Winning Consistently at Online Poker 

 
Sense discovering online poker, I make enough money that I quit my job and play 
online poker full time.  I make on average $45,000 a month playing 40 hours a week.  
I have read many books on poker and put together this fool proof system to winning 
online poker. 
In general, online poker needs to be attacked the same way as poker in a brick and 
mortar casino. 
In order to play well and win, one always has to adjust to the players and the 
circumstances. There 
are differences between the average online player compared to the average brick 
and mortar player, 
but those differences are small enough that some logical adjustments should do the 
trick. In that 
respect, this section on online poker is specifically aimed at the differences and 
uniqueness that 
online poker presents. 
 
What Is Poker? 

Poker is by far the most popular card game played in America today (if
not the world), in terms of both the amount of money that changes
hands every year, as well as in the number of players involved.

Though there are hundreds of variations of Poker being played today,

they can mostly be placed into three main classes:

• Flop Games (Like Hold 'em and Omaha) in which each player
receives their own hole cards and 5 exposed community cards
(flop) that are available to all players. The hole cards are hidden
from the other players until the showdown (completion of the
hand).
• Stud (like 7 and 5 Card Stud) Poker, in which some cards in each
player's hand are exposed to all the players as the betting
progresses, and all the active players' cards being exposed at
the showdown.
• Closed games, like draw poker where you see no cards except
your own until the showdown.

The most popular form of poker played today is a (Flop Game) called
Texas Hold'em. For this reason it will be the form of Poker that
PokerSchool Online initially focuses on.

In all the variations of poker, two factors remain constant:

 1. The value or rank of each poker hand.
2. At the showdown (when the round of play ends) the hand cannot
consist of more than five cards, even though more cards are
used in many poker variations.

Mention poker to someone and you're likely to hear of one of these

three poker stereotypes:

• Wild Wild West: where Mississippi Riverboat gamblers with

striped shirts and thin moustaches have a derringer hidden up
their sleeve, or Dodge City residents like Doc Holliday or Wild Bill
Hickok sitting around a smoky table in a saloon.
• The Sting: from the famous movie, comes the image of Chicago
mobsters sitting in a cigar filled room, a bottle of cheap scotch
on the table, and a husky football player standing ready at the
peep-hole.
• The Kitchen Table: Uncle John and Aunt Bessie are sitting
around their kitchen table playing with their many visiting
relatives, with a penny ante. Somehow all their nieces and
nephews come away with penny-stuffed pockets.

Since the late 1980's, poker has undergone a revolution toward

respectability. Today's poker is clean, brightly lit, and decidedly middle
class. Like bowling and billiards beforehand, poker has moved from its
seedier roots into daylight and acceptance by the masses. No matter
where you live, it's likely that you are only a few hours away from a
public card room, or just blocks from a friendly game. Poker is all
around you.

Poker has achieved its outstanding popularity for the following

reasons:

1. It can be played by rich and poor alike. The stakes may vary
from no limit to penny ante, just as long as the minimum and
maximum betting limits are agreed upon before the game
begins.
2. It is easy to learn.
3. It may be played in a great many different ways.
4. Any number of players from two to eleven at one table may
play, although two to ten make the best game (Cash Games,
Side Action) but in the Tournaments you can see as many as
1,000 players starting out at 100 tables, which ends up with one
winner. Many of these larger tournaments are played over more
than one day.
 5. It is strictly a gambling card game, whether it is Hold'em, Poker
penny-ante style or Seven-Card Stud table stakes. The gambling
can be replaced with other incentives to play well. Without the
gambling or incentive factors it would be one of America's least
played games. PokerSchool is showing the industry how to
replace the "gambling element" during the learning phase.
6. Each player, on his own, battles all the others. There is no
partnership play.
7. It combines both chance and skill and is the only game in which
a player can win only one hand all evening and still come out a
winner, or win any more than the average number of hands and
still lose to the game's action.

"If there is any more engrossing card game for a group of reasonable,
congenial friends of fairly equal playing ability than Poker, I have yet
to learn about it." -John Scarne

Quoted in part according to the Famous Card Authority John Scarne

from his book "Scarne's New Complete Guide to Gambling".

The Science of Poker

A great many players believe that Poker is primarily a game of chance

and that most consistent winners at Poker are simply lucky. Actually,
Poker contains a greater skill element than any other card game,
including Contract Bridge, Pinochle and Gin Rummy. Despite the fact
that Poker has so many variations and that the proper winning
strategy differs slightly in each one, the better player will nearly
always win money and the poorer player nearly always lose money in
a lone Poker session. I believe that there is more science and skill in
Poker than in Bridge for the reasons that follow:

My observations of Poker games over the past 40 years have

convinced me that if a Poker expert played three average players for
52 sessions, each lasting six hours, the expert player would emerge
the winner 51 times. The odds against any such result at Contract
Bridge under similar conditions are high.

Contract Bridge is a partnership game and as in all such games, one

partner is usually more skilled than the other. Their combined ability is
therefore less than that of the better player. In Poker, with each player
on his own, a skilled player is not handicapped by a less able partner.
That is, his skill potential is not reduced.
Contract Bridge is basically a game of strategy plus partnership signals
(bidding). Poker is a game of strategy, deception, mathematics and
psychology, with a considerable amount of courage thrown in.
Judgment of one's opponent's psychological traits or habits plays little
part in Bridge strategy, whereas a top Poker player must be a master
of Poker psychology in order to simultaneously analyze the playing
traits of as many as seven opponents. Deception is used much more in
Poker than Bridge and knowledge of the game's mathematics is much
more important in Poker than in Bridge. Also, money management is
important in Poker and not in Bridge.

In most forms of Poker, the game is pure chance only until the player
looks at the cards dealt him. From then on, unlike in Bridge and most
other card games, chance plays a lesser role because the players need
not play bad hands out to a finish. The player can throw a bad hand in
and take a small loss, or perhaps none, or he can continue to play a
bad hand and sometimes win by bluffing. In Stud and its variants, this
decision can be made by the player each time another card is dealt
until the showdown.

The skilled Poker player will play fewer bad hands than the unskilled
player and thus increase his winning chances in a way that an equally
skilled Bridge player cannot do.

The Origins of Poker

There seem to be differences of opinion on the origin of Poker.

Moreover, there seems to be no clear or direct early ancestor of the
game. It is more likely that Poker derived its present day form from
elements of many different games. The consensus is that because of
it's basic principal, its birth is a very old one.

Jonathan H. Green makes one of the earliest written references to

Poker in 1834. In his writing, Green mentions rules to what he called
the "cheating game," which was then being played on Mississippi
riverboats. He soon realized that his was the first such reference to the
game, and since it was not mentioned in the current American Hoyle,
he chose to call the game Poker.

The game he described was played with 20 cards, using only the aces,
kings, queens, jacks and tens. Two to four people could play, and each
was dealt five cards. By the time Green wrote about it, poker had
become the number one cheating game on the Mississippi boats,
receiving even more action than Three-Card Monte. Most people taken
by Three-Card Monte thought the 20-card poker seemed more a
legitimate game, and they came back time and time again. It would
certainly appear, then, that Poker was developed by the cardsharps.

The origin of the word Poker is also well debated. Most of the
dictionaries and game historians say that it comes from an eighteenth-
century French game, poque. However, there are other references to
pochspiel, which is a German game. In pochspiel, there is an element
of bluffing, where players would indicate whether they wanted to pass
or open by rapping on the table and saying, "Ich Poche!" Some say it
may even have derived come the Hindu word, pukka.

Yet another possible explanation for the word poker, is that it came
from a version of an underworld slang word, "poke," a term used by
pickpockets. Cardsharps who used the 20-card cheating game to
relieve a sucker from his poke may have used that word among
themselves, adding an r to make it "poker." The thought was that if
the sharps used the word "poker" in front of their victims, those wise
to the underworld slang would not surmise the change.

There are those who also believe that "poke" probably came from
"hocus-pocus", a term widely used by magicians. The game of Poker
later evolved to include 32 cards, and eventually the modern day deck
of 52, not counting the two Jokers.

The game of Poker has evolved through the years, through many
backroom games to the present day casinos around the world. Its
history is rich with famous places and characters. For example, during
the Wild West period of United States history, a saloon with a Poker
table could be found in just about every town from coast to coast.

Today, Poker is carefully regulated by gambling laws, and saloons

have given way to casinos and cardrooms, but Poker is played more
than any other card game in the world. It has grown into a sporting
event, with competitions and tournaments all around the world.
Tournaments take place almost every week of the year somewhere in
the world.

If you compare the prizes of major sporting events around the world,
you will find that the monetary outcome of any given event in Poker
would (pardon the pun) stack up. Poker today is one of the fastest
growing, but hardly recognized sporting events. The pinnacle of the
poker world, The World Series of Poker, attracts players from all over
the world every year to compete for money and titles as the world's
top Poker players.

Poker will always be around and will continue to grow and flourish like
so many other past times. There will always be a game to play, money
to be won, and crowns to be worn.

How to play No Limit Texas Hold'em

The following page will provide the rules and the structure of the
game. There will be graphics and text to walk you through terminology
and step by step play of a round of Texas Hold'em. Once you have
developed a feel for the game, the subsequent rounds will be much
easier.

The Dealer

When the table is full, there will be 9 or 10 players. When playing

online, these seats are randomly selected by the computer.

A person (or computer when online) does the physical dealing of the
cards and is not one of the players. On the table is a small round disc
called the button. This button is placed in front of the person who is
the theoretical "dealer" to indicate where the dealing should begin. The
button will say 'D' on it. See picture above.

After every hand, the button moves clockwise as if each player at the
table were getting a turn to deal.

The dealer's button is always placed in seat 10 at the start of a

game/tournament for the first hand. The small blind will be in seat 1
and the big blind will be in seat 2. Now the game begins.
The Blinds

Always moving clockwise, the player to the immediate left of the

dealer is called the small blind. This player places 1/2 of the structured
bet in front of him or her. To the small blind's left is the big blind. This
player places one full structured bet in front of him or her.

In our example of No Limit Texas Hold'em, the small blind will post $5.
That is 1/2 of the structured bet. The big blind will post $10. That $10
will constitute one full bet.

The small and big blinds are compulsory bets. These two players are in
actuality betting their first bet "in the blind." The motive for forcing
these players to bet in the blind is to create action. Creating action
gets money in the pot. This way no one can play for free (without
folding) during the first round of betting.

