Poker Dictionary

Ace-High: A hand that only has an ace as its highest card. This hand has no pairs, straights, or flushes.

Aces Up: Two pairs when the higher pair is aces. If a player has a pair of 8�s and a pair of Ace�s, he would say he has aces up.

Action: The act of putting chips into a pot. If a player makes a large bet and a lot of players call or raise, the player is getting a lot of action.

Active Player, Active Hand, Active: Players who are still in contention for winning the hand. If six players are at a table and four fold, there are two active players.

Add-On: When a tournament allows players to buy additional chips at a set point during the tournament. If a player pays for more chips to add to his current stack, he is buying an add-on.

Advertise: When a player makes a deliberate move early in the game to convey a specific image. If a player plays a bad hand to showdown in order to give the impression that he is very loose, he is said to be advertising.

Aggressive: A playing style that describes players who bet and raise large amounts during the hand. An aggressive player doesn�t necessarily play a lot of hands, but he does bet a lot in the hands he does participate in. If a player raises the pot before every flop he sees, the player is aggressive.

Alabama Night Riders: Three kings.

All-In: When a player bets all of his chips on one hand. If a player makes a great hand and bets the rest of his chips, he is all-in. The option to bet any amount and go all-in is the key distinction between limit and no-limit Texas Holdem.

American Airlines: Another term to describe a pair of aces, usually when they are the two down cards.

Angle or Angle Play: When a player seeks out a way to gain an edge over his competition. If a player is pretending he is acting like he will raise a player�s bet to scare him away, he is using an angle play.

Ante: The forced amount that all players must put into the pot before the hand begins. Some games use blinds, some use antes, and others use a combination of both. (See: Blinds)

Baby: A small card like a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. If you have a pair of 4�s, you have a baby pair.

Backdoor: A hand that requires the fourth and fifth cards on the table. If you need two consecutive spades after the flop in order to complete your flush, you have a backdoor flush draw. (See: Runner-Runner)

Backing Into: While playing a certain hand, unintentionally completing a better hand. If you flop a straight, and then while playing that hand you catch a flush, you backed into the flush.

Bad Beat: When you lose to a statistically worse hand. If only two cards will complete your opponent�s hand and he catches one of them, you will suffer a bad beat.

Bankroll: The money that you have to play poker with. The size of your bankroll has a major impact on what stakes you can play. If you have a $1,000 bankroll, you cannot play $100-$200 limit poker.

Belly Buster: When a player has four cards of a straight but needs a card in the middle of the straight to complete the straight. For example, if a player has 8d, 9h, Jc, Qs, he is on a belly buster straight draw (he needs the ten).

Bet Blind: When a player makes a bet without even seeing the next card. After the flop, the player to the right of the dealer can bet blind before the next card is even turned over. This is also known as betting in the dark. You can also check blind.

Bicycle: A popular slang term for using the Ace as a low card. For example, if the ace was used with a 2, 3, 4, and 5 to form a straight.

Big Blind: The larger of two forced bets made to the left of the dealer to ensure betting on every hand. The big blind is the player to the left of the small blind.

Big Slick: Being dealt Ace-King at the beginning, one of the strongest starting hands you can get.

Big Bet: In limit poker, the larger of the two possible. If the game has a $5-$10 limit, $5 is the small bet and $10 is the large bet. Big bets are allowed after the fourth card is turned over on the table.

Blinded Out: Being forced out of a game by the forced blinds.

Bluff: When a player pretends to have a strong hand in order to win the pot even when he doesn�t have good cards.

Board: The community cards, or the cards everyone can use, turned face up on the table.

Boat: A full-house. Also known as full-boat

Bottom Pair: A pair of the lowest cards shown on the table. For example, if a 5, 7, 8, and Q are on the board, and you have a pair of fives, you have the bottom pair.

Broadway: A straight with the Ace as the highest card: 10, J, Q, K, A.

Bullets: A pair of aces.

Busted Hand: When a player was drawing to complete a hand but failed. If you hold four spades after the flop, but no more spades appear, you hold a busted hand.

Bust: To run out of chips or money.

Button: The small disc that travels around the table to indicate who is the dealer for the hand. This player is also the last one to act in every betting round after the flop, which means it�s the best positioning to have at the table.

Buy-In: The amount of money that a player spends to play a certain poker game.

Buying The Pot: Placing a huge bet to scare everyone into folding.

Calling Station: A nickname given to a player who seems to call bets all the time, even when they don�t have a great hand.

Calling Someone Down: When a player just calls every bet made by a player to avoid getting re-raised. This is done when a player wants to stay in the hand but has a marginal hand.

Cards Speak: At the end of the hand, the winner of the hand is the one with the best cards regardless what verbal announcement he makes.

Chasing: Waiting for a card to be dealt that will complete your hand.

Check-Raise: When a player checks to fake weakness only to raise the pot when it is his turn again. Players use the check-raise to trap players when they hold good cards.

Check Blind: Same as betting blind. Checking before you even see the next card. Same as a check in the dark.

Coin-Flip: When two hands are statistically even (or close to it) and the winner will be based on luck.

Cold Deck: A deck that has been arranged by cheating players to con honest players out of their money.

Community Cards: The cards that are turned face up on the table and can be used by any of the players in the hand. (Same as the board.)

Cowboys: Kings.

Dead Money: Money put into the pot by players who have folded their hands.

Deuces: A pair of 2�s.

