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How to play poker
by
Kevin Stevenson
How does one play poker? The answer to that question, and it's an answer that many, many
more players think they know than the number who actually do, can be summed up in one word ─ smartly! Luck just doesn't
have all that much to do with who consistently wins and who constantly pays them for poker lessons. For purposes of saving
space, we'll confine ourselves here to discussing five card draw, but these techniques apply to all variations of the game,
and there are quite of few of them.
First off, and this is one of the oldest adages of a very ancient game, is that you play the hand with the cards you have,
not with the cards you're hoping to get to fill out that elusive
flush. Another is to forget about the money you've thrown into the pot up to that point. It's no longer yours; it belongs to
whoever ultimately wins that particular hand. You can never let money that's gone influence your play. Still another is to only
stay in a hand that you're reasonably certain you'll win. To do that, you've got to not only learn how to gauge the percentages,
but to acquire the discipline to act on it. Don't be afraid to fold if you're not holding the goods and it's not the right time
to run a bluff
Is there a theme emerging here? Does this all seem like simplistic, remedial stuff, so obvious that it really isn't
worth mentioning? Are these basic principles that can be found on page three of "Poker for Dummies"? Of course! But they bear
repeating. Great fortunes have been amassed by those who embraced these principles, allowing them to take lots of cash
(and maybe even the deed to the farm) from people who weren't such dedicated students of the obvious.
This brings us to the bluff, an integral component of any poker game.
Bluffing is an acquired art - kind of like lying. If you do it right, with proper amounts of subtlety and force, and at the
right time and from the right position in the hand, you can experience a joy like no other. It's a thrill that beats
counting your winnings (according to some), but it also requires
learning to read people and recognize their "tells." A "tell" is
a stress-related idiosyncrasy, a mannerism that once observed and filed away grants you total ownership of the person flashing
it. It can be something they do when they're bluffing, or even when they're holding good cards. You should also put some effort
into discovering and eliminating your own tells, and believe it,
everybody's got them.
Last, but certainly not least, is to always remember to play the
long game. That means learning patience, waiting for the cards or the opportunity to run a bluff effectively, or better yet, to
hook 'em when they suspect you of bluffing - and you're not (also quite delicious). The game of poker belongs to the one who
leaves with the most cash that others brought to the table, not necessarily to the fish who wins the first hand or even the most
hands.
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