When the next new hand is played the small blind then moves around
to the player who was the big blind in the last hand, and the big blind
moves to the player to his left. This movement of the small and big
blinds continues throughout the game.

Pocket or Hole Cards

No Limit Texas Hold'em uses all 52 cards in the deck. The dealer
begins the deal with the small blind. There will be 2 unique cards
called Pocket or Hole cards dealt face down to each player. The hole or
pocket cards are exclusive to each player. Each player will view these
cards and no other player will see the other players 2 cards.

Round One Betting

After the pocket or hole cards are dealt, the first round of betting
begins. There are several actions a player who is involved in the hand
can take.

The player may CALL the bet by matching the amount of the first bet
(the amount of the big blind.) In the example, that would be $10.

The player may RAISE the bet by matching the amount of the first bet
and adding an equal amount to it thereby making it 2 bets, or bet his
entire stack in no limit hold'em. He may RAISE the bet any amount in
between the original bet and all the chips he has.

Finally, the player may FOLD. When a player folds, the action taken is
one of passing and the player will not enter the hand by placing any
money in the pot. This player will place his cards face down in front of
him and the dealer will take them and place them in the discard pile.
When online, the player will click on the fold button and his cards will
automatically go into the discards.

The first person to start the betting in the first round of Texas Hold'em
is the player to the left of the big blind. As stated before, the big blind
has already made one complete bet.

The first round of betting is complete after every player at the table
has acted and placed the same amount in the pot or folded.
The small blind must add the other half of the structured blind in order
to call the big blind bet or must call what raises have been made to
stay in the hand. The small blind has the option to raise during this
time. Otherwise, the small blind must fold.

The big blind will have to call any raises made and has the option at
this time to make a raise.

In our example, seat 3 and 4 fold. Seat 5 calls $10. Seat 6 folds. Seat
7 raises $25. Seat 8,9, and 10 fold. The small blind folds. The big blind
calls the raise of $25 and uses his option to re-raise $25. Seat 5 calls
the $50 in raises and seat 7 calls the $25 raise.

During the first round of betting, the big blind will have the OPTION to
raise. As the action moves around the table and comes back to the big
blind, the dealer will ask if they would like to exercise their option to
raise. If they do, they may raise. If they do not, they will just check.
In a way, they are raising themselves. This OPTION only happens
during the first round.

The betting will continue until everyone in the pot has bet the same
amount. That means that whenever there is a raise all the players still
in the pot must call it, raise it or fold their hand. For example, if seat 5
raises then all the players behind him that want to stay in the pot will
have to call the new amount or fold or re-raise.

The Flop
The first round of betting is now complete. The dealer will burn the top
card and place it in the discard pile. When playing online, the
computer will place three cards in the middle of the table. In live play,
the dealer will do it. After every player at the table has acted and
placed the same amount in the pot or folded.

These 3 cards are known as the flop. These are the first 3 of 5
community cards (cards accessible to all players to use with their hole
cards) to be dealt face up in the middle of the table. These 3 cards
may be used by all the players in the game by combining them with
the two unique cards held in their own hand to form the best possible
hand.

The second round of betting begins with the player to the left of the
dealer (the person with button.) This player may CHECK, which is
deferring the first action to the next player or choose to bet. This
player may bet the minimum amount of the big blind ($10) or he may
choose to bet his entire stack or any amount in between.

The second round of betting is complete after every player at the table
has acted and placed the same amount in the pot or folded.
In the example, the big blind bets $25. Seat 5 calls $25 and raises
$75. Seat 7 calls $100 and re-raises $100. The big blind calls $175.
Once the betting is complete, each player will have placed $200 in the
pot. See picture above.

The Turn

The second round of betting is now complete.

The dealer will now place a 4th card in the middle of the table next to
the flop. This card is known as the turn or 4th street. This round of
betting will begin again with the player to the left of the dealer. If this
player decides to bet, he may bet the minimum of the big blind ($10)
or he may choose to bet his entire stack or any amount in between.
Just as with the flop, the turn card may be used by all the players in
the game by combining them with the two unique cards held in their
own hand, to make the best hand out of 5 cards only.

The third round of betting is complete after every player at the table
has acted. They will all have either, checked, placed the same amount
in the pot, or folded.
In the example, the big blind checks. Seat 5 checks and seat 7 bets
$200. The big blind and seat 5 call the $200. Once the betting is
complete, each player will have placed $200 in the pot. See picture
above.

The River

The third round of betting is now complete.

The dealer will now place a 5th card in the middle of the table next to
the flop and turn card. This card is known as the river or 5th street.
This round of betting will begin again with the player to the left of the
dealer. If this player decides to bet, he may bet the minimum of the
big blind ($10) or he may choose to bet his entire stack or any amount
in between. Just as with the flop and the turn, the river card may be
used by all the players in the game by combining them with the two
unique cards held in their own hand.

A player may use 5 of the 7 cards to make the best hand possible. It
may be the 2 unique cards in his or her hand combined with 3 from
the board (table where community cards are located) or 1 unique card
combined with 4 from the board or the 5 cards on the board. This is
called playing the board.

The fourth round of betting is complete after every player at the table
has acted. They will all have either, checked, placed the same amount
in the pot, or folded.
In the example, the big blind checks. Seat 5 checks. Seat 7 bets 200.
The big blind raises $300 by moving the remainder of his check stack
in. This is called moving all-in. Seat 5 folds and seat 7 calls $300. All
the remaining players (big blind and seat 7) have placed $500 in the
pot. See picture above.

Completion of Hand

The first person left in the hand to reveal his or her cards will be the
one that made the last bet during the 4th round of the hand. If no bet
was made and all the players checked, then, in order from the left of
the dealer to the last player will show his or her hand.

When a player has a better hand, it must be revealed in order to win.

If the player elects to throw the cards away because of it being of less
value than any other revealed hand, he or she may muck the cards. To
muck is to place the cards where they will be discarded.

When a player is sure that he or she is beaten, he or she may or may

not elect to show his or her hand. This is because it gives information
about what hand he or she held. The dealer will identify who has the
best hand and the pot will be given to this player.

Because the hand went to a showdown, the winning player has the
right to request to see the losing hand even if the losing player mucks
his hand.
In the example, the big blind reveals his hole cards to be the Ace and
King of Diamonds giving him the nut straight (sometimes called
'broadway'). Seat 7 turns over a pair of tens giving him a set of tens.
The dealer shoves the pot to the big blind because he won. See picture
above.

Interesting to note that when a player holds a pair in his hand and
makes three of a kind, it is called a set. When a player holds one card
and two of the same are on the board, the player has trips. Seat 7 had
the option to muck his cards as he had a losing hand (prevent others
from seeing his cards).

End of Hand and on to the Next

All cards are returned to the dealer. The cards are shuffled and/or
scrambled in preparation for the next hand. The dealer button is
moved one position clockwise, indicating the new dealers position. The
blinds are also moved one position clockwise and the blind bets are
posted and a new hand begins.
Poker Odds and Probabilities

The relative values of Poker hands were not just conjured up by some
rule maker or arbitrarily assigned by the first Poker players. They were
discovered through the use of permutation and combination formulas.
The exact number of possible five-card Poker hands in a 52-card deck
is 2,598,960.

These hands were divided into group (ranks) of : no pair, pair, three of
a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush and
royal flush. The ranks were then arranged in relative value according
to the frequency of their occurrence. The hands which can be expected
to appear most often have the lower rank; those which appear least
often the highest rank.

A good poker player must have a fair idea of Poker odds and
probabilities. Without such knowledge, he has no good way of deciding
on his course of action in the various situations which arise. That is, he
has no way of making a mathematical analysis on which to base a
decision. The tables that follow provide the information that will help a
poker player make an analysis.

These same tables can also be used to prove the relative value of
Poker hands and to settle disputes that arise regarding the chances of
drawing certain valuable hands in Five-Card Draw Poker or in the first
five cards dealt in any other form of Poker.

It would be simple if all one had to do to become a winning player was

to memorize the following Poker tables. Knowing the exact strength of
your hand or the exact chances of bettering your hand on the draw will
not always help you. Thats because the playing habits of your
opponents will often throw a monkey wrench into your best-laid
mathematical plans. Example: A big raise from a habitually tight
player means quite a different thing from the same big raise from a
drunk who has already been caught trying to steal (bluff) the last half-
dozen pots.

Although Poker is a game of skill, the judgments and decisions to be

made by even the average Poker player involve a general knowledge
of the game's probabilities.
The chances of being dealt any certain pat hand are the same,
regardless of the number of players in the game. The same hold true
in drawing cards to try to improve a hand. There are 2,598,960
different possible poker hands in a 52-card deck.

The following table lists the name of each different possible hand in
order of their rank. It also lists the possible number of ways each can
be made and the chances of being dealt such a hand in the first five
cards dealt. An example would be the original five cards dealt in Five-
Card Draw Poker before you draw.

Rank of Number of Possible Ways Chance of Being Dealt in

Hands Hand can be Made Original 5 Cards
Royal Flush 4 1 in 649,740.00
Straight
36 1 in 72,193.33
Flush
Four of a
624 1 in 4,165.00
Kind
Full House 3,744 1 in 694.16
Flush 5,108 1 in 508.80
Straight 10,200 1 in 254.80
Three of a
54,912 1 in 47.32
Kind
Two Pairs 123,552 1 in 21.03
One Pair 1,098,240 1 in 2.36
No Pair
1,302,504 1 in 1.99
Hand

TOTAL 2,598,960

In the chance column above, fractional figures have been carried out
to only two decimal places, since further extension would mean little.

The probability of being dealt a pair or better in the first five cards
dealt is almost even—to be exact, 0.499--- and the probability of being
dealt a no pair hand is practically the same — 0.501. So it's almost a 3
to 1 chance, when playing against two opponents, that one of them
will hold a pair or better in the first five dealt cards. The probabilities
vary slightly depending upon what you hold.
The 1,302,540 possible five-card no-pair hands are divided as follows:

POSSIBLE POKER HANDS OF LESS VALUE THAN ONE PAIR

Ace Counting King Counting High, Number of Possible No-

High Ace Low Pair Hands
Ace hgh King high 502,860
King high Queen high 335,580
Queen high Jack high 213,180
Jack high Ten high 127,500
Ten high Nine high 70,380
Nine high Eight high 34,680
Eight high Seven high 14,280
Seven high Six high 4,080

TOTAL 1,302,540

The lowest-ranking regular five-card Poker hand is comprised of

7,5,4,3,2 in mixed suits. The above table is particularly helpful to
players who play high-low variants of Poker. In the short run each
additional active player in the game increases the odds against you on
any particular hand. In the long run, since all players have to put an
equal sum into the pot, thus increasing the size of the pot in direct
ratio to the increased odds, it doesn't make much difference as far as
odds are concerned if you are bucking one or seven players. In High-
Low Poker, where aces count both high and low, the perfect low hand
is 6,4,3,2, and ace.

