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Poker For Dummies 101

Discussion in 'The Poker Room' started by StickyFingers007, Apr 6, 2008.

  1. nitc

    nitc Tourist

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    If you don't mind, I'd like to add a couple of things that could fall into the category of etiquette. I didn't see them listed before. Forgive me if I just missed them.

    Slow rolling... At the showdown, when one player waits to show his hand, as if for dramatic effect. You're not at the final table of a big TV tournament and you're not making a movie. If you win, just turn your cards over. If not, just muck your hand and let the next one start.

    Splashing the pot... Throwing your chips into the pot, allowing them to get mixed with the rest of the chips and thus not being able to tell exactly what was bet. There is plenty of room to place your chips in front of you.

    Talking out of turn... If you're not in a hand, you should not comment about that hand. Period. What you say will affect what another player does. It is not fair to the player that loses the hand, that he lost because of something said by someone that has already folded. Many rooms have this one posted as a rule.
     
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  2. pokerkoo

    pokerkoo Newbie

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    What you failed to take into consideration is the pot size. When you have too many opponents calling to the river, when you do win the pot, you will win a pot that is significantly larger than if everyone was playing "correctly".

    Yes, you will lose more pots long term when you have so many players in the pot, but the pots you do win will be so much larger than they should be that those losses are easily offset in the longterm.
     
  3. Nevyn

    Nevyn VIP Whale

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    you also have more control over how the pot can grow.

    NL players worry and complain about people chasing draws in limit, but what really costs them money is bluffing the same as they do in NL, and protecting hands the same way.
     
  4. marsdude

    marsdude High-Roller

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    I have to admit. Probably the reason I don't like limit is because I just don't understand the strategy.
     
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  5. Check-Raise

    Check-Raise High-Roller

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    I think because of the opposite side of a reason you stated above, new players should play limit for fun. You wrote, "...a low limit game it is near to impossible to push other players out of the pot...". In a NL cash game, a weak player will be obvious and players will constantly be pushing them out of pots or constantly challenging them to make desicisions they are incapable of making. Therefore limit is a lot more friendly since they can draw, see hands play out and get a better feel for the game before they are broke. In NLHE one bad decision (which a newbie will always make) can cost your stack but not the case in limit.

    That's how I look at it at least.
     
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  6. skinny malinky

    skinny malinky Low-Roller

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    Basics

    I think we should talk about some of the (very) basics, since they seem to be a source of a lot of questions. It can be intimidating to walk into a poker room for the first time. It can feel like everyone knows what to do except for you. I mean, how do you even get to sit down at a table?

    Let's talk about cash games first, versus tournaments. All poker rooms have a check-in desk with someone who's a combination maitre d’ and cashier. At all but the smallest poker rooms, above the check-in desk will be some monitors with lists of names and/or initials. This is the waiting list, and it can be a little cryptic. It'll be divided into a grid, showing the different games the room has going. You'll see 1/2NLHE 100-300, 2/4LHE, 2/5/NLHE 300-500, 2/5 PLO 200-1000, etc. This tells you what kind of game each list is for. 1/2NLHE 100-300means this list is for No Limit Hold'em with blinds of 1 & 2 dollars, with a minimum buy-in of $100 and a maximum buy in of $300. 2/4 LHE is for limit hold'em, PLO is Pot Limit Omaha, O8 is Omaha hi-lo, etc. Then there will usually be some numbers under that, like 1, 3, 12, 14, etc. This shows the tables that are running that particular kind of game; each table in a poker room has a number assigned to it. Below thay maybe a list of names and/or initials; these are the people waiting for a seat in this particular kind of game.

    So you walk up and take a look at what games they have going. Most rooms will have only hold'em running, but the larger rooms such as Venetian might have a variety. You find a game you want to play. Let's say you want to play 1/2 NLHE. Stroll up to the check-in table (if you want to sound really old school, or like someone who's watched Rounders 6 too many times, you can refer to the check-in person as the brush) and say "One two no limit, please." If there's a list, they'll ask you for your name, and you can wait for an opening. You can either sit at an unused table or just kind of stand there, trying not to get in the way of the cocktail waitresses.

    Now they call your name. Go back to the check-in desk and let them know you're there and haven't wandered off. They'll tell you what table number to go to and point you in the right direction. They may ask you how much you want in chips, but often you'll wait until you're at your table. Go find your table and take whatever seat is open. The seats are numbered 1-10, with seat 1 being to the immediate left of the dealer and seat 10 to the immediate right. If you don't have chips yet, the dealer will ask you how much you want to buy in for. He may have enough chips in his tray to cover your buy in, in which case you put your money on the table like you would at any other table game and the dealer will sell you chips. Otherwise, the dealer will call for a chip runner. It may take a couple of minutes for the chip runner to come over. Hand the runner your money and she'll go off to the cashier and come back with all of your pretty, pretty chips.

    Now while you're waiting, you can get right into the game. Say you want to buy in for $200 and you need to wait for a chip runner. The dealer will announce "200 behind, seat 4," which lets everyone else at the table that you have $200 coming. She'll also ask you if you want to be dealt in, or if you want to wait for the button to pass. That means you can sit out until the dealer button goes past you. You may want to take this option so you can get a feel for the table, but if you're already in late position, it might be bad etiquette to wait.

