Historians believe today’s game is most closely linked to games played in the Mississippi River region in the 1700s and early 1800s.  In fact, the first account of the game was described by English actor Joseph Crowell watching it in New Orleans in 1820.  No record exists if there were any poker schools for the newbies or if they were just gettting fleeced.

James McManus in a Carplayer suggested the birthplace of poker was the perfect marriage of the gumption it took to play the game with the people that had it, pardon the pun, in spades:

“New Orleans was an American city, more English-speaking whites tried to make a go of it in what felt like subtropical climes. Their own taste for bluff-based card games had developed while playing brag up north or in England. And lo and behold, bragging turned out to be the ultimate tactic in the pokuh games they found in the saloons along Bourbon Street, where drinking, dancing to live music, gorging on succulent cooking, and of course prostitution were found. More than a few of them must have sat down, learned the rules of this not-so-strange local card game, and felt right at home at these tables”  Cardplayer.

Conventional belief is that the game spread throughout the U.S. and later the world by way of the Mississipi riverboats.  The Civil War might have broken the United States in half, but it also brought poker to every corner of the country as it and baseball became America’s pasttimes.

From there it went westward with the expansion of the United States and eventually found it’s way back to Europe in its Americanized format.   These days, a new breed of players, those from Northern Europe and beyond are changing the way the game is played.

I want to maximize pot size but unfortunately I always find myself being burned. To make myself much clearer here, consider the following situation:

My hand is A 10 and my position, well I’m under the gun. Flop is 10 10 4. A small bet is place .02. Everyone then calls and on the turn I check. On the flop I make the two cent bet and then on the turn I bet .10. Once again, everyone folds. In the end, I’ll go home with 20 cents.

Do you think if I play the game differently, I could have taken home more? Please, I need to hear something from you.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Adam

Adam,

You went from betting the minimum to betting the full pot. This makes it look like you hit a monster. You might have considered checking on the flop to try and induce a bet. If you bet out on the flop, you should have be a smaller amount on the turn to keep people in the pot if that is your goal.

Earlier, I had my first hand. I tried a small bluff on the turn and for that three folded and then took approximately a $4 pot. After that I had my second hand which was 99 in the hole. Somebody then raised pre-flop and right after three players had folded and one called. Because of what happened, I decided to stay put.

Finally, flop came and was QQ7 rainbow. Then three players decided to check. Turn came and was 2, still no flush. Then I was bothered as a “maniac” (in my opinion) went all in. I planned to throw my cards away, but before I got the chance to do so, I saw it was only $13 pot was only $5 before.

A few minutes and second player folded, therefore I called. He then raised pre-flop so I figured out he got some sensible cards in his possession. To be honest, I was really troubled thinking about AQ as I believe it was something hard to beat. In later part, I went in considering that the the raise was so much higher than the pot. Finally, the last card was turned, QQ724 rainbow. He had AK off-suit back then and so my pair of 9s beaten him.

By the way, when the blinds came round, I thought of leaving as I don’t like that much how I played it, I’m confused. Any advice or comment?

I hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks,
Bill

Bill,

The all in move on the turn seemed like a move to try and scare you out of the pot. If he really had a set, he would not have pushed all in. He would have likely put in about a 20 to 25% of the pot sized bet to try and induce a call. You wound up making a good call.

I played yesterday with some guys I’m not much acquainted with. In the early part, I was dealt pocket AA’s and raised just approximately $3. Eventually, the following guy re-raised me $10 therefore I decided to go all in with roughly $80. Well, he then called with pocket QQ’s.

At some point I realized that AA’s get cracked a lot, however, I’m not that bothered. Finally, the flop came, it was Ks,9h,4h. Next was the turn which was 6 and then the river which was a 2 of hearts.

Right after, he made a flush as maybe because one Queen was a heart. In the end, I wasn’t able to take home the pot for I lost. Well, honestly, I actually expected to lose if he called so the pain of losing wasn’t that much.

Now, I wanted to ask if in your opinion I actually made the right call going all in. And by the way, what are the odds of him beating me? Do you have any idea on this?

Thank you in advance.

Teddy

Teddy,

Pocket Aces are an 81% to a 19% favorite to win against queens preflop. I would liked to see you do more of an opening raise instead of one to $3. Going from $3 to $80 right away was quite a big jump, and unless he had a big hand would probably induced a fold. It wasn’t exactly a bad raise as it was called, but it was excessive that early in the hand I think. Now if you raised better than $3 and he reraised you, then all-in would make more sense.