To simplify matters, the figures in the following two tables have been
rounded out when necessary to the nearest 1/2 or whole number.

Note that your chances of making four of a kind are three times as
great when drawing a pair minus a kicker than when holding a kicker.

Odds Against Improving the Hand in Draw Poker When

Drawing Three Cards to One Pair

Odds against any improvement 2.5 to 1

Odds against making two pairs 5 to 1
Odds against making three of a kind 8 to 1
Odds against making a full house 97 to 1
Odds against making four of a kind 359 to 1

ODDS AGAINST IMPROVING THE HAND IN DRAW POKER WHEN

DRAWING TWO CARDS TO A PAIR AND A KICKER

Odds against any improvement 3 to 1

Odds against making two pairs 5 to 1
Odds against making three of a kind 12 to 1
Odds against making a full house 119 to 1
Odds against making four of a kind 1,080 to 1

In fact, you have a better chance of improving your hand when

drawing three cards to a pair than when drawing two cards to a pair
plus a kicker. The tables above give ample proof of that. However,
good Poker playing demands that a player occasionally hold a kicker
with a pair so as to keep your opponents in doubt as to your playing
habits.

The odds against making a full house by drawing one card to two pairs
are about 11 to 1.

ODDS AGAINST CHANCES OF IMPROVING THE HAND IN DRAW POKER

WHEN DRAWING TWO CARDS TO THREE OF A KIND

Odds against any improvement 8.5 to 1

Odds against making a full house 15.5 to 1
Odds against making four of a kind 22.5 to 1

CHANCES OF IMPROVING THE HAND IN DRAW POKER WHEN

DRAWING ONE CARD TO THREE OF A KIND PLUS A KICKER

Odds against any improvement 11 to 1

Odds against making a full house 15 to 1
Odds against making four of a kind 46 to 1

These two tables above show that the best chance for improvement
with three of a kind is to draw two cards and not hold a kicker. Holding
a kicker increases the odds against the player for any improvement.

CHANCES OF ODDS AGAINST FILLING IN A FOUR-CARD STRAIGHT IN

DRAW POKER

Odds against making a straight open at one end 11 to 1

Odds against making a straight open in the middle 11 to 1
Odds against making a straight open at both ends 5 to 1

ODDS AGAINST FILLING IN A FOUR-CARD FLUSH IN DRAW POKER

The odds against making a flush by drawing one card of the same suit
are about 4.5 to 1. If you insist on drawing to a three-card flush, the
odds against your catching two cards of the same suit are
approximately 23 to 1.

ODDS AGAINST MAKING A STRAIGHT FLUSH IN DRAW POKER

When drawing one card to a four-card straight flush, which may be

open in the middle, at one end, or both ends.

Odds against making a straight flush open at one end 46 to 1

Odds against making a straight flush open in the middle 46 to 1
Odds against making a straight flush open at both ends 22 to 1

The odds against making a royal flush are the same as a straight flush
in similar conditions.

CHANCES OF HOLDING VARIOUS POKER HANDS IN THE FIRST FIVE

CARDS DEALT WHEN THE JOKER IS WILD MAKING A 53-CARD PACK

Rank of Number of Possible Ways Chance of Being Dealt in

Hands Hand can be Made Original 5 Cards
Five of a
13 1 in 220,745.0
Kind
Royal Flush 24 1 in 119,570.2
Straight
216 1 in 13,285.5
Flush
Four of a
3,120 1 in 919.7
Kind
Full House 6,552 1 in 437.9
Flush 7,768 1 in 369.3
Straight 20,532 1 in 139.7
Three of a
137,280 1 in 20.9
Kind
Two Pairs 123,552 1 in 23.2
One Pair 1,268,088 1 in 2.26
No-Pair
1,302,540 1 in 2.20
Hand

TOTAL 2,869,685

A very unusual mathematical situation arises in Joker Wild regarding

the relative value of three of a kind and two pairs. As you see above,
the chances of drawing three of a kind are one in 20.9 and the chances
of drawing tow pairs are one in 23.2. Since there is a better chance of
drawing three of a kind than two pairs the latter should be of a higher
rank and beat three of a kind.

This peculiar situation is caused by the fact that there are 82,368
possible five-card Poker hands that contain a pair plus the joker. When
a player holds one of these 82,368 hands he values his hand at three
of a kind, making the joker count the same denomination as the pair
he is holding. But if we should permit the two pairs to rank as a higher
hand than three of a kind, we would accomplish nothing; the playing
holding one of the 82,368 possible Poker hands containing a pair plus
the joker would use the joker or form another pair with the highest-
ranking odd card and would value his hand at tow pairs. This would
bring the total number of two pairs in a pack of 53 cards to 205,920
and the possible number of three of a kinds to 54,912. Under these
conditions, considering the relative value of both hands, three of a
kind must remain of higher value than two pairs.
There are two solutions to this. I give them here in case there are a
few players who may want to play a completely sound mathematical
game. If the following two rules are used they will mathematically
permit three of a kind to retain its higher value in relation to two pairs.
I did not incorporate either rule in my laws of Joker Wild in Scarne on
Cards because I have learned that you cannot change playing habits
that easily.

1. If a player has a hand containing a pair plus the joker, the joker
cannot be considered wild, and therefore carries no value
whatever; and the joker must be considered an odd card; or,
2. If a player has paired aces, kings, queens, jacks, tens, nines, or
eights plus the joker, he is permitted to rank his hand as three
of a kind. If he has a pair ranking lower than eights plus the
joker, he cannot value his hand at more than two pairs.

 
Legality 
It is clear that the United States government will go after any entity that tries to start 
an online 
casino or poker room if the entity is located in United States territory. However it is 
not clear what 
the legal status is on players playing online games in the United States on computer 
servers in 
foreign countries. This is the case with all the popular online poker sites. Some 
government 
officials have stated that there is nothing they can do about it because there are 
simply too many 
players and they cannot arrest a million people (or more) for gambling in their own 
homes (this 
includes sports betting and other casino games as well). However, whether or not 
the government 
will take any action on players, does not say anything about the actual legality of 
online poker. 
As of yet, there is no definitive answer whether or not online poker is legal. It is 
possible that in 
the future the legality will be defined more clearly, and it is useful to keep up‐to‐date 
when any 
news breaks. 
Although this section is about online poker, in no way am I claiming it as a legal 
activity nor am 
I suggesting that anyone go out and play online poker. That is up to the individual to 
make the 
decision for themselves. 
 
 
Ranking of Hands 

Pictured below are the hands of poker, listed in order from highest to
lowest.

Royal Flush
The five highest cards, the 10 through the Ace, all five of
the same suit. A royal flush is actually an ace-high
straight flush. The suit doesn't matter in poker. Two
people with royal flushes would tie.

Straight Flush
Any five cards of the same suit in consecutive numerical
order. Our example shows a five-high straight flush.

Four of a Kind
Four cards of the same denomination. Our example
shows four jacks with a deuce kicker.

Full House
Any three cards of the same denomination, plus any pair
of a different denomination. Ties are broken first by the
three of a kind, then the pair. Our example shows sevens
full of threes.

Flush
Any five non-consecutive cards of the same suit. Our
example shows a queen-high diamond flush.

Straight
Any five consecutive cards of mixed suits. Ace can be
high or low. Our example shows a six-to-ten straight.

Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same denomination.Our example
displays three of a kind, fours.
 Two Pair
Any two cards of the same denomination, plus any other
two cards of the same denomination. If both hands have
the same high pair, the second pair wins. If both pairs
tie, the high card wins. Our example shows two pair,
eights and fives.

Pair
Any two cards of the same denomination. Our example
displays a pair of nines. In a tie, the high card wins.

High Card
If no other hand is achieved, the highest card held wins.
In our example, the king of hearts is the high card.

 
 
Top Rated Pre Flop Hands 
 
Level 1- The top starting hands
• Ace-Ace
• King-King
• Ace-King suited
• Queen-Queen
• Jack-Jack

Level 2- Very strong starting hands

• Ace-Queen, Ace-Jack, Ace-10 all suited
• Ace-King
• King-Queen suited
• 10-10
• Ace-10, King-Jack, Queen-Jack, Jack-10 all suited
• Ace-Queen, Ace-Jack
• 9-9
• King-Queen
• King-10, Queen-10 suited

Level 3- Playable in most positions in a looser game

• 8-8
• Jack-9 10-9 both suited
• 7-7
• 9-8,8-7 both suited
• Ace with any other suited card
• King-Jack, Queen-Jack, Jack-10

Level 4- Decent hands best played sparingly and in a late position in a loose game if your
playing 'personality' will allow it
•Any low pair (e.g. pairs below 7)
•Connected suited cards, ie 8-7,5-4,4-3
•Ace-10, King-10, Queen-10
•King-9, Jack-8 suited

Hands not on the list are or for the most part, should be folded and only played where you have
an advantage over the other players.
For example: You are in the late position with no callers on the blinds or against known weak
players.