    So now you have your chips (you can tip the runner if you want). Here are some crucial things to remember.

    1: You know how in the movies, people say "I see your $10 and raise you $20 more"? Don't do that. That's called a "string bet" and isn't allowed. If you try to do this, it will just be considered a call, not a raise.

    2: Any verbal declaration is binding. That means if you say "I want to raise" you can't change your mind. You have to raise at least whatever the minimum amount is.

    4: Actions are usually binding too. Say you take a stack of chips and put it out towards the middle of the table, but never actually let go of it. Most of the time, that's considered an action and you can't take it back. It's not like chess, where as long as your finger is still touching the piece, it's not really a move yet.

    3: Don't act out of turn. If you have the dealer button, you have to wait for everyone else to act before you make your play, be it fold, call or raise. Everyone occasionally makes a mistake on this, because they didn't see that someone else had cards or something, but don't make a habit out of it.

    There's also something called the "one-chip rule." Say you're playing 1-2 NLHE. You'll probably have a lot of $5 chips and a few $1 chips in front of you. If it's pre-flop and you want to raise to $5, you can't just put out a $5 chip without saying anything. If you just toss out that red chip silently, that will be considered a call, not a raise, and the dealer will give you $3 back in change. You have to say "raise" before you put in that chip. Of course, if you put out 2 red chips, that's a raise to $10 whether you say so or not. Now say you only have red chips, and you want to bet $8, not $10. You can say, "I bet $8" and put out two red chips. Now the dealer knows what your bet is, and you don't have to ask her for change.

    At the table, if you have any questions, ask the dealer. He can tell you how much the bet is, how much another player has in chips, etc. They've heard every question before, in more than one language, so don't hesitate to speak up if you're confused. If you think the dealer is doing something wrong, or you're having a problem that the dealer isn't addressing (say two players are speaking Swedish at the table, which is dangerous because they could be colluding, and the dealer isn't making them stop) you can ask the dealer to call for the floor person. That basically means that a supervisor will come over and make a decision on whatever the issue is. Remember, the floor person's decision is final; don't waste your time arguing with him or her.

    Those should be most of the basics. Sorry this was so damn long. If this helps, I'll give the basics of tournaments some other time.
     
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  7. AceQueen

    AceQueen Tourist

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    Checkout The Poker Bank videos on YouTube by SplitSuit
     
  8. Tarstarkas

    Tarstarkas High-Roller

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    Some players like the straddle bet. To me..it's like buying a bag of groceries without knowing whats in the bag. Not my cup of tea.
     
  9. KKB

    KKB VIP Whale

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    I am a NL player (mostly tourneys, I dabble in cash)...bought in for $60 at Excal limit a few years ago...because it is a "chaser" game (because it is so cheap to chase)...I realized my KK had much lower value. I could see the straight draw & I could do nothing about it. I played about an hour & EVERY hand was like that. Now, perhaps if I went into it with an Omaha mentality (also a bit of a chaser game), I could try again. But that game was annoying AF that day...I didn't rebuy. Walked over to a stupid slot machine a friend likes to play & put in $20 in her honor...walked out with $950 15 min. later, so it wasn't a wasted trip:beer:
     
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  10. KKB

    KKB VIP Whale

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    Yeah, not my usual cup of tea either. But a couple years ago I bought into a 1/3 cash game at the Horseshoe Council Bluffs. The table informed me the button was always straddling & whoever won a hand that didn't go to showdown had to show 1 card. I asked if I could play an orbit before agreeing to their conditions & they agreed (which they had to anyway but whatever...etiquette). After an orbit it added a bit of fun so I joined. The best part was I ALWAYS showed my crap card at showdown which drove them CRAZY. (especially from a woman at a table of guys...:p)
     
  11. LuckyDuckyDan

    LuckyDuckyDan High-Roller

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    Straddling just raises the stakes of the game to the next stakes level. A 1/2 NL game becomes a 2/4 NL game. For passive tables playing with a lot of scared money, it becomes an easy way to pick off targets for $25 rather than $12-15 on flops that don't hit.
     
  12. azlefty

    azlefty VIP Whale

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    Looking at wsop.com, I see the current blinds as 6000/12000 and ante at 12000. Does that mean that you would be required to post a $12000 ante into every pot, in addition to blinds when it's your turn to post blinds? In which case, if you fold 10 hands in a row without even looking at your cards, you would have put into the pot a total of 10*12000 + 6000 + 12000 = 138000?

    Thanks for your patience
     
  13. NeonTurtle14

    NeonTurtle14 I Run the Vegas Hotdog Stand

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    The antes are now only paid by the big blind (for example, instead of all 9 players putting 100 ante in, now the big blind will put in a 900 ante for the whole table, plus the big blind).

    So if the blinds are 6k/12k/12k as you describe, small blind puts in 6k, big blind puts in 12k and another 12k to cover the ante. They are separate bets from the same person because the ante is immediately dead money in the middle while the big blind is still a "live" bet (it can be raised).
     
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  14. azlefty

    azlefty VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the lesson.
     
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