Either event, you just go unlucky on the result of the hand. You had a dominant hand and got outdraw. That’s poker.

In one of my recent games, I encountered a very interesting player. I heard he frequently plays in “all-in” or nothing game. Typically, he patiently waits for good cards to come and then goes all in without him considering the amount of money he has for a given instance.

When I got the chance to play against him, I just sit down while waiting for AA to call the bet because I believe if just given the chance, he will burn me just like what he did to other players he has played against with. But unluckily, though I got the Aces, he never has a hand.

If you were in my case, how might have you handled such kind of player?

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you.

Timothy

Timothy,

The only thing you can do really counteract this player is to either wait for a big hand against him, or play lottery style, which means hoping to bust him with a random hand by flopping lucky. Obviously, you will want to actually have a hand against him. Odds are you will eventually trap him.

First, in my no limit holdem with $30 buy in $1-$1 blinds. I got KTh back then when I was on the button. Then five players limped in, no raises. Flop then came and it was 2h 7s 8h. For that, several players checked around to me. I then placed $5 as my bet. I was then called by players in an instance by the players to my right and left.

Then next card came and it was 7c. Eventually, both players checked. Well, I also did the same thing, I checked. Last card was 8c. The first player then placed $15 as his bet while second player called. Finally, I pushed in with $50 because I felt some sort of hesitations. Then both players slowly folded in turn. When revelation time came, both players had a 7.

For the second, well it was something related to me holding 89s. Eventually I called the blind.
A friend to my left then raised to $6. Well, two guys called. Few seconds passed and I also called. Flop came and it was Ah 6s 2d. Afterwards, two others checked. I then pushed all in with $25.

In the later part, I threw my 89s though embarrassed. Well, in the end, I obviously lost the hand.

How do you find my games, good, bad or what? As of now, I’m having problems about my bluffing confidence. I hope you can help me.

Thank you.

Warm regards,
Jake Andrew

Jake,

Your instinct are not that good based on the two hands above. In the first hand there were two pair on board on the river. A player bet out and was called. There was no way you should have pushed here. Even if they didn’t have a 7 or 8, chances are they had an A between them, and you were beat.

In the second hand, there was a preflop raise. You called the raise with 8-9 suited. Then you pushed on an ace high flop. Of course you lost when you were called.

A lot of bluffing has to do with being the aggressor in a betting round and sensing true weakness, not just hoping they are weak. The call by the second player in the first hand was weakness, but weakness of him having a lower full house, not because he didn’t have a hand.

You should read the book The Book of Bluffs. It should help you some in your bluffing.

To be honest, I’m getting very frustrated with the game. And as of this very moment, I’m not sure if I’m playing the right style game – no limit single table tournaments.

I’ve tried if flat calling with cards would work, hoping to eventually sting someone meanly whenever they hit the flop. However, it didn’t work.

At some point, may be I’ve absorbed a nasty habit. I want to break such habit but I’m having a hard time. Also, I’ve considered that may be playing limit holdem will just make things worser. What do you think?

Do you have any advice for me? I badly need your help now.

Thank you.

Regards,
Landon

Landon,

If you are a tight aggressive player, then single table tournaments are a good option but you do need to be able to loosen your game up some in the later stages. You may want to consider cash games over tournaments. A tight style does seem to translate better in lower stake cash games as opposed to tournaments.

One thing you need to work on is playing a wider range of hands. Playing strong hands only and raising and betting when you hit makes you too predictable. Sometimes getting caught making a bluff or showing down a bad hand can make you more money in the long run because players will put you on hands that are not as strong.

Just this morning, I played an online single-table tournament. I went all in preflop, with AA in early position with a short stack. Eventually I got several callers. The flop came and it was with no A. I tried then to let everyone believe that I have pocket aces, for them to fold. Unfortunately, my strategy didn’t work because nobody got carried away with my acting. And because of that, I started thinking if I should just then turn over my cards at a real table. Do you think that would be acceptable and possible?

Please, I need your help. I hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks,

Andrew

Andrew,

It is against the rules to expose your hand at a live table in a tournament. You are giving other players an unfair advantage. The only time that you may reveal your hand is when you are all in and called against a single opponent or at showdown. Otherwise you may not reveal your hand.

In tournament situations you can receive a penalty for exposing your hand purposely. You may even be disqualified if it is repeated.

I saw an article in Card Player Mag few months ago. Well, for me it was really intriguing. I’ve read from that article that you should bet properly in different situations and how will you do it will depend on your knowledge on what percentage of your stack to bet in various situations and stages.