Starting Hand Selections

 
 
Reasons to Play Poker on the Internet 
There are many reasons for playing poker on the internet. 
1. You do not live close to a poker room 
Legal poker rooms are now all over America, but many people still live far from a 
poker room. 
Online poker is a nice solution for the people that do not have a chance to play poker 
on a regular 
basis in brick and mortar card rooms. 
2. Even if there is a poker room in your vicinity, you do not have to commute. 
Many players do live closer to a poker room but find that it usually takes a bit of a 
commute to get 
there. Even if you live fairly close to the casino, it may still take half an hour or more 
to get to the 
poker room, and even then, you may have to wait a bit before getting into a game. 
On the internet, 
there is no need to commute and the wait for a seat is typically much shorter than in 
a brick and 
mortar casino. Also, for those that are physically challenged and find it difficult to 
commute or go 
to a casino, playing poker online is an ideal solution. They will be able to play 
comfortably at 
home, whereas they may not be comfortable in a casino environment. 
3. There is no second hand smoke 
A few years ago, the state of California banned smoking in certain establishments. 
Casinos and 
poker rooms were affected by the new law and now there is no smoking in 
California poker rooms. 
Several other poker rooms across the country have also made this adjustment to 
non‐smoking 
poker rooms, such as the Bellagio in Las Vegas and Foxwoods in Connecticut. This is 
all great for 
the player. However, even if the poker room itself is a non‐smoking room, many of 
the 
non‐Californian casinos still allow smoking in other parts of their casinos. The 
smoke can often 
creep around in the air and find their way to the poker room. Since players are 
sitting down for 
long periods of time, they may be susceptible to the harmful effects of second hand 
smoking. Even 
worse are the poker rooms that do allow smoking. For those who are worried about 
second hand 
smoke, playing poker online is a healthy alternative. 
4. The rake may be lower online 
Many of the online poker rooms offer a lower rate per hand than brick and mortar 
casinos. They 
may still collect a higher rake per hour because typically they deal more hands per 
hour in an 
online poker room. This is a benefit to players as they get to keep a bigger portion of 
the pots that 
they win. The only situation where it may not be a benefit to players is in a situation 
like heads‐up 
poker where the rake is usually negotiable between the players and the poker room 
management 
but would not be online. 
5. There is no tipping online 
Tipping is a somewhat controversial topic. In brick and mortar casinos, a major part 
of the dealers’ 
income comes from tips. However tips do eat up on potential profits from the 
winning players, and 
it increases the losses for the losing players. Online poker requires no tipping, you 
cannot tip even 
if you wanted to. This means the winning players will make more money and the 
losing players 
can play longer, or at least play more hands. 
6. You can play any time of day 
Online poker rooms are 24 hours a day operations. If there are players, there are 
games. Once an 
online poker room reaches a certain critical mass, they will likely have games at all 
times of day 
at all limits. Not every site has this feature as they are not all that successful, but 
there are a few 
sites that have achieved this critical mass. This means players can play any time of 
day they feel 
like. This is great for many people, including morning people, people who work at 
night and can 
only play during the day and people who are nightowls that play in the wee hours of 
the morning 
7. You can play for a very short time if you prefer 
If you make the effort to go to the local poker room, you probably feel you should 
stay there for a 
while. Nobody likes to drive half an hour just to play a couple of minutes and then 
drive another 
half an hour to get home. This is different with online poker. You could play one 
round which 
may take as little as one minute, you could play for five minutes and decide to leave. 
This is a 
great option for all players, although it does make for a relatively high turnover of 
players at the 
online game compared to the brick and mortar game. 
8. There are easier ways to analyze your own play online 
Most of the online poker sites have an option where you can see your hand histories. 
This makes 
for analyzing your own play much easier than in a brick and mortar casino, where 
the only way to 
track your own play is to actually write every single hand down, this is simply not 
practical for 
most people, not to mention the tremendous effort it would take. Recently several 
people have 
developed software to help players analyze their game. It may be worthwhile to find 
out about 
these software programs to see if they can help you analyze your own game. 
9. There are easy ways to analyze the play of other players 
Many sites have a function where you can write notes on each player, and these 
notes are 
accessible the next time you are at the same table as those players. This is a nice 
feature that is 
unique to online poker. There are also software programs that allow for the analysis 
of other 
players’ games. These software programs can only look at the hands that your 
opponents played 
when you were in the game with them and not every game that they have played, 
but this could still 
be useful. 
10. More hands are dealt per hour online 
When players are paying attention, more hands are usually dealt per hour online 
compared to brick 
and mortar games. There is no need to wait for the dealer to shuffle, take in the 
mucked cards, 
collect the chips, make change, take the rake or time, get a rack fill, call for empty 
seats, settle 
player disputes and all sorts of other issues. For the player who plays with a positive 
expectancy, 
more hands per hour means a higher expected profit. 
11. Shorthanded games are easy to find online 
It is difficult to find a shorthanded game in a brick and mortar casino and when it 
exists, it may not 
last for long. Often these games will break up as most players do not usually prefer 
to play short, 
or they fill up to a full table when other players come in. Many online poker rooms 
have specific 
tables specially designed for those that like to play short, they may have heads‐up 
tables and/or 
tables where a maximum of six players can be seated. Shorthanded games mean 
even more hands 
per hour as fewer players have to make decisions. This could mean even greater 
profitability for 
the skilled shorthanded player compared to a full game. 
12. Players can play at more than one table simultaneously 
One of the great advantages of playing online is the ability to play more than one 
game at the same 
time. In a full game often there is some dead time as you watch the other players 
play out their 
hands. If you do not know the players, this is a useful time to gather information 
about how they 
play and use it in the future. However, if you are well versed in their abilities and 
styles, it can be 
boring just sitting at the table. In a brick and mortar casino, many people will take 
this time to chit 
chat with other players near them, get to know each other, discuss current events or 
eat a meal. For 
some players, their primary reason to play poker is for the social aspects, so they 
rather enjoy this 
time to talk with friends while playing the game, but online is a different story. Many 
players 
know each other online, and can hold interesting conversations, but it is different 
from a brick and 
mortar casino. Once you get done with all that stuff, sometimes it can get boring 
especially if you 
are dealt junk hand after junk hand and are constantly folding. This is why people 
like to play 
more than one table, to deal with the boredom. Instead of getting distracted by non‐
poker issues, 
they choose to play two or more games and keep all of their attention on poker. 
There are the 
obvious advantages, but also some not so obvious disadvantages. Playing multiple 
tables 
simultaneously is further discussed later in this chapter. 
Getting Paid and Bonus Hunting 
Since it is your own money at stake, it is your duty to make sure the poker site that 
you play at is 
trustworthy. You want to be able to expect to get your withdrawal check when you 
ask for it. With 
the huge increase in the popularity of poker in the last few years, and especially the 
huge increase 
in the popularity of online poker, many entrepreneurs have and will try to capitalize 
on this 
relatively new market. It is possible some of these new sites may actually go under, 
in which case 
it would be almost impossible for players to get their money out. How would you go 
about trying 
to get a few thousand dollars from an entity in one of the Carribean Islands whom 
you don’t even 
know the actual owners? That is one of the dangers of online poker, and it can be 
scary and very 
frustrating when the unthinkable happen. 
Poker players should take a lesson from their sports bettor brethern. The offshore 
sports betting 
industry has been around a bit longer than the online poker industry. The sports 
bettors have seen 
several very big sports books go under due to mismanagement, insufficient capital 
and outright 
fraud. All sportsbooks need clients in order to make money, in the effort to find and 
retain players, 
new sportsbooks need to give players an incentive to give them a try. They establish 
themselves 
and entice players to join by offering deposit bonuses. This can often lead to a 
business that seems 
to be built like a ponzi scheme. An example would be an offer of a 25% cash bonus 
on a deposit, 
but with some restrictions such as a five times rollover and a one month minimum 
period before 
making a withdrawal. A five times rollover in sports means that the player must bet 
their balance 
five times over before they are eligible to take a withdrawal. On the surface, this 
makes sense from 
the sportsbook point of view, because it is guaranteeing that they get some 
minimum action from 
the player. On the player’s side, he is thrilled to get 25% of his deposit as a bonus for 
just signing 
up and depositing. Their rationale is that since they are going to play anyway, why 
not get a bonus 
as an extra kick. 
As the sportsbook signs up more players, they start to get a reputation through the 
sports gambling 
forums and word of mouth. With deposits from new players, the sportsbooks have a 
steady stream 
of incoming cash flow, which means they will have plenty of funds to pay anyone 
that requests a 
withdrawal. This leads to even more confidence by players, especially those that 
take a 
withdrawal, because they will now feel more confident about leaving the rest of 
their money in that 
book since they already got paid once. It is logical to think if someone paid you once 
that they are 
likely to pay you again in the future. However, if the book does not do a good job 
managing the 
lines, they may start to lose to the sharp bettors. If the new deposits start to dry up 
concurrently, 
then it could lead to the collapse of the ponzi scheme. Now the book no longer has 
funds to pay 
everybody and sooner or later the customers will suffer. Yet players still think it is 
ok to give new 
sportsbooks a shot, because they believe in the “greater fool” theory. They believe 
they will be 
deft enough to get in and get out before the impending doom happens. This is a 
dangerous game 
which requires a lot of attention and calculation which most people cannot afford to 
take the time 
to do. Of course, poker rooms operate differently than sportsbooks, in that 
sportsbooks are playing 
against the customers directly whereas poker rooms are not. But these issues are 
still useful to 
keep in mind. 
Other than the vague legality issues, this is the biggest danger in the offshore sports 
betting 
industry, and all the experienced sports bettors have an understanding of these 
issues by now since 
most of them were affected by past collapses. The greed of the bonus hunting leads 
to the players 
losing their own deposits. This is a lesson to be learned for the upcoming years as 
more and more 
outfits try to take advantage of the online poker boom. 
Of course, there are still many reputable offshore sportsbooks, and many of the new 
poker sites 
may also be financially fit and well managed. However, from a player’s point of view, 
it is often 
difficult to identify which site one can trust with one’s funds, and which sites one 
cannot trust. 
Researching as much as possible is always recommended, but research alone may 
not always help. 
Often the sports sites will be backed with confidence from other people that you 
may think you 
trust. However it may be that those people are in on the scheme along with the 
book, or are paid 
by the book to promote them without doing the due diligence themselves. Planet 
Poker is a 
positive example of an online poker room that has the faces of two prominent and 
trustworthy 
people in the poker industry, Mike Caro and Roy Cooke. Similarly, Ultimate Bet with 
Phil 
Hellmuth and Annie Duke gives the players a sense of financial comfort. However, 
there has been 
at least one online poker room that went bust, even though it was promoted by one 
of the most 
famous names in poker. 
Be more weary of new startups unless you have a good reason to be comfortable. 
For example, 
several high quality sportsbooks that have been in business for many years and 
have impeccable 
reputations have recently created their own online poker rooms. These poker 
rooms will be safer 
than other brand new startups who are not attached to any other known entity. If 
you are 
comfortable with the financial status of the online sportsbook, and they are 
providing online poker 
as part of their business, then that is may be a safer place for your money than a 
startup online 
poker site with no link to an entity you trust. 
In order to reduce the hurt if one of these poker sites collapses financially, you need 
to be 
preparing ahead of time. You should constantly withdraw funds as your funds 
increase. Keep in 
mind a maximum dollar amount that you would be comfortable keeping at the site, 
and if your 
balance ever goes past that number, consider making a withdrawal request. 
Free Games Online are not very useful as a learning tool 
Online poker rooms and other internet sites will often offer games with fake or 
‘play’ money. 
These games are completely free, no risk no reward. It may be tempting as a new 
player to think 
of these games as a nice practice field. Unfortunately, they would not serve that 
purpose well at 
all. When playing in these games, it is human nature to play differently when it is 
free compared 
to when there is real money at stake. Players will not be afraid to call any bets, they 
will have no 
fear of calling raises and they are happy to bluff often. This is not what poker is 
about at all. The 
players in a free game do not have anything to lose, and most people will play 
accordingly. Poker 
is only poker when there is something at stake, where losing means losing 
something that has 
value to the player. Playing in the free games to get an idea of the mechanics of the 
game is useful, 
but not as practice for the real money play. It may actually do more harm than good, 
as you may 
get the wrong impression of how other players actually play when there is 
something real at stake. 
Pitfalls of playing online 
There are more pitfalls to playing online. There are many possible distractions you 
could have 
playing online poker that you would not have in a brick and mortar poker room. 
These distractions 
include surfing online, writing or reading emails, watching TV or even reading a 
book (hey, if you 
are playing online poker right now as you read this, STOP. Either play the game, or 
read the book, 
don’t do both!). If you know the other players well and are confident you know how 
they play, you 
may not lose much by focusing your attention elsewhere. However, even if you do 
know the 
players well, they may be playing a bit differently in this particular session than they 
normally do. 
Maybe one of them is slightly on tilt, having lost a few bad beats in a row. This may 
mean they 
are playing more aggressively on hands that they may normally not play at all. If you 
know the 
