- New Authors Note -

Over the past several days, I've noticed a couple of questions about poker that I realized that I hadn't covered, mostly about tiebreakers and about things that fall under the category of "house rules", so, here it is;
In poker the suits have no weight, in otherwords, a Royal Flush in Diamonds is worth exactly the same as a Royal Flush in Spades (this isn't bridge people), this will lead to the occasional tie. There are no tie breakers! If the hand are equal the pot is split. In the case of a pot with an odd number of chips the odd chip goes to the first to act (that is the first winning player to the left of the dealer.
The next Question that I am commonly asked is about the ranking of the "Wheel" (A through 5 straight) and this one is a little dicey, because it depends on the rules of the house you are playing in. In some houses, it is the second highest straight (loosing only to A through 10), because of the inclusion of the A and the fact that it is a single ended straight (all the poker rooms in the Los Angeles area call it this way as do many others) in other houses it is the smallest straight. The best advise I can give you on this one is to check the house rules before you bet (always a good idea anyway).

- Also -

I've also been noticing several recent search requests that involve poker basics (hand rankings and the like). Having been a player since I was 7 or 8 (the very early '50s) I kind of took it for granted that everyone grew up knowing these things. So I guess it's time to rethink my policy and publish a section about poker basics (I'll also probably star doing this for other games, like craps and blackjack). The new section will be Here.
 
 
Poker
  
  Poker is a game with which all (OK, almost all) are familiar and at which relatively few have any real competence, let alone skill. If you are interested in learning to play the game there are several ways to go about it. We have many books on the subject at our bookstore, or if you feel the need for the support of a "real" instructor there is an excellent on line poker school that I recommend highly.    
  Poker is most definitely a game of skill in that luck rarely has anything to do with the final outcome. A skilled poker player having a bad day will fare better than an incompetent poker player having an unbelievably great day. "Why is this?" you ask. Because poker is not a game of cards, it is rather a game of psychology and intimidation. It's a game where the successful player spends most of his time inside his opponents' heads and therefore cannot only tell what sort of a hand they are liable to have at any given time, but can force them to play that hand the way he wants them to.    
  The greatest downfall of all poker players, skilled or not, is the feeling of invincibility that you get when you've been having a good day and are suddenly presented with a really great hand. You know the odds of your hand being beaten, you know the strengths and weaknesses of the other players at the table and you say to yourself, "I've got the nuts. I can't possibly be beaten. I'll never see another opportunity this good," and so you let your heart get in the way of your head and go out and "lose the farm". The two differences between the skilled player and the incompetent in this instance are: The incompetent gets into this situation far more often than the skilled player, and the skilled player is far more likely to let the loss affect his play (go on tilt) because he knows he should have known better.    
       
  Case in point. The game is Draw Poker played with a 53 card deck. The limit is $25/$50 (for those of you not familiar with the structure of draw poker as played in Southern California cardrooms, this is $25 before the draw and $50 after the draw with a $5 ante, limit of 3 raises, unless there are only two participants (then, the sky's the limit) and the games are played table stakes). It's about 3:00 in the morning, I've been sitting in the game since about 8:30 the night before, and I'm up a little more than $2,500. The table is full (8 players). For this hand I'll be 6th to act. The hand before had no opener, so we're now playing $50/$100. I'm dealt three jacks and two small cards, the bet is checked around to me, I bet $100 and four others follow me in, with the guy who checked immediately before me raising. The rest of us call the raise. Now the situation is, $580 in the pot, five players, and I'm holding the lowest set of high trips.    
  I'll leave off the narrative here for a minute to explain my thought process. Three of a kind is a pretty good opening hand but no-way a lock winner, the table in general has been tighter than average for a 25/50 game which tends to make it easier to scare players out of a pot and three of the people involved are the three tightest players at the table. My position works for me as (in the minds of the others) I would be more likely to open with a weak hand as everyone acting before me has already indicated weakness by checking, this is made all the more so because the last pot was passed. This makes the pot $80 (with the double ante) and ripe for stealing. Now the question: What do I do? If I draw two cards, I maximize my chances of improving my hand, but I expose the fact that I have trips (I have to assume that at least one of these people is observant enough to have picked up on the fact that I rarely draw two to a big pair and a kicker (never in a doubled pot)). If I Draw one, I give the impression of being on the come (hunting for a straight or a flush) while cutting by almost 90% the chance of improving my trips (about 16 to 1 if I draw two, about 150 to 1 drawing one). Back to the game.    
  I draw one card and look.    
  Another break in the story — to my shock, I turn up the fourth jack!! Now, I instantly change my strategy, I had intended to let a tiny smile slip,and to force a spontaneous shake in my hands (both classic tells when a player has made their hand). Remember, none of the players in a game this size is a tourist, or totally incompetent, but I felt that I was the strongest player at the table, and two of the three weakest had folded before the draw. So now I put on a "stiff upper lip" expression, check and give the guy across the table a blank stare.    
  I check with four jacks, the next man checks, the lady down the table bets $100, the guy across from me calls, and the guy to my right re-raises. Now, with everyone expecting me to fold, I lower the boom! I raise, and they start running for cover. They fold in order until the action comes to the guy on my right, and he raises me back (now that there are only two in the pot, there is no limit other than the money you have on the table how many raises you can make).    
  Yet another break in the action. This is where I should have started seriously questioning my own sanity and what the chances were that I could be beaten (I did actually consider that there were only 24 hands that could beat me (listen to that, ONLY 24!). There were four higher four of a kinds, and 20 small straight flushes, then I considered how often I had seen anyone draw two cards and make one of these hands (I personally drew two to a royal flush once and made it, but I couldn't keep anyone else in the pot) and decided that he was bluffing, or had at worst drawn a high full house, in other words, I was sure I had the nuts.    
  Now there's $980 in the pot, make that $1180 if I call, of which $510 will be mine (this isn't even 2 to 1 pot odds, and by all the books, a dangerous call) so of course I raise right back (remember, I've got the nuts), he comes back at me with another raise and I back at him. At this point he counts his chips and announces that he has $1456 and he'll go "to the green" (a poker term meaning bet it all), how much am I willing to take on? I count up and find a couple of hundred more than he has, and, being a good poker player with both the killer instinct and the nuts, I throw $1456 into the pot and tap him out. The moment of truth, I throw my four Jacks face up on the table with a grin and watch him turn over four Queens. Shit! He told me, as he was raking in his pot, that he drew three to a pair of Queens with an Ace kicker. I chose to believe that he was just rubbing salt in my wounds and he really drew to trip Queens and got the fourth Queen and an Ace.    
  This was a true story, It happened, as reported, to me about twelve years ago at The Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens, CA and it still haunts me like it was yesterday. Have I quit playing poker? Never! Has this affected my game? Well, for about three weeks, I found myself being ridiculously cautious and therefore losing more than my share of pots. I overcame this unnatural emotion by sheer willpower and a natural stubborn streak, but, when the betting gets fast and loose, I still think of that hand and, to be honest, I haven't seen a situation that I would go that far for since.    
       
