pot. Limit poker is mostly a game of mathematics, with the pot size representing a huge variable in each equation (decision) that faces a player.

Tilt

I cannot emphasize enough, from first-hand familiarity, how tilt can ruin long-term results. No matter how much knowledge, skill, and intelligence you possess, you will not win until you control your emotions. Discipline, patience, and emotional resoluteness are the stuff of real champions, not brains and knowledge. Every player loses sometimes, and every player wins sometimes. The best players surely increase how much they win. However, the difference between winners and losers is far more often measured in the losing sessions. If a player can reduce their losses on a regular basis by maintaining their composure in the face of bad luck and/or their own bad play, there will be a huge reward in the long run.

Nobody can claim to own a cure-all for tilt. For some players, leaving the game is best. For others, counting to ten or sitting out just one hand might be sufficient. It is also probable that many players will never be able to defeat tilt until they make changes in the rest of their life. But whatever the cause, the cost of tilt is undeniably significant. It is an area that requires every good player's attention and effort.

The Cost of Rake

Casinos and online poker rooms make money by charging a rake or seat charge. When I first began to play poker, I purchased Wilson's Turbo Texas Hold'em and ran a simulation of ten players sitting in my local casino's game, a $3/6 table with $5 max rate and $1 average toke. I purposely included one tight/aggressive player and nine loose/passive opponents in the simulation. After 100,000 hands simulated, the results I saw were fairly terrifying. Nobody was winning. The tight/aggressive player was only down a small amount, but the loose/passive players had lost a huge sum. Later, I saw David Sklansky write an article about what it took for one player to win a living wage at poker. Let's assume the following:

• Ten players contribute $10/hour average in rake and tokes.
• The average player plays 40 hours a week, 4 weeks in the month.
• For one player to make $3000 in a month, the other nine players must lose a total of $19,000 combined. Of that amount $16,000 will go to the dealers and the 'house'.

It should be incredibly clear from the calculations above that the rake one pays will play a huge role in their chances for success. So, consider carefully when choosing your game and your limit.

Poker Books

The most common request I receive by email is my recommendation for good poker books. I have not read every book, so I cannot claim to be the world's foremost authority. But I have read about 50 poker books. Here's a list of my top recommendations.

For Beginners:
Hold'em Poker by David Sklansky
Winning Low Limit Hold'em by Lee Jones

For the Next Step:
Theory of Poker by David Sklansky
Hold'em for Advanced Players by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth
Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players by Sklansky, Malmuth, and Ray Zee
Super System by Doyle Brunson and others

Wild Card Picks:
Real Poker by Roy Cooke
Zen and the Art of Poker by Larry W. Phillips
Caro's Book of Tells by Mike Caro
Pot Limit and No Limit Poker by Bob Ciaffone and Stewart Reuben

Very Entertaining:
The Biggest Game in Town by A. Alvarez
The Man with the $100,000 Breasts by Michael Konik
Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich

There are a lot of good books I don't mention on this list, but if I recommended every good book I've read, it would not be very helpful to the beginner. It should also be noted that much of the material in new poker books or articles is incredibly repetitive. After all, the mathematics and fundamental concepts of poker have been the same for decades. Repetition is not always a bad thing. Often, the best way to understand the important concepts is to note their appearance in almost every author's advice.

The Tuition of Poker

Every poker player must start as a beginner, and beginning players will make mistakes. Experience, knowledge, and emotional control are not won overnight, nor can they be obtained without effort and cost. But what cost? Usually, the beginning player loses money to other more experienced, knowledgeable, or disciplined players until that beginning player learns some of the intricacies poker. This price is often referred to as the "tuition" that players must pay to improve their game. And to some extent, "tuition" is unavoidable.

A beginning player should do whatever is possible to reduce their "tuition." Reading articles at this website is one excellent way to do just that, since the knowledge spread through these articles is free but nowhere near worthless. The Poker School is another excellent option, because it gives the opportunities not only to learn from some of the world's best poker teachers, but also to play against other improving players in tournaments. For a small fixed price, a player can spend as much time as they want learning, experiencing the game, and improving their play. Compared to the beginner whose education consist of sitting down in a Las Vegas casino to buy into a $3/6 game with a 10% rake, the Poker School is an amazing bargain. Last, but not least, are the bulletin boards provided online for free. I'm often asked questions about specific hands or situations. These questions and scenarios are perfect fodder for bulletin boards where multiple players can express their opinion. Most bulletin boards are frequented by players who want to give back to the community that helped transform them from a beginner to a winner.

Last, but certainly not least, remember that poker is a game, and it is supposed to be fun. If you're not having fun when you're playing poker, then why play at all? I hope you enjoy happy holidays, good health, and good fortune at the poker tables!

Until next month, good luck!

You can email me at Jason@PokerPages.com. Good luck!