players well, it is still economically beneficial to pay as much attention as possible to 
the game. 
These distractions are all‐internal functions. It is your own discipline or lack thereof 
that will 
determine if you allow distractions to cause you to lose your focus. It is not 
something that anyone 
can tell anyone else to do. It is all up to each player individually. 
Many brick and mortar poker rooms will allow players to read magazines or 
newspapers while 
sitting at the table. It may seem like one is just as likely to get distracted when 
playing poker 
online as playing poker in a brick and mortar casino if you are allowed to read at the 
table in both 
places. There is a big difference between the two however, in that when a major 
occurrence 
happens in a brick and mortar casino, you will often hear the players talking about 
it. Even if you 
are reading, you can hear the commotion and you will lift your head up to see what 
is going on. 
The online poker rooms do not have this system. The noise level will be the same 
whether or not 
there is a major bad beat or any other interesting issue going on. 
Advantages and Disadvantages of playing multiple games simultaneously 
Some players like to play more than one game at a time. On one hand, playing 
multiple games 
simultaneously may be good in that it forces players to focus completely on poker. 
On the other 
hand, one game can be a distraction to the player over the other game. If you are 
involved in a 
hand in one game, you will not have the chance to examine the play of the hand in 
the other game, 
and that may mean you could miss some important details about how the other 
players play. In 
playing multiple games online, you need to weigh the benefit of getting expectation 
from two 
games at once versus the negative of possibly losing some expectation from each 
individual game. 
The advantages of playing multiple games simultaneously are obvious for winning 
players. 
Although you may reduce your win rate at each table, your overall win rate could 
increase. If your 
win rate at each of these tables is at least half of your normal amount at only one 
table, then you 
are actually making more money playing two tables simultaneously. If you are 
playing at three 
tables at the same time, then your win rate at each table would have to be at least 
1/3 of the win rate 
at one table. This seems like a good deal to most players, and it is a good deal for 
those that can 
keep their win rate above those levels. Spend the same amount of time playing 
poker and make 
more money, who wouldn’t want that? However, for losing players, they will just 
lose their 
money at a faster rate. Another way to view multiple tables is to play at a lower limit 
at each table, 
whereby the total expectation may be the same as playing at just one table with 
higher limits. The 
reason this may be useful is that a player may be able to get the same expectation 
out of multiple 
lower limit tables, but gain the advantage of reducing variance. In other words, they 
get the same 
reward for less risk through diversification. 
In full games, good players will not be involved in as many hands as the average 
player. This 
means you will not often find yourself involved in two hands at the same time and 
so you can 
devote most of your concentration on the table where you are involved in a hand. 
For some players, 
it would seem that they would not lose that much edge playing two full games. Since 
their win rate 
would have to slip to less than half of the win rate at one table, it would benefit them 
to play two 
full games at once. The poker rooms prefer this because it means they can collect 
more rake. The 
poker rooms will have several players playing two games at once, and that may 
mean spreading 
one or two or even more tables than they would if players could only play one game 
at a time. This 
is a big advantage that online poker rooms have over their brick and mortar 
counterparts. Playing 
two tables may alleviate the boredom, and actually steer you away from doing other 
things that are 
harmful to your concentration, such as checking out internet sites, listening to the 
radio, or writing 
a book (that’s a joke folks). So playing multiple tables may actually cause you to 
concentrate more 
on each individual table than you would if you were only playing one table at a time 
and fooling 
around on the side. The bottom line though, is that if you are a winning player, and 
do not lose too 
much edge from your normal win rate, playing more than one table is a nice boost to 
your 
profitability and/or a nice reduction of risk.. 
However, there are disadvantages also. It is harder to concentrate on each table, and 
you may miss 
some juicy pieces of information. When playing poker online, the players flit in and 
out of the 
table at an incredibly fast rate compared to brick and mortar casinos. It is all too 
easy to miss the 
fact that the table composition has changed drastically, and instead of a loose table, 
now the table 
is made up of a few more tight players or vice versa. This may lead you to act 
inappropriately with 
some hands. 
Playing two or more shorthanded tables makes it even tougher. You need to 
concentrate more on 
shorthanded games since it is even more important to have a good handle on how 
each player plays. 
Also, if a bad, loose player leaves the table and is replaced by a solid, tight player, 
that changes the 
characteristic and the composition of the whole table since one player in a 
shorthanded game 
makes up a much higher percentage of the table than one player does in a full game. 
It is too easy 
to be caught in the situation where a solid player has replaced a loose aggressive 
poor player and 
you do not notice it until after you have acted. In shorthanded games, you will be 
involved in 
hands more often than at a full table, this means if you are playing two shorthanded 
games at the 
same time, you will have a higher chance of being in a situation where you are 
involved in hands 
at both tables simultaneously. This is not nearly as much of a concern in the full 
table games as in 
the shorthanded games. Another problem is playing one shorthanded game and one 
full game 
simultaneously. You may find yourself to be too aggressive in the full game and not 
aggressive 
enough in the shorthanded game. 
Playing multiple games online will seem like playing a video game at times. For 
many younger 
players who grew up in the video game age, this will enhance the experience of the 
game and make 
it more fun, although not necessarily more profitable for everyone. These players do 
not have a 
problem with the fast changing screens or the action as they are used to it from their 
experience in 
video games. For older players who are not used to video games, it may be tougher 
for them to 
adjust. 
Overall the advantages of playing two full games will outweigh that of playing one 
full game for 
most winning players. As for losing players, unfortunately, playing multiple games 
will only 
allow them to lose their money at a faster rate. If you have a good handle on some of 
the players 
at each table already, it would add a lot to your advantage. However, in shorthanded 
games, it is 
prudent to stick to one game at a time, because you will need more concentration 
and you will be 
more likely to be involved in hands at both tables. 
Stack Size and Pot Size Online 
In online poker, you can easily see how big the pot is and how many bets the other 
players have left 
in their stack, whereas in a brick and mortar poker room, sometimes this is difficult 
to do. People 
often have both of their hands and arms on the table, as well as water bottles and all 
sorts of other 
foreign objects. The player may not be actively trying to hide their stack size, but it 
may just be 
circumstantial that you did not realize how many chips he actually had. This can 
sometimes affect 
how you play the hand. For example, if you knew your opponent had been losing 
and was down 
to just a couple of bets left, you may feel that he will play looser and more aggressive 
just to get 
all‐in and get the pain over with. This happens fairly frequently and these situations 
are very easy 
to identify online but a bit more difficult to notice in the brick and mortar casinos. If 
you do not 
notice he is close to going all‐in, you may miss the fact that he may be playing more 
aggressively 
than normal. Also a player could have a large denomination chip along with the 
other chips. So 
it may look like he is short stacked when in fact he is not. 
Another situation where seeing the stack size is helpful is when you expect a player 
is going to go 
all‐in and you want to use him by manipulating his bet for your own purposes. For 
example, you 
are first to act in a three player pot. You have a hand you think is strong, but is 
vulnerable to draws. 
You would be happy to have a player going all‐in to your right. If you are first to act, 
you can 
check, hoping the second player also checks. When the short‐stacked player bets 
and goes all‐in, 
you can raise and make it more expensive for the second player to draw out. If the 
short‐stacked 
player acts first and bets out while going all‐in, you can now raise even if you are not 
sure if you 
have the all‐in player beat, since the portion of your raise will be in the side pot. In 
an online poker 
room, you will have no problem seeing that the player has gone all‐in, while in a 
brick and mortar 
casino, you may not realize it until after you have acted. 
Seeing the pot size in exact dollar amounts is helpful in case you were not counting 
the pot size as 
this book recommends, but do not use it as a crutch if you also play in real casinos as 
well. This is 
because the counting of the pot as the bets go into it is extremely useful to your play 
in a full brick 
and mortar game. You can make better and faster decisions if you do not have to 
stop and take 
time to count the pot. While playing poker online you can allow the software to add 
up the pot size 
for you and make decisions from that information. However, if you are going to be 
playing poker 
both online and in a brick and mortar casino, your mind will get lazy and stop the 
good habit of 
counting the pot as each hand is played. So you may not find yourself at a 
disadvantage while 
playing poker online, but then see that you are at a disadvantage when playing in a 
real casino. 
One benefit of seeing the pot size online is when you are playing multiple games 
simultaneously. 
It will be difficult to count the bets going into the pot when you have to concentrate 
on two 
different games, so having the ability to see the exact pot size at any time becomes 
very useful. 
Players play more aggressively online 
From my experience, it seems that the average player plays a bit differently than the 
average player 
in a brick and mortar casino. The main differences are: 
1. Players will raise more often 
2. Players will bluff more often 
3. Players will semi‐bluff more often 
4. Players will bet for value more often 
5. Players will call more often 
In general, it seems that the average player online plays much more aggressively 
and expects other 
players to play much more aggressively as well. Why is this? What is it about online 
play that 
makes the average player play differently? 
Here are some possible reasons: 
1. There are more younger players online 
It is a fact that younger people are more apt to use the internet than older people. It 
is also probably 
true that younger people on average are more aggressive and take more chances in 
life, as well as 
in poker. Since you are likely to see a higher percentage of younger people (and by 
younger 
people, I mean those in their 20s or 30s) playing poker online rather than in brick 
and mortar 
casinos, thus you are likely to see a lower percentage of older people playing poker 
online. That 
could explain why online games are more aggressive in general. 
2. Ambiguity can lead to increased aggression and suspicion. 
When players do not see each other face to face, it makes it easier for them to play 
aggressively 
against each other. It also makes it easier to be more suspicious of other players. In a 
brick and 
mortar casino, you can see all the players, and for some reason, that face to face 
interaction makes 
some players less apt to bluff. Maybe they feel bluffing is like stealing and is not 
socially 
acceptable. Ambiguity also leads to suspicion. If players do not know or see their 
opponent, 
players may become more suspicious that their opponent is doing something 
underhanded, which 
may mean bluffing. Thus players are more apt to call in an online game. 
3. The money feels less real when it is online. 
In a brick and mortar casino, players have to buy their chips with cash. They hand 
the cashier or 
the dealer cash in exchange for casino chips. There is a belief that it is easier for 
players to take 
more chances with chips than they would with actual cash, as it feels less like real 
money. 
Extending this thought further, it is also easier for players to take more chances with 
cyber‐cash 
than chips or cash. However way the player funded their online account, the cash in 
their accounts 
will feel a bit less tangible. Because of this, players are willing to take more chances 
when playing 
poker online. This leads to more aggressive play. 
Fluctuations will be a lot higher than in a brick and mortar poker room 
Online poker players will see much higher profit and loss fluctuations than they 
would if they 
played in a brick and mortar poker room. Here are some reasons why: 
1. The average online poker player plays more aggressively than the average brick 
and mortar 
poker player, as discussed in the previous section. 
2. There are also more shorthanded games online than in brick and mortar poker 
rooms. Naturally, 
shorthanded games have a higher fluctuation than full table games because all the 
players are 
involved in more hands. 
3. More hands are dealt in the same time period online. 
There are more hands played per hour online, so the results will look much more 
extreme. 
For the purposes of evaluating fluctuations, you want to compare full table games 
between online 
and brick and mortar. The correct way to compare the results is to measure them in 
terms of the 
number of hands played. It does not make much sense to use an hourly rate because 
online players 
may get twice as many hands as brick and mortar players. That means you can fit 
roughly two 
hours of equivalent brick and mortar play into one hour of online play. 
If you want to compare a shorthanded online game to a full table brick and mortar 
game, then you 
have to adjust for two new factors. The first is that shorthanded online games get 
dealt even more 
hands per hour than full online games. The second is that players naturally play 
more aggressively 
and loosely in shorthanded games. Both factors will increase the fluctuations of all 
players. 
When the extreme fluctuations are on the upside, meaning that player are winning, 
no one 
complains. The sky is sunny, everyone is having a good time, life is as it should be. It 
is when the 
extreme fluctuations are on the downside that players start to complain, wondering 
why they have 
such bad luck, cursing the computer and then wondering if there is a conspiracy 
against them. 
They start to wonder maybe the other players are colluding, maybe someone has 
hacked into the 
software and the opponent can see all the cards or the future board, maybe the site 
is rigged to 
make the poor players win and the good players lose, maybe, maybe, maybe. In 
times like these, 
it is important to be strong and not give into the urge to put all the blame on 
everything and 
everyone else. It could be that you were playing poorly that day or you just had a 
string of bad luck, 
or a combination of the two. These fluctuations will happen in poker and they will 
happen with 
greater extremes in online poker. It is at this point that some players enter the 
internet poker 
forums claiming they were cheated at certain sites. The phrase to remember in your 
head for times 
like these is “If the suckers don’t win once in a while, they would never come back.” 
So go take 
a break from poker for a few minutes, hours or days, as long as you need. Get your 
head cleared, 
and come back when you are ready to play without anger or any negative emotions. 
Just because 
the computer is there does not mean you have to play every day. 