I’m wondering if you can explain things to me a little broader. And also, once I heard players say “that was too large of a bet drawing at a flush or top pair”. What’s about this?

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you.

Pete

Pete,

A lot of proper betting is related to whether you are trying to push a player out of a pot or if you are trying to extract money. If you are trying to bet them out, you need to know how much to be in order to make them fold. If your goal is to extract money, you need to bet an amount that will induce a call.

When they are saying that the bet is too large to draw at a hand, they are referring to the percentage that your hand will hit verses the percentage of the pot you must call. For example, if you only have a 30% chance of making your hand, but you must call a bet that is 40% of the pot, then you do not have proper odds to make a call.

I’m into no limit poker now. Well, I got my ideas about no limit actually from just watching the game on TV. I haven’t yet faced really serious problems.

As of the moment I’m just curious about one thing. I’ve read somewhere that it is an advantage when you are into holdem that you are a reasonable chess player. To be honest, once I was also hooked on chess. For almost a year, I had nothing in mind but just chess. Well, there are actually many similarities between poker and chess. Players of both games should have strong analytical mind, act under pressure and think for long term purposes. And another thing, when you want to learn either of the two games, you must be like a student who is willing to learn at all means.

Because I thought I have the potential to also succeed in playing poker I try to search for some possible materials that discuss the rules of poker and how to actually play the game. It was never hard for me to find helpful materials that contain poker rules, but on how to play the game, and some strategic infos, it was really challenging.

Though not that confident, I signed up at Ultimatebet, and started playing for “play chips”. What I can remember is that they will give you a thousand and if you have less than 100 they will “re-fill” back to 1000. However, contending with the software as well with the strange environment was pretty hard.

Fortunately, just after two days things started to change. Things became simpler. Hence, my 1000 play chips eventually lasted for about an hour, unlike before that only for few minutes. I felt lucky after then, most especially that I have stumbled on your site.

Slowly but significantly, my play has improved. I started to win a few, then, later on a lot more. After five days of playing no limit, I then proceed to the big league – $ 0.01 / $ 0.02 tables. Well, it was a good move actually. Because of taking the risk, I got to over 50K. I was able to really save a lot. However, later on, I decided to re-invest my winnings by buying a couple of books. I don’t mind at all as I know they are a good investment.

Later on, I decided to move on up. On the tenth day I started playing at the $ 0.10 / $ 0.25 with a max by-in of $25.00. Honestly, it was one of the bad decisions I’ve made. Things became hard for me.

By the way, I have a story to share to you before I forget.

I played a 10 player ring game months ago. BB $0.25 while max buy in was $25.00. The button was seat 1. Well, one of the main protagonists is me and I’m seated in seat 7. Two other protagonists are seated in seats 3 and 4.

In the mid part, I was dealt Ks Kh. Eventually, seat 4 opened with $ 0.75 and I called. Well, same goes with seat 3. Everyone else folded.

Re-raising with cowboys was very prevalent in the game. But later on I flat called. Finally, the flop came and it was 6c 9h 2d. Quite expected, seat 1 checked and seat 4 raised to $1.50.

I then flat called to await developments. Eventually, seat 1 went all in with approximately $5 and seat 4 called. Then later on when I was about to fold, an idea came across my mind. Seat 1 probably had me beat. And so I flat called.

Then the turn card came and was 6c 9h 2d 5. Seat 4 checked and I went all in for approximately $18. Eventually, he called.

I then discovered that seat 1 has deuces in the hole giving him trips and seat 4 had pocket rockets, American Airlines, the Eyes of Texas. Quite to my surprise, he had As and Ah.

Well, it was funny as instead of a loss I made a profit in the end.

I’m just thinking now, the kind of play I had once was not that bad right? What’s your thoughts on this?

I need to park my fingers now but before that I would like to thank you for everything that you’ve done on this site. It has been a great help to me, really. If not because of your site, maybe I wasn’t able to start out and then somehow establish myself into poker.

Thank you so much.

Yours truly,
Ben

Ben,

Based on the board, I can see where you believed you were ahead. The only pocket hand that would have you beat preflop were aces. Seat 1 slow played his pocket 2’s to perfection and since you were the aggressor, it would be hard to put him on a set of two’s.

I do think you were a little overly aggressive seeing that you kept getting raised. I might have slowed down on the turn and river. Still, I don’t know if you would be able to get away from the kings based on the board. That is a situation you are going to run into on occasion. When it happens, just realize that is part of poker and move on.

Next, be careful of playing poker based on what you see on TV. While TV poker is fun to watch, a lot of things are edited out.