Player's Stories
A Successful Strategy by Ole' Poker Face, The greatest Texas Hold'em Player West of the Mississippi F O R W A R D Betem Callem Raisem was born in the early 1900s in a small west Texas cow town called Pot Limit. He lived in a small apartment above the local saloon with his mother who worked at the local whorehouse and his father who was the town drunk. He didn't go to school but instead, did odd jobs at the saloon to make a little spending money that he saved for his stake to leave home. Raisem did not have a happy childhood. At age 13, Raisem, with his $100 stake, left home to seek his fortune. Raisem was soon broke and in need of a job. He took a job shoveling horse manure at the stables, feeding the horses, washing dishes at the chuck wagon and cleaning the bunkhouse at the Last Hand Cattle Ranch owned by Tex Holdem. After the day's work was finished, Tex and his cowhands played poker in the bunkhouse until the wee hours of the morning. They named the game Texas Hold'em after their boss. Although Tex and the boys would not let Raisen play in the game, they let him watch. This is how Raisem learned the game of Texas Hold'em poker. Raisem watched the game every night. He would fix the boys drinks and light their smokes. They enjoyed drinking Texas Horsepiss, a one-year old 100 proof whiskey, and smoking tumble weed that Raisem gathered from the cattle range. Some of the boys would get drunk but there was no trouble and they all seem to have a good time, especially the winners who never seemed to drink very much. Raisem noticed that some players lost every night and some players won almost every night. For example, Always Callem, Never Foldem, Roger Smallpair and Almost Straight always seemed to loose while Charley Fullhouse, Harry Flush, Chief Twopair, a Sue Indian, Dick Fourkind, and Lucky Draw always seemed to win. Raisem was a keen observer and begin keeping a poker diary in which he made notes regarding the play of the wining players and the mistakes made by the loosing players. When Raisem was by himself, mostly when he was slopping the hogs or playing with Tex's pet lamb, BaBaaa, he would study the poker notes in his diary. He would occasionally read passages about playing with BaBaaa and smile. Sometimes he would sneak into the bunkhouse and deal cold hands in order to practice Hold'em. Tex knew about this, but didn't say anything since he was quite fond of the boy as well as BaBaaa. On Raisem's 18th birthday, Tex and the other cowhands gave Raisem a few days off and some money to spend at the local whorehouse in a nearby town known as Pottsville. Tex introduced Raisem to Sally Sweetpot, the madam of the Queen of Hearts whorehouse. Sally thought Raisem was cute and cuddly. Tex had given her a boy and she planned to return a man, wise and experienced beyond his years. She took him into her arms and begin educating him about the finer things of life. The other girls, Mary Allin, Alice Acehole, Lucy Underdog, Linda Coldcall and Betty Shorthand, also liked Raisem and did what they could to further his education and pleasure. They were all good teachers and Raisem learned quickly. Raisem was having such a good time that he decided to quit his job at the Last Hand Cattle Ranch and move in with Sally at the whorehouse. Raisem thanked Tex and the boys and said, "adios, amigos". This was a happy time in Raisem's life. He spent the nights at Sally's whorehouse and his days at the Ace in the Hole saloon drinking Texas Horsepiss whiskey, smoking tumble weed cigarettes and playing Texas Hold'em poker. Over the years, Raisem become known as Ole' Poker Face and was acclaimed the greatest Texas Hold'em player west of the Mississippi River. Bertram Maverick, Bret's illegitimate son, was considered the best player east of the Mississippi. Bertram still plays Hold'em and owns a casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Raisem lived in Pottsville all of his life and never worked at any other job except playing Hold'em at the Ace in the Hole saloon . He was, as the town folk would say, a professional gambler. Although he fell in love with Sally, they never married and he never moved out of the whorehouse. He was also very fond of Mary, Betty, Alice, Lucy, Linda and the other girls. Raisem lived a good life and was very happy. Raisem died of sclerosis of the liver in 1988 at the age of 88. Coincidently, he was holding a pocket pair of eights at that time and a pair of aces had flopped. Upon hearing of Raisem's demise, our company, Table Stakes Publishing, Inc., dispatched our special event reporter, Walter Cronkite Handpeaks, to Pottsville, Texas to interview Raisem's friends and to attend his wake and funeral. When Handpeaks arrived in Potsville, he found the entire town in morning for Raisem. The town fathers were already considering naming the street that passed Sally's whorehouse B. C. Raisem Avenue. The owner of the Ace in the Hole saloon, Always Checkem, was taking up a collection to sponsor a seat at Raisem's favorite table. So far, Checkem had only collected some of Raisem's IOUs and a one time only gift certificate (week days only) to Sally's whorehouse. Although it was a sad occasion for the citizens of Pottsville, the wake was a grand event - all of Raisem's friends were there including Tex, Sally, the girls and cowhands. Raisem was laid out in the poker suit that he had worn every day of his life since coming to Pottsville. His last hand, Aces & Eights, was placed over his heart. He smelled of tumble weed smoke, Texas Horsepiss whiskey and cheap French perfume but he looked great in his casket draped with green felt gently falling to a floor littered with cigarette butts, beer bottles and peanut shells. It was as if Raisem had never folded and mucked to that pile of discards in the sky. Raisem had crossed the river