Poker

The game of poker keeps accumulating more and more adherents as the years go by, in spite of or perhaps because of (1) the rules, (2) the math and (3) the conventions and traditions.

The appeal of poker may come from the excitement of the wagering or the glamour of the casino or the fascination with the mechanics of how the cards combine. Many will say that it comes from knowing that everybody behaves in routine ways. Thus the trick is to conceal one's consistencies of play and body language from the others, while at the same time deciphering the "tells" and techniques of others. Poker is popular in part because it is a game of skill. True, cards are doled out at random, but they are random for everybody. In a game like Texas Hold'em, more than two-thirds of the cards are the same for all players.

The difference between winning and losing has much less to do with the quality of cards than with the quality of the players. This was true in the days of the Mississippi river boats, and it is true today in the poker rooms of Las Vegas.

Of the three skills required of a good poker player (making bets, interpreting the bets of others and calculating strategies), the first two involve understanding how humans (including the player himself) behave. It has something to do with competition, the fear of losing and the pride of winning; it has to do with sizing up the intensity and convictions of the other players. More than any other activity in a Las Vegas casino, poker has to do with people rather than chance.

The Card Room

In Las Vegas, casino poker is closely monitored and regulated by the Nevada Gaming Commission. Larger casinos provide a separate room, often called a "Poker Room" or "Card Room" for poker players. In smaller casinos the "poker room" may be just a cordoned-off area of the casino itself. However it is separated from the main casino floor, it is worlds apart from the table games and slot machines.

Poker is not a Table Game

Before going into a Poker Room the casino player needs to be aware of one important detail: Out in the main area of the casino you can play any number of so-called "table games." Some of these table games will involve making bets and receiving cards, as in poker. These are games like blackjack, baccarat, and several with the name "poker" in them. These games are not poker. They are table games. The two main differences are:

• In poker, a player takes on the other players, not the house.
• The player's skill in playing the hands and making the bets determines how well the player does.

In table games the player does not take on other players, and is pitted solely against the house and the rules of chance. The dealer (or banker) does not have discretion about how to play. Very little can be accomplished in the way of strategy. Betting is completed before any play or deal occurs, like a spin of a wheel, a toss of dice, or the dealing of a couple of cards.

So games like "Pai Gow Poker," "Let it Ride" and "Three Card Poker" or even the table game version of "Texas Hold'em" may sound like true poker, but they really aren't.

Community card poker

A poker game in which one or more cards are shared among the players is called a “community card” poker game. Texas Hold’Em is the most widely played community card poker game, but there are many others. (Draw poker and stud poker are common examples of games with no community cards.) The shared cards are sometimes called “board cards” or “window cards.” Depending on the game, one or more community cards are placed in the middle of the table, or “board.” In Hold’Em five cards for common play are dealt. They are revealed in a “flop” of three cards, and then one by one for the last two.

The opposite of a community card is a “hole card,” meaning that it is dealt face down and each player has his or her own. A player’s final hand at showdown time can be made up of both types. Some games require that hole cards and board cards be combined in a specific way. Omaha, for example, requires the hand to have three out of five board cards and two out of four hole cards. Tic-tac-toe is an example where the array of the cards on the board makes a difference. The cards are in a 3 by 3 matrix, and players must chose a column, row or diagonal for play.

Mixed poker games

Poker professionals tire of the same old games all the time, and they like to match skills with each other in different game contests. It was only a matter of time before tournaments adopted “mixed games” as an event in itself. The best known mixed game is “HORSE” (or “H.O.R.S.E”), comprised of Hold’Em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Seven-card Stud and Eight or Better (Stud Hi-Lo). Other combinations of the same games can create events called “HOSE” or “HOE.” Two benefits of mixed poker games in tournament play is that “specialists” (otherwise known as “one-trick ponies”) do not dominate the event, and some games would not normally attract such a large pool of players.

In the rotation, several hands are played of each game. The number is between 6 and 10, depending on the card room. Betting is according to limit poker rules.

More recently, “mixed limit” betting has been introduced along with mixes that go beyond the five games in “HORSE.” The Eight Game Mix and the Seven Game Mix both include fixed limit, pot limit and no-limit betting modes. Both were developed essentially for on-line play.

Eight Game Mix is a Poker Stars version that includes Hold’Em, Deuce to Seven Triple Draw, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, all in fixed limit games, and also no limit Hold’Em and pot limit Omaha 8. Most on-line players are comfortable with these games, with the possible exception of Triple Draw, which many players had to learn from scratch. Each game is played for six hands before rotating out.

The Seven Game Mix was Full Tilt Poker’s entry into online mixed poker games, offering the same thing as the Eight Game Mix except for 2-7 Triple Draw. Each game is played for ten hands.

The secret of success in life is sincerity. If you can fake that, you've got it made. - Groucho Marx