Deception is less useful in online poker 
In online poker rooms where many people play, the turnover rate at each table will 
be pretty high, 
in fact, this may include you as well. This does not happen in brick and mortar 
casinos since it is 
tougher to get into another game, and players are there physically with not much 
else to do except 
play poker. This difference in the turnover rate means players should use deception 
less when 
playing online. 
In brick and mortar poker, sometimes it is useful to use a bit of deception with 
starting hands in 
order to throw off some of the observant players, players you may encounter on a 
daily basis. In 
most games, even brick and mortar games, players will not be that observant, but in 
tough games, 
it may be worthwhile to use this strategy occasionally. This strategy translates even 
less to online 
poker and should be used even less frequently. When the turnover rate is so high, as 
it usually is 
online, it means your opponents will not be as observant. Since they are less 
observant, on average, 
this means that deception has less value. 
Automatic Buttons and Online Tells 
The automatic buttons can be useful as you may not want to wait until the action 
gets to you to tell 
the computer what you want to do. If an automatic button is clicked on, your action 
of folding, 
checking, calling, betting or raising will appear to be instantaneous after the player 
in front of you 
acts. This can be a nice feature if you are playing in more than one game. A good 
time in 
particular to use it is if you have a starting hand that you know you will fold no 
matter what the 
action is in front of you. Thus, clicking on the Check/Fold button will tell the site to 
fold your hand 
once the action gets to you. This may allow you to concentrate more on another 
game and the 
computer screen will not flitter back and forth between the two games when it is 
your turn to act. 
In this instance, there is no advantage or disadvantage in the play of the hand, since 
you have 
decided to fold regardless of the action by the other players. 
The automatic buttons online can sometimes be used to your advantage but be 
aware that other 
players may be watching for clues about your hand based on how you quickly you 
bet. Sometimes 
players can determine how strong another player’s hand is by how fast they act. 
Players with 
strong hands will often have the “Raise” button clicked on where they are telling the 
site to raise 
no matter what happens. Sharp players can pick up on this, so when they see 
someone raising 
immediately when it is their turn to act, sharp players may consider it as an 
indication that the 
raiser indeed has a strong hand. This would be an online tell. Each player is an 
individual and will 
have his own patterns. Be on the lookout for these patterns as it may become useful 
in a pot down 
the line. 
Technology is a wonderful thing, but you still have to watch your back 
I was sitting alone in a 10/20 table at one of the online poker rooms that did not 
have much high 
limit action. Normally, the highest limit game was only 5/10 at this site and it was 
rare for a 10/20 
game to get started. However since this poker room was attached to an online 
sportsbook, there 
was always the chance that someone would show up using his funds from the 
sportsbook account. 
Usually these players were not experienced playing poker and were just checking 
out the poker 
room to gamble. I had the table up on the computer while watching an NCAA College 
basketball 
tournament game and did not think about it as I watched game. 
As luck would have it, a player sat down at the table and I was alerted by a beeping 
noise on the 
computer. I went to the computer and started playing heads‐up with the player. 
Unfortunately for 
me, I actually knew the player from previous games. I knew he was a solid player 
and not one of 
the possible pushovers that I was hoping for. After a few hands, it was quite clear 
that neither of 
us had much of an advantage over the other and it was probably not worth playing 
any more since 
the rake is relatively high in heads‐up games. In this heads‐up game, the button had 
to put up the 
small blind while the other player put up the big blind. He was the first to quit, and 
after his hand 
on the button, he sat out of the game. Then an interesting thing happened. He 
quickly sat back in. 
I had expected he would post the big blind this time and I would get the button and 
post the small 
blind. But instead, the button moved back to his seat, and he posted the small blind 
instead. Since 
I had the “Auto Blind” button clicked on, the computer posted my big blind 
automatically. Boy, 
was I mad! I had put up the big blind two hands in a row against the same opponent, 
and I did not 
have the button on either hand. I was about to leave the table, when I thought 
maybe I could try the 
same thing, and get the button in consecutive hands. I played the next hand with the 
button and the 
small blind, and in the hand after that, I sat out and came back in. To my delight, it 
worked! The 
button came right back to me and the site prompted me to post the small blind. 
Apparently the 
other player did not realize what had happened because I kept up the same routine 
and took the 
button for at least 20 straight hands. Finally, he sat out and it became clear to him 
what was going 
on. What was shocking to me was that this sharp player did not realize it earlier. 
Maybe he was 
also playing another game and did not realize what was going on. I was laughing my 
head off at 
the situation since I was getting the advantage over him on every hand. 
After thinking about it for a night, my conscience got the better of me and I felt a 
little ashamed of 
my actions. I decided I would try to make it up to him if I ever saw him again. The 
next day, I saw 
the same player at another online poker site. He had the same screen name and it 
was obvious it 
was the same player. I told him who I was and offered to give him the chunk of my 
winnings in 
that session. He was clearly upset and he refused my offer. He threatened to go to 
the site and 
notify them about my transgressions. After that, there was nothing more I could do 
as he was 
declining me the chance to make it up to him. Oh well. The moral of this story is that 
you should 
always be alert and know the rules and the quirks of each individual site. You need 
to make sure 
you are aware of everything so you are not taken advantage of, like this poor fellow 
was. 
Using 4­Color Decks 
If there is an option to use a 4‐color deck in the online site you are playing on, I 
recommend that 
you do so. These decks have different colors for each suit, typically blue for 
diamonds and green 
for clubs. If you are playing more than one game at once, it may help avoid confusion 
in seeing a 
flush that may not actually be there. It will also help in seeing possible flush draws 
on the board. 
The different colors make recognizing the cards just a bit easier. 
Different results at different sites 
As mentioned in a previous section, fluctuations in online poker can be higher than 
in brick and 
mortar casinos. If you play at a few different online sites, this may cause some 
interesting results. 
It could look like you are killing the players at one site, but are getting killed by the 
players at 
another site. You may start to think that generally players at one site are much 
better than players 
at another site. Although it is likely there is some difference in skill among the 
population of 
players at different sites, the difference in general skill is probably not very large. 
For the most 
part, the fallback opinion should be that the difference in profits and loss is a result 
of randomness 
and luck, good luck at one site, bad luck at another. Due to the large fluctuations at 
online poker, 
this can easily happen. If you ask those that bet sports you will find a similar 
situation. Some 
sports bettors seem to make money hand over fist at one online sportsbook but 
cannot beat another 
online sportsbook. They are constantly trying to transfer money out of one account 
and into the 
other. Often they will think that the book they are losing to is extremely sharp, and 
maybe they 
should not bet there anymore, but typically the true reasons are fluctuation and 
luck. 
With that said, there still may be some logical reasons for these differences in 
winnings other than 
plain luck, here’s a list of these possible reasons. 
1. The site you are winning at has worse players in general and the one you are 
losing at has better 
players. As I mentioned before, I do not think the difference in skill level is large, but 
it can still 
exist. 
2. You are playing in shorthanded games at one site and in full games at another. 
Your game fits 
one better than the other. 
3. You are being cheated at the site you are losing on. 
4. There is a software glitch or quirk at the site that you are losing on and someone 
else has figured 
it out 
We can control reasons #1 and #2. It should not take too much effort and 
concentration to 
determine if either of these issues is the case. If you are indeed a good player, you 
should be able 
to identify the weaknesses of other players, and your opinion of the quality of the 
players at the 
different sites should be valid. If you notice that you are playing in shorthanded 
games at one site 
and in full games at another, then you may want to think about whether your game 
is more suited 
for one than the other. Maybe the aggressiveness and the fast play of the 
shorthanded games do 
not fit your style. Maybe the patience that is needed at a full table is something that 
you lack. 
These issues we can control and make adjustments for. 
It is reasons #3 and #4 that we would have problems with and have little control 
over, and that is 
discussed in the next section. 
Cheating, Collusion and Software glitches 
It would be nice if there was a world where everyone is honest and all games are on 
the up and up. 
Unfortunately, where there is money, there are people trying to scam it. This is 
something that 
everyone should be aware of. 
Cheating 
I would not be concerned with outright cheating online, either by players or by the 
site operators. 
In a brick and mortar casino, this may be a concern. Maybe a dealer is in cahoots 
with some of the 
players. Maybe a player has marked some of the cards in the deck. Of course these 
issues are not 
concerns in the online atmosphere. 
Collusion 
Collusion is something that many of us worry about. We worry about other players 
seeing their 
friend’s cards and using that information to take advantage of us. This may take the 
form of two 
players playing side by side, exchanging the information on their hands through the 
telephone or 
through an instant messenger. The best way to be protected from collusion is by 
playing at a fair 
online site. Online sites have access to the hand histories of every player. If there is a 
good 
management team, they can review the hand histories of players when there are 
complaints. This 
means they can catch those that collude if the play is obvious given the hands that 
are shown. But 
it is probably not possible to catch everyone, so we all need to watch out for this 
possibility. 
Software glitches 
Is it possible that a site has a software glitch where some smart computer 
programmer can 
re‐engineer their system to the point where he may have some inside information? 
Maybe these 
smart programmers can know with some precision what the Flop will bring. Maybe 
they have a 
way around the software to be able to figure out some of their opponents’ hole 
cards. These are 
scary thoughts, and although they may not be probable, it would not be outside the 
realm of 
possibilities. There is no proof that a person or a group is doing this, but that does 
not mean it is 
not being done. Of course this is a conspiracy theorists’ dream, or nightmare, 
depending on how 
they are looking at it. The truth is that there are many players making money 
steadily in online 
poker, playing the cards, the odds and the opponents. This fact alone should comfort 
most except 
the most ardent conspiracy theorists. Coincidentally, these conspiracy theorists 
usually are not 
good poker players. I leave it up to the individual reader to determine if this is an 
issue they think 
is important for themselves. 
Disconnections 
Players can get disconnected from their internet connection sometimes. It can 
happen because of 
a real disconnection or it could happen when a player tries to take advantage of the 
system. Most 
sites have an all‐in rule where the disconnected player is considered all‐in even 
when they still 
have chips on the table. Players who try to take advantage of the system will 
purposely disconnect 
their internet connction in the hopes that they get to see a free showdown. They do 
not want to 
invest any more money into the pot so they do not want to call any bets or raises. 
However they 
still think there is a chance they can win so they purposely disconnect themselves so 
the system 
can put them all‐in and they still have a chance to win the main pot. Oftentimes you 
can tell when 
a player is messing around or not. For example, if the board is K‐9‐A‐T‐7 with no 
flush possibility 
on the Turn, and a player who got disconnected on the Turn shows 43 on the River, 
it would be 
obvious that the disconnection was a genuine one. However if the board shows K‐9‐
A‐T‐Q, and 
the disconnected players’ hand is J9, then maybe he tried to take advantage of the 
system because 
he did not want to have to call on the Turn with an inside straight draw. Players who 
try this are 
a real pain to all the other players. Not only is it a form of cheating, but it also really 
slows down 
the game as the system will wait the requisite time for the player to act and he is not 
even there 
anymore. 
Compared to brick and mortar poker rooms 
Internet poker opens up some new forms of cheating but it also reduces some other 
possible ways 
of cheating that can exist in brick and mortar poker rooms. I believe that cheating in 
the modern 
day poker rooms is quite rare, but I would not completely discount it as an 
impossible feat. The 
forms of cheating that may be possible in a brick and mortar poker room but would 
not be possible 
online include marking cards, crooked dealers in cahoots with other players, 
switching cards, 
holding out cards, front loading (seeing other players’ cards as the dealer deals 
them), and 
sneaking a peek at another player’s cards. Everyone likes to talk about the 
possibilities of getting 
cheated online, but it seems no one discusses the other forms of cheating that are 
completely 
eliminated when playing poker online. 
Taking Notes Online 
Many poker sites have a method where you can keep notes on your opponents. This 
is a very 
useful tool that every player should take advantage of. Taking notes in live play is 
useful too, but 
it is not as necessary because the mind has an easier time with forming opinions 
about players 
when there is facial recognition. If you have not played with a particular opponent 
for several 
months in a brick and mortar casino, you still stand a good chance of remembering 
roughly how 
the player plays. This is more difficult to pick up while playing poker online because 
there is no 
facial recognition. It is harder to associate a name with the qualities of the person 
than it is to 
associate a face with the qualities of the person. So using the notes tool that is 
provided by many 
poker sites should help. 
Here are some of the types of notes that you should be taking on your opponents: 
How loose or tight do they play pre‐Flop? 
How loose or tight do they play after the Flop? 
How aggressive or passive are they? 
Will they bet when it seems like their edge is small or will they check? 
Do they check raise often? 
Do they semi‐bluff raise often or do their raises need to be given a lot of respect to? 
Do they often cold call raises in shorthanded games? 
Do they three bet from the small blind situation when a late position player open 
raises or do they 
just call? 
How often do they defend their blinds with hands that do not warrant it? 
The answers to these questions are useful to know. If you have taken notes on a 
player, the next 
time you encounter the player at the table, you would immediately be able to take a 
look at your 
previous notes and have a better idea of how he plays. 
 