for the final time. He had played his last hand of Texas Hold'em on earth. Raisem was very popular and well loved by all -- especially by the girls at Sally's whorehouse. There was a full house and everyone was flush with heavy hearts. The wake finally broke up when all of Raisem's friends realized that Raisem was seated at that poker table in the sky and all the whiskey and food was gone. It was late, so Handpeakes offered to walk Sally home. When they arrived at Sally's whorehouse, Handpeakes convinced Sally to let him peak at Raisem's diary and to copy the pages dealing with Texas Hold'em. Handpeakes made his examination and was very pleased with both Sally and Raisem's notes. Sally was compensated for her trouble by an amount that on its face appears excessive. On his expense account, Handpeakes reported the expenditure as "payment for services rendered". The expense was allowed as reasonable although it did not go unnoticed by the auditors. Handpeakes returned to Kansas City with Raisem's notes and now is our news director, a position that he had always coveted. He often returns to Pottsville to visit with Sally and speaks of someday retiring there to play Texas Hold'em at Checkem's saloon. We at Table Stakes Publishing hope that you have enjoyed learning about the life of Betem Callem Raisem, the greatest Hold'em poker player west of the Mississippi, and to find out how we, with the able journalistic work of Handpeakes, discovered this masterpiece. When we decided to publish Raisem's notes, we wanted to show our respect and appreciation to Raisem and Sally. Accordingly, 10% of the proceeds will be raked and divided equally among Raisem's 52 illegitimate children. If you want to find out what happened to all of the people described in the Forward, and skip over Raisem's final Hold'em notes for now, click Prologue.
Looken For Goodstory
I N T R O D U C T I O N TEXAS HOLD'EM POKER TEXAS HOLD'EM poker is the most popular poker game because it is fast, approximately 30-40 hands per hour, and can be played with up to eleven players. Accordingly, the pots are larger than in other poker games. IN HOLD'EM, each player is dealt two cards, called "Pocket Cards", face down by the dealer who is identified by a white disc called a "Button". To the immediate left of the dealer is the player called the "Little or Small Blind" and to his left is the player called the "Large or Big Blind". There is no ante. The small blind (SB) is required to bet ˝ of the low limit and the big blind (BB) is required to bet an amount equal to the low limit. For example: in a $10-$20 limit game, the SB bets $5 and BB bets $10. No other player is required to bet but may fold, call or raise. All bets in this round of betting must be in an amount equal to the low limit ($10). The activity at this stage is referred to as "Pre-Flop" play. After all the betting is completed, the dealer burns a card and then deals three cards face up. These community cards are called the "Flop". Another round of betting occurs with bets and raises limited to the low limit. The betting always starts with the SB. After the betting is completed, the dealer burns a card and the deals another card face up. This card is called the "Turn" or "Fourth Street". Another round of betting occurs with the bets and raises limited to the high limit ($20). The dealer burns a card and then deals the last card face up. This card is called the "River" or "Fifth Street". Another round a betting ensues and when completed, the remaining players show their hands. This is known as the "The Showdown." The best five-card hand utilizing the pocket and flop cards wins. After the hand is over, the button passes to the next player on the left and the SB and BB move to the next position. The rules regarding check raising, number of raise allowed and money limits (limit/no-limit) will vary depending on where you play. BEFORE discussing HOLD'EM strategy, it is necessary to define the terms that will be frequently used. The Pre-Flop Bet status will be referred to as "Blinds Only" (no other bets except the mandatory SB and BB bets), "Called Pot" (one or more players have called the SB/BB bets), "Raised Pot" (one player has raised the SB/BB bets) and "ReRaised Pot" (another player has raised the raised pot). The Flop status will be referred to as "Ragged" (no pair, no connecting or suited cards), "Pair" (two cards of the same value), "Two-Pair" (two sets of pairs), "Trips" (three cards of the same value), "Straight Draw" (three or more connecting cards), "Flush Draw" (three or more cards of the same suit) and "Full House" (two and three cards of the same value). Player position is defined as "Early" (first third of players to the left of the dealer), "Middle" (second third of players) and "Late" (last third of players). Note that the Early players are at the greatest disadvantage since they do not know what the players to their left are going to do. The Late players have the greatest advantage since they know how all of the players played. The player on the button is in the best position since he plays last. HAND TO POT ODDS PROBABILITY is the likelihood of an event occurring and it is the basis of wining at the poker table. If you insist upon drawing to hands that have greater odds to fill than the odds in the pot, you will be a consistent looser. For example, if the odds (probability) of filling a flush after the flop is 4 to 1 and you have to call a $20 bet to win a $40 pot (2 to 1), you will go broke over the long run. In order for you to break even, there would have to be $80 in the pot. Therefore, you MUST know the odds of making your hand both before and after the flop. Following are the odds of improving the most common hands:
