Читать книгу The Poker Player Game Strategies for Beginners - Art Stovall - Страница 6

CHAPTER 1

WINNING FUNDAMENTALS

An Analogy

The greatest boxer of all time understood the rules for engagement of his trade. He trained before every fight in which he was a participant; and he was victorious in the majority of them. During his training he learned the rules for engagement of his trade and applied them with every fiber of his being. He always followed the boxers’ rules of engagement, which were bobbing, weaving, punching and rope-a-dope. He bobbed and weaved when he was under attack and rope-a-doped when he was being bombarded. He punched when provided the probability of a positive outcome. Although he failed to prevail over his toughest opponent the first time around, he continued to follow the rules of bobbing, weaving, punching and rope-a-dope. Because he never stopped following the rules of his trade, he was able to prevail over his toughest opponent the second chance around. Following the “rules of poker as a player” is similar to the great boxer’s strategy of using the rules of the fight game. When under attack from an opponent and you do not know what to do, I employ you to think about bobbing, weaving, punching and rope-a-dope. The greatest boxer consistently looked for the opportunity to catch his opponent off-guard and when the timing was right, throw a knockout punch, thus increasing his chances for the best probability of a positive outcome.

Basic Fundamentals

One basic fundamental is the casino always sets the rule for the “Blind”, meaning Poker is a structured game. The Blind is determined by the casino and are “forced bets” to start the action (for example a $1.00 or $2.00 in chip are placed on the table by each of the small and big blind participants); then player and gamblers make additional bets if they are so inclined. The next basic fundamental of playing the “Poker player’s” game, is where the player and the gamblers, each receive two cards dealt faced-down; these two cards are referred to as your “Pre-flop” starting cards. After a round of betting three cards are dealt faced-up in the center of the table and referred to as the “flop”. After another round of bets, a 4th flop-card is dealt faced-up and referred to as the “turn-card” and is also followed by another round of betting and/or raising the bet. The 5^th and last flop-card, which is dealt faced-up, and is referred to as the “river-card” is then followed by the final round of betting and/or raising the bet. The faced-up cards in the center of the table are community-cards. They are used by the player and the gamblers in conjunction with their two starting cards to determine if chips should be put in harm’s-way pending the turn-card. A player may use any five-card combination from the community-cards and their two pre-flop cards initially dealt them starting the hand.

The player with the dealer’s button is the last to receive cards during the initial deal and has the right of last action after the first round of betting. After a deal ends, the button moves clockwise to rotate the last action advantage. Required blinds (bets) are then posted by the next two players to the left of the dealer’s button. Blinds are posted before the two pre-flop starting cards are dealt, one at a time to the player and gamblers. The first blind is the small-blind, which is the person to the left of the dealer’s button and the second blind is known as the big-blind, which is the person to the left of the small-blind. The two blind positions are required to invest chips as an initial stimulus package and to initiate bets before the community-cards are flopped.

According to this concept the player has the advantage over a gambler as a fictional chip manager at the poker table. This book presents an analysis of the basic fundamentals of the “poker player’s” game for the beginning “player”. The “poker player” game is laced with strategic deception, intimidation and intrigue for the thrill seeker. There are 11 seats at the poker table, of which one is for the dealer; the other 10 positions seats are for each participant at the poker table. There is a little round white disk that is referred to as the dealer’s button, which means if it is in front of you, the dealer is dealing for you; in poker, a designated dealer works for the “player”. When a “player” is on-the-button, he is officially “in-position”; this is the best position for a player, because he/she can hide behind the button and bet aggressively against gamblers in an attempt to force them out of the game and take their chips without much risk to their own chip stack.

Both participants to the left of a player on the button are identified as in the blind. The person in the seat next to button’s left is referred to as the small-blind position. The next person to the left of the small-blind is in the big-blind position. When the button moves from the dealer to the first seat to its left, the next seat become the small-blind, and the seat that was the small-blind, now becomes the big-blind. This rotating process of the button continues (going clockwise around the table) and repeats the same process from the button to the small-blind to the big-blind around the table whenever there is a new deal. If the poker odds favor your position, the most important rule of engagement is to attack your opponent’s chip stack from any of these seating positions. The player knows it is wise to keep his eyes on the button, because it identifies when you are in-or-out-of-position.

The attempt here is not to remake the wheel or even compete with the wisdom of the professionals who have written many poker books for professional poker players. This book is different from any you will find in the bookstores about the “poker player”. The information presented in this book for the beginning player is unlike any you will find in any other poker books. First there are no secret or complex strategies just simple easy to follow rules, listed in the order in which they should be applied. The second most important thing about the ‘rules of engagement’ is that the player should never put his chips in harm’s-way unless the conditions for contact represent the best probability for a positive outcome for the player. In other words, do not attempt to make something happen that is not predictable to happen for you.

The difference between gamblers that play the “poker player” game is that the player is the best chip manager over the long run. The player who manages his/her chips is in opposition with gamblers who are attempting to reduce the player’s chip count. The gambler’s main objective is to decrease the player’s chip count and use the chips to force the player to reinforce his chip level, and thus bust him out of the action. Defending against a gambler’s ambush requires patience, focus, and timing on the part the “player” in order to stay in the game and achieve predetermined profit goals.

There are four major concepts in this book that set it apart from other poker playing strategies. First is the concept of a player playing the “poker player’s” game as a chip manager! Second is the concept of timing and rhythmic processes. Third is how a player knows whether he is in-or-out-of-position by the best two pre-flop starting cards he is dealt; and whether he should put chips in harm’s-way in defense of these two cards. Forth is the concept that suggests dropping pre-flop false intelligence is a strategy. This outcome is achieved by playing pre-flop starting cards in-position, which are the starting cards that should be played out-of-position only. Players will endeavor to play for all practical purposes, nine-ten, suited or unsuited in an attempt to get lucky, but quickly discard these two cards if that turns out not to be the case.

When players of the “poker player” game are dealt aces, kings or queens, the best two starting cards in-or-out-of-position, then the player should go into appropriate aggressive betting mode with their chips in defense of their pre-flop starting cards; after all, it is about the two starting cards and if they are worthy of defending with chips. An example of when not to expose chips to harm is when a player out-of-position and is dealt an ace-king suited the best two pre-flop starting draw cards. Players should only use chips to defend these cards in-position, unless doing otherwise offers the best probability of a positive outcome. The button is the best position to defend or go on the offensive with in-position starting cards, even when three to five opponents are first to act, you have the pleasure of withdrawing or enduring an attack from behind the button. If the attack requires a response, then the response has to be equally aggressive, thus, mounting an equal aggressive attack against the opposing gambler. The idea is to drive the opposing gamblers from the action, thereby surrendering their chips for the taking. On the other hand, if the opposing gambler attacks and takes away the probability of a positive outcome for the player; the player should quickly withdraw from the action. After all, the player is there to protect his best two pre-flop starting cards, because to a player it is not about chips, but honor. This move gives the impression that the player is weak or afraid of losing his chips. However, attacking from the out-of-position with in-position draw cards only, such as ace-king, is a strategy of deception and a key concept for players. This deceptive move allows them to win more chips than are lost and this strategy should not be under estimated.

Finally, the basic concepts of card accumulations for winning combinations are from best to worst, as follows:

a.Royal flushes,

b.Straight flushes,

c.Four of a kinds,

d.Flushes,

e.Straights,

f.Three of a kinds,

g.Two pairs,

h.One pair, or

i.The best two high cards.

These winning combinations are respectively listed in the value of face cards: aces being the highest and deuces being the lowest.