 
Starting Hands by Position

Some starting hands are so strong they can be played in any position.
You don't get these hands very often, but when you do, you are
generally a favorite from the get-go to win that pot.

Playable Hands in Early Position

The following table shows that we recommend playing any pair of 7's
or higher in early position, as well as the twelve suited and six
unsuited card combinations.

Pairs

• 7's through Aces

Suited

• Aces with a king, queen, jack, or 10

• King with a queen, jack, or 10
• Queen with a jack or 10
• Jack with a 10 or 9
• 10 with a 9

Unsuited

• Aces with a king, queen, jack, or 10

• King with a queen or jack

Playable Hands in Middle Position

When you are the fifth, sixth or seventh player to act, then you are in
middle position and can safely play smaller pairs like 6's and 5's. You
can also add ten additional suited hands and four more unsuited
combinations to your playable repertoire if the pot has not been
raised.

Cards added to the early position's playable hands are italicized:

Pairs

• 5's and 6's through Aces

Suited

• Aces with a king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, or 6

• King with a queen, jack, 10, or 9
• Queen with a jack, 10, 9, or 8
• Jack with a 10, 9, or 8
• 10 with a 9, or 8

Unsuited

• Aces with a king, queen, jack, or 10

• King with a queen, jack, or 10
• Queen with a jack or 10
• Jack with a 10

Playable Hands in late Position

In late position you have the advantage of acting last or next-to-last.

As a result, you can add a variety of hands to your arsenal. Most are
bargain basement specials; however, they should be played only if the
pot has not been raised. Moreover, you should be disciplined enough
to release them if the flop brings anything less than an abundant
harvest of friendly cards.

Cards added to the middle position's playable hands are italicized:

Pairs

• 2's , 3's and 4's through Aces

Suited

• Aces with a king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4,3,or 2

• King with a queen, jack, 10, 9, 8 ,7, 6, 5, 4, 3, or 2
• Queen with a jack, 10, 9, 8
 • Jack with a 10, 9, 8, or 7
• 10 with a 9, 8, or 7
• 9 with a 7 or 6
• 8 with a 7 or 6
• 7 with a 6 or 5
• 6 with a 5
• 5 with a 4

Unsuited

• Aces with a king, queen, jack, or 10

• King with a queen, jack, 10, or 9
• Queen with a jack, 10, or 9
• Jack with a 10, 9 or 8
• 10 with a 9 or 8
• 9 with a 8 or 7
• 8 with a 7

If you are new to the game, have been playing indiscriminately, or

have an any-two-cards-can-win philosophy, you may believe these
recommendations are too tight. They're not. In fact, they are
somewhat loose.

A hand like K 2 while playable in late position is a pretty sorry

excuse for a Hold'em hand. If you flop a king and there's any
appreciable action, it's fairly apparent that someone else has a king
with a bigger kicker than yours. If you flop a 2, you've guaranteed
yourself the lowest pair on board. Even if you are incredibly lucky and
flop a flush, there's no assurance that it is the best flush. Probably the
very best flop you could hope for is something like A 2 2 , which
gives you three deuces with a strong kicker. You also have three cards
to a flush, and while the odds against catching two more hearts are
long indeed, it is an additional way to win. Players call this a backdoor
draw. More importantly, an ace on the board guarantees a call or two
from any opponents holding an ace in their hand.

Still, K 2 and a lot of the other playable hands in late position are
vulnerable from any number of directions, and it takes some degree o
skill to navigate your way through the murky waters of a Hold'em pot
in a rickety canoe like this one.

 
General Texas Hold’em Tips 
 
Hold 'em Danger on the Flop

When you're check-raised on the flop, be prepared to surrender often

unless your hand has promise. It's tempting to bet aggressively when
checked into and you hold a fairly weak hand. Betting is okay, because
you might win the pot now, or you might win the pot against other
opponents with similarly weak hands, even if they call. But a check-
raise can mean trouble. It's tempting to call, because the price is
cheap considering the amount of money already in the pot. But figure
it's going to cost a lot more money to chase your opponent to the
showdown. Unless you're against a tricky and sophisticated opponent
who often check-raises as a bluff, pass. You'll save money.