Some other odds of interest: 220:1 to be dealt pocket aces or any other specific pairs; 16:1 against being dealt any pocket pair; 3:1 against being dealt two suited cards; 6:1 against being dealt at least one ace; and 27:1 against being dealt any two suited and connected cards. In order to compute the odds of making a particular hand on the next card after the flop, determine how many "outs" (cards that will make your hand) and subtract that number from 47 (the number of unseen cards) to obtain the ratio. For example, if there are 10 outs, the ratio is 37:10 or 3.7:1 against (underdog) making your hand. A LITTLE BACKGROUND SKLANSKY……….. Every serious Hold'em player has read the bible, Hold'em Poker, authored by David Sklansky, a professional gambler. Sklansky was the first poker author to have both ranked all of the starting two-card hands and grouped them with recommendations about how to play each group. The serious players read and reread his book entitled "Hold'em Poker" and play the game as recommend by Sklansky. They accept his theories and strategies without question and herein lies the opportunity to gain the advantage over these "disciples" of Sklansky since, if you know and understand the Sklansky method, you will have invaluable insight into how your opponents are playing. Accordingly, every Hold'em player should study Sklansky's book. Although Sklansky makes some good points in is book, many of his recommendations are based on fallacious assumptions, inaccurate rating of hands and inappropriate weight to a player's position at the table. Many of his raising strategies are not supported by the correct card rankings. For an excellent discussion of the fallacies of Sklansky's theories, a statistical study entitled "A New Guide to the Starting Hands in Texas Hold'em Poker" is well worth the time of study. THE PLAN - A COUNTER STRATEGY TO WIN SKLANSKY considers the player's position as one of the most important considerations in the pre-flop portion of the game. He argues that since the dealer acts last and the player "under the gun" acts first on each betting round that adjustments must be made in opening hands to compensate for the disadvantage of the early or "gun" player's position. He correctly states that the early position has more risk since it is subjected to raises behind it and as a consequence, he advocates stronger pre-flop hands depending upon the player's position relative to the dealer or button. In so doing, he lists the seventy-two top starting hands and states that it is "rarely correct to play a hand not on this list." This is a gross understatement of correct pre-flop strategy. At page 19 of his book, Sklansky lists his top hand groups. His Group 1, 2 and 3 rankings are correct with the exception that AK should be #9 and KQs should be #10. This is a minor error and has no significance. The balance of his hand group ratings suffer from many errors that affect the strategy of the pre-flop play. See Appendix I for a correct ranking of the top eighty-four pre-flop hands. Sklansky states that the early position hands must be stronger than the later hands to be able to participate in the pre-flop play. This flawed logic ignores the fact that position has absolutely nothing to do with the strength of the hand but only results in a disadvantage to the player because he has no knowledge of how the players behind him will play their hands. The strength of the hand is fixed by the mathematical ranking of the hands and not by position of the players at the table. How does this error in logic result in an opportunity to gain an advantage over the Sklansky disciples who play their hands in accordance with the Sklansky pre-flop strategy? We now know that the earlier the player's position, the stronger will be his hand. Conversely, the later the player's position, the weaker his hand. Accordingly, the late position players will be subject to folding when faced with an aggressive bet. We also may deduct that the early hands are playing Sklansky's Group 1-4 (top 24) hands. His Group 1-3 hands represent the top 16 hands. We also know that if there is a raise that Sklansky only allows calling at the early and middle positions with Group 1 -2 (top 10) hands. If the pre-flop status is blind only, Sklansky would raise with AA, KK, QQ, AK and AQ. If there are callers in front of you, Sklansky recommends raising with Group 1 & 2 hands. If you are in the middle position and there are no callers, Sklansky would raise with Group 1-3 (top 16) hands. In the late positions, raise with any hand that is "normally worth a call if no one else has yet called". However, if there are callers in front of you, raise with hands in Group 1-3 in the late position. By observing the betting action and relating it to the players' position we are able to gain valuable information regarding the strength of our opponents' hand. This advantage will enable us to play aggressively which is necessary to win at Hold'em. Our recommended counter-strategy only allows playing Group I hands (1-16) without regard to the player's position at the table. Upon special situations, Group II hands may be played at the pre-flop stage. Following are the Group I and II hands that may be played. No other hand may be played under any circumstance. PLAYABLE PRE-FLOP HANDS
The Group I hands listed above constitute the top 16 ranked starting two-card Hold'em hands. The hands are ranked in accordance to their strength. Group II Hands
TABLE STAKES PUBLISHING, INC. Copyright @ 2001, All Rights Reserved Any part of this book may be reproduced and transmitted in any form, by any means, without the consent of the Publisher if you are dumb enough to do so and don't have anything else to do with your idle time. Good Luck and Happy Draws……. ISBN: 1-6666-9999-88-AA
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Texas Hold'em Poker: Part I
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