  Poker, as I say, is a game of skill, but success at poker mostly requires solid knowledge of the game you're playing, experience (which tells you what the other guy is likely to do in a given situation) and the common sense to apply these ingredients when your money is on the table and emotions are running high.    
  In the following pages I'll give you a basic layout of the individual games, some basic tips about how to play (including situational play) and a lot of good references to give you more knowledge. The experience is easy enough to get, and, if you play with some caution, shouldn't be too expensive. For the common sense, YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN!    
 
The Hands
    
 

The following list is a list of poker hands in order from best to worst with the appropriate tie breakers that might be needed.

5 of a Kind — 4 Aces plus a Joker

Straight Flush — 5 suited cards in running order. See Straight and Flush for additional description. (example, 4H 5H 6H 7H 8H).

4 of a Kind — 4 cards of the same rank (example, 7H 7D 7S 7C plus any card). Should two hands have 4 of a Kind, the higher 4 will win.

Full House — 3 cards of one rank plus 2 cards of another rank (example, AS AH AD 8C 8H). Should two hands have Full Houses, the higher 3 of a kind will win.

Flush — 5 cards of the same suit (example, 3S 6S 8S 10S AS). Should two hands have flushes, the highest card wins. Should those cards match, the 2nd highest, 3rd highest, 4th highest, 5th highest (as needed) will win. Should all cards patch, the pot is split. A joker can be used as one of the cards in a flush.

Straight — 5 unsuited cards in running order (example, 3S 4D 5D 6H 7C). The highest straight is 10 J Q K A. The second highest straight is A 2 3 4 5. All others are ranked according to the highest card. Should two hands have equal straights, the pot is split. A joker can be used in one of the cards in a straight.

3 of a Kind — 3 cards of the same rank with two other unmatched cards (example 9H 9S 9D 7C 2S). Should two hands have 3 of a kind, the higher set will win. A joker counts as an A.

2 Pair — 2 sets of 2 same-rank cards (example, 5H 5S 6D 6H 3C). Should two hands have 2 pair, the tiebreaker is the highest pair. If those match, the 2nd highest pair. If those match, the highest unpaired card. If those match, the pot is split. A joker counts as an A.

1 Pair — 2 cards of the same rank with three unmatched cards. Should two hands have a pair, the higher pair will win. If those match, the unmatched cards are ranked from highest to lowest until a winner is determined. If both hands are perfectly matched, the pot is split. A joker counts as an A.

Single Card — No cards matched in rank. In the case of a tie, the cards are ranked from highest to lowest until a winner is determined. A joker counts as an A. If both hands are perfectly matched, the pot is split. This is highly unlikely, and I will be most disappointed if you are betting on this hand!

In games using a 53-card deck (using a Joker), the joker can be used to fill a straight or a flush. Otherwise, it is counted like any other Ace. Some games use wild cards (such as Deuces Wild). In these cases, the card(s) designated as wild can be used for any card you choose to make the best possible hand (including 5 of a kind). All other hand rankings apply. I have never encountered wild cards in a public game.

    
 
The Games
    
     
 
The Basics