Hold 'em Starting Hand Rankings

In order to determine the rankings of hold 'em starting hands (from

best to worst); you must consider the number of opponents. A pair of
eights will do better against fewer opponents, but speculative hands,
such as JC 10C, do better against many opponents.

Exploiting No-Limit Weakness

Suppose you're playing heads-up, no-limit freeze-out. If you're playing

perfectly, expect to win more consistently against an opponent who
plays too tight than against an opponent who plays too loose.

Hold 'em Suits

Many players underestimate the value of same-suit starting cards in

hold 'em. While it's true that flushes will only comprise a small portion
of the hands you finish with, they comprise a large portion of the
hands you win with. Here are two powerful rules for measuring the
power of suited cards: (1) The larger the ranks, the less important it is
that your starting hand is suited, because high ranks often win in other
ways; (2) The fewer the number of opponents, the less important it is
that your starting hand is suited, because it doesn't usually require
great strength to beat a few opponents.

Small Pairs from Early Position in Hold'em

My computer simulations and other analysis suggest that most hold
'em players will not make a profit with pairs of deuces, threes, and
fours for their lifetimes. There is an argument that these hands are
worth playing in very loose games, but I'm not sure. You need to be
very selective. When you have one of these small-pair hands in an
early position, it's tough to anticipate how many players will come into
the pot if you just-call the big blind. Will you be raised? There's lots to
think about. I believe it's often OK to call after many players have
called already, but it's more risky to gamble from an early position in
anticipation of a lot of callers. And you often need many callers to
justify the odds of playing a small pair and hoping to make at least
three of a kind.

Remember, in addition to not knowing what your opponents will do,

you'll be in an inferior position -- having to act first -- on all future
betting rounds. You have to think about what's wrong with a pair of
deuces. One bad thing is that occasionally you can catch a third deuce
while someone with a pair of, say, sixes catches a third six. Obviously,
you'd rather have these hands reversed. And if a big pair hits the
board and two pair beats two pair, it's not going to be your two pair
that wins. Also, these small pair often end up having absolutely no
value! That happens when two bigger pair hit the board. If the board
contains two kings and two fives, then an opponent with two sixes has
kings and sixes, while you -- holding a pair of deuces -- have a
worthless hand and must play what's on the board.

All things considered, I advise most hold 'em players to usually fold
small pairs in early positions.

The Terrible Truth about Deuces in Hold 'em

Even if you play all the way to a showdown in hold 'em, if you start
with a pair of deuces, the odds against you catching at least one more
deuce among the five board cards is 4.2 to 1. You'll only succeed 19
percent of the time. When you consider that you're unlikely to win
without seeing a third deuce, that you might lose -- often at some
expense -- even when you do see one, and that it will probably cost
you considerably more money to get to that last river card, you can
understand why a pair of deuces is usually unprofitable to play in hold
'em

More Bad News for Hold'em Small Pairs in Early Seats

As you may know, I teach that it's usually wrong to call the big blind
early with small pairs, such as 2-2, 3-3, and 4-4. Many things work
against these hold 'em hands, such as (1) you can make three of a
kind and lose to a larger three-of-a-kind, (2) if you get lucky enough
that your pair might matter, a bigger pair (or bigger two-pair when
there's a major pair on board and your second pair isn't large enough)
might beat you, and (3) two bigger pairs might show up on the board,
leaving you with essentially no hand at all.

But if this argument -- and the simulation of millions of hands which

I've done by computer -- doesn't convince you, here's some more bad
news: You usually can afford to call a single raise after you call the
blind with a small pair, but not a double raise. So, if you call, and
there's a raise, and then there's a re-raise, you should usually fold.
But in folding, you're surrendering a first bet without any shot at the
pot whatsoever.

When I talk to people who are trying to analyze whether these small
pairs are profitable in an early position, they seldom mention the fact
that you might have to throw the hand away without seeing the flop.
So, even if you can argue that the small pair is a close decision
without the forced-to-fold factor, it is not a close decision when that
factor is correctly considered. Once again: Seldom play small pairs
from an early position, unless you're in a very loose game with very
timid opponents who don't raise aggressively AND you can outplay
those opponents on later betting rounds.

If you never play these small pairs at all from early seats, you won't
be sacrificing much.

In Hold'em, It's Usually Better Not To Raise From the Big Blind

When many opponents just call my big blind, I'll seldom raise unless I
have a powerful hand. Intermediate strength is seldom enough to
justify my option to raise from the big blind position. That's because
I'll need to act early on all future rounds of betting, giving all or most
of my opponents a positional advantage. Unless I have real strength, I
will usually accept a free look at the flop. You should, too.

Beware Of Bunched Aces in Hold'em

I call this the "bunching factor." It has nothing to do with poor dealing,
though. If you're playing 10-handed hold 'em and the first seven
players have folded before the flop, there's a better-than-usual chance
that the few remaining players hold aces. Why? It's because when
opponents fold, it's more likely that they folded something other than
aces. This means that statistically there are more aces left that could
appear in the few remaining hands. While this isn't an overwhelming
statistical factor, it is significant enough that you should be more
selective about the hands you raise the blinds with from the button
(dealer position) when everyone else has folded than you would be if
the deal began three-handed! This "bunching factor" applies to other
games, too -- especially draw poker.

Seldom Re-raise As the Big Blind in Hold'em

First, you need to know that I frequently re-raise as the big blind when
an aggressive, blind-stealing-type opponent raises in the small blind
after everyone else folds. I don't need a very strong hand to justify
that re-raise, because even if I'm beat by a mediocre hand, the re-
raise gives me psychological leverage to add to my positional
advantage. Remember, I'll get to act last on all betting rounds. But in
all other circumstances, while you should vary your play, and you can
certainly sometimes justify re-raising when you're in the big blind
position, usually you'll make more money by waiting to see the flop.
Among the many reasons for this, these important ones come to mind:

1. If the small blind isn't involved in the pot, you will have the
disadvantage of acting first on all future betting rounds.
2. With all but aces and, perhaps, kings, the strength of your hand
is not usually defined until after you see the flop. You really don't
know if it is strong or weak. Unlike stud games where your
strength often changes slowly, one card at a time, the three-card
flop strongly defines your hand in hold 'em. Although your cards
may be strong enough for you to believe that you have a
likelihood of having the best hand, that edge is usually not
enough to justify a re-raise and risk facing yet another raise
from a rare hand that might truly dominate you. This is
especially true because of your poor position.
3. Why announce that you have a fairly strong hand if you don't
have to? The very tiny edge of pushing a hand you think might
be slightly better than your opponents' hands is often
overwhelmed by the fact that you are giving away information
unnecessarily. Of course, this show of strength can sometimes
 work in your favor (and you CAN use it deceptively with weak
hands), but it is more likely to work against you by chasing away
weak callers and the long-range profit they might supply on
future betting rounds. If you just call, opponents will think you
might have anything, from very weak hands to moderately
strong ones or better. You keep your options open on future
betting rounds, and you can fold more easily, having invested
less, if the flop disappoints you.

For these reasons and others, I recommend usually not re-raising in

the big blind with moderately strong hands, except when isolated with
only the small blind.

How Good is King-Jack Offsuit in Hold'em?

It depends on the type of game.

Much of the modern literature ridicules the play of king-jack offsuit and
similar hands that might be dominated. The truth is that in very
conservative games, these hands are unprofitable from early positions
and when calling an early position raise.

Still, king-jack ranks high on the list of hands you might be dealt at
random and even average players in loose games frequently make
money with it overall. I know that statement is shocking to most
advocates of tight entrance requirements, but it's the truth.

Why is king-jack a winner, when many books say that it will usually be
dominated by ace-king, king-queen, ace-jack? It's because real-life
players are out there indiscriminately playing hands like king-7, jack-
5, and who knows what else. The net effect is that king-jack often
dominates more than it is dominated, and under command of a skillful
player it definitely earns a profit. I'm not taking rakes into
consideration by making this claim. But it's definitely true that, in a
seat-rental game, king-jack offsuit at a loose table has a long-range
profit expectation in many situations, even though players are
traditionally ridiculed for playing it.

I do agree that inexperienced players are safer not playing the hand,
because they're likely to end up not knowing what to do after the flop.
Beyond that, I believe the value of king-jack in loose games is widely
underestimated.
The Difference Between Aces and Kings in Hold'em

In hold 'em, you hear a lot of talk about aces and kings being the
ultimate hands. That's true, but don't be too quick to put them in the
same category, as many players do. A pair of aces before the flop
logically belongs in a category all to itself.

Here's how often each hand wins against nine opponents holding
random hands when everyone stays to the river...

A-A = 31% (21 percentage points higher than a fair share)

K-K = 26% (16 percentage points higher than a fair share)
what really makes the difference is that, when you consider actual
betting strategy, A-A is much more likely to gain extra bets and to
stay out of trouble. For this reason, in the hands of a professional, A-A
can be almost twice as profitable as K-K overall in a full-handed game.
That's something to keep in mind

Hold'em: Chasing a Flush with a Pair On Board

When you begin with two suited cards and flop two more -- meaning
you need to catch one more of that suit on the 4th (turn) or 5th (river)
cards, it's often correct to continue to pursue the pot. So, if you start
with Kh-Jh in a fixed-limit game and the flop is 7 -A -4 , you
probably should call (and sometimes even bet, partially for deceptive
purposes).

But if there's a pair on that flop, such as 10 -10 -7 , you should often
fold. Why? It's because the flush attempt is usually only marginally
profitably (on average) without the pair present. The increased
chances of you making a flush only to have it beat by a full house
when a pair is present often makes the pursuit unprofitable.

That's why, if you think the pursuit of the flush would only show a
small profit without the pair, you should almost always fold with the
pair present. Rare exceptions might involve times when you can use
the presence of the pair to bluff or to posture

 
Review of Online Poker Sites and Poker Informational Sites 
 
Online poker is a new industry and that means changes occur very quickly. There 
are new online 
poker sites all the time and informational sites. Instead of listing these sites in this 
book, I will 
have a page on HoldemBrain.com with information on online poker sites and poker 
informational 
sites. If one is going to play poker or look up informational sites online, one will have 
to go online 
anyway, so make a pitstop at HoldemBrain.com to check out current reviews.