Double Belly Buster: When two different cards can complete a hand. For example if you have 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, either a 3 or an 8 will give you a straight. This is also known as a double gut shot.

Down Cards: The two cards that are dealt face down to each player at the beginning of every hand.

Draw: When a player holds a hand that still needs cards to be complete. If a player is holding four spades, but needs a fifth spade for a flush, that player is on a flush draw.

Drawing Dead: When a player holds a hand that cannot possibly win against an opponent�s hand, no matter what remaining cards are dealt.

Ducks: A pair of 2�s.

Early Position: The first players who act in each round of betting. Players acting in early position must be pickier about what cards they play.

Easy Money: Money won from new, inexperienced, or untalented players.

Expected Action: A prediction about what moves a player will make later on in the hand. If you are thinking about making a bet, but you expect another player will raise you, you are taking an expected action into consideration.

Exempted Outs: Cards that can be dealt that will improve your hand, but will help other players more. If you hold AsKs, the Ad would improve your hand, but if there were already 3 diamonds on the table, it is likely that the Ad is an exempted out (because it helps someone make a flush).

Face Card: A jack, queen or king.

Family Pot: A hand where many people are involved in the action.

Feeler bet: A small bet made to get an idea of what the other players are holding.

Fifth Street: The fifth and final card turned over, also known as the river.

First Position: The first person to act in a round of betting. This is the worst positioning to have. Before the flop, the first position (to the left of the big blind) is also known as under the gun.

Fish: A bad player that is easily beaten. These players are either new to the game or are simply poor players. The opposite of a fish is a shark. You want to be the shark.

Flop: The first three community cards simultaneously turned over by the dealer.

Flush Draw: When a player holds four cards of a certain suit and is waiting for a fifth suited card to complete his flush.

Fourth Street: The fourth community card turned over, also known as the turn card.

Freeroll: A poker tournament where players are not forced to risk any money to play, but are able to win real money or prizes.

Full House: A poker hand consisting of three of a kind and a pair. Also known as a full boat.

Garbage Hand: A bad hand to be folded quickly.

Gorillas: A pair of kings.

Grinder: A poker player who plays tight but wins consistently.

Gutshot: An inside straight draw. (See: Belly Buster)

Heads Up: When all but two of the players have been eliminated and the game is being played one-on-one.

High Card: When the winner of a hand is determined by whoever has the highest card. This only occurs when no players have a pair or better.

Hit: When a player who is on a draw catches a card that completes his hand, he hits his card.

Hit And Run: When a player plays for a short time, wins a big hand, and then quickly leaves the room. This is looked down upon by most poker players.

Hole Cards: The two face-down cards dealt to all players at the beginning of the hand, also known as the pocket cards.

Hooks: Pair of Jacks

Implied Odds: When calculating pot odds, making assumptions about future action and incorporating that information into your decision. For example, if you have a flush draw after the flop and a player makes a bet. It is reasonable to assume that if you complete your hand, you will be able to increase the size of the pot to maximize your winnings.

In The Dark: Making a move before you even see the next card. See also: Bet Blind and Check Blind.

Jackal: Slang term for a player who makes erratic, unexplainable bets and raises. Jackals are also known as manics.

Kicker: The card that is used to break ties when two players have the same hand or high card.

Lady: A queen. A pair of queens is usually referred to as ladies.

Late Position: The players who are not forced to act until the other players have already acted for that specific round of betting. Late position is preferable to early position.

Limit Poker: A type of poker that sets specific betting limits on the players.

Limp In: Only calling the blinds, and not raising the pot. This usually encourages other players to raise the pot.

Live Hand: A hand that can still win because it hasn�t been folded and isn�t drawing dead.

Lock: A hand that is a sure win, also known as the nuts.

Loose: A playing style where players play a lot of hands. Loose players don�t wait for premium hands before the flop to play. These players are the opposite of tight players.

Loose Calls: When bad players make the wrong decision to call you when you have a better hand.

Main Pot: At the beginning of every hand, all chips are placed in the main pot. If a player goes all-in and there are other players still in the hand, a side pot is formed. The player who is all-in is only eligible to win the money in the main pot.

Manic: A wild, reckless player who will play as many pots as possible and bets big and unpredictably.

Monster: An extremely good hand.

Motown: When a players hole cards are J-5, derived from Jackson Five.

Muck: To fold your hands by throwing them face-down into the pile of folded cards without showing the competition.

No-Limit: Variation of poker that has no limits on how much money can be spent. At any point in time, any player can bet all his chips on a single hand.

Nuts: The best possible hand at any given point in time.

Nut Flush: The flush including the Ace of the flushed suit.

Off-Suit: When two cards are not of the same suit.

Open, Opener: The first person to bet in a round of action.

Open Ended: A straight the can be completed with a card either higher or lower (i.e. you have 6,7,8,9 either a 5 or a 10 will complete your straight.)

Outs: Possible cards that can be dealt that will give you a winning hand.

Outdraw: When you beat an opponent based on the cards that you draw, not your own ability.

Overcard: A card higher than any card on the board. If the board reads: 4, 7, 9 and you hold K, 5 you�re holding one overcard (K).

Over pair: When you have a pocket pair that is larger then any of the cards on the table. If you hold pocket queens, and the flop comes 10, 4, 8, you have an over pair.

Over The Top: Raising another person after they have raised you.

Over-Betting The Pot / Over-Bet: Making a bet that is too large considering the size of the pot. If you bet $100 to win a $2 pot, you are over-betting the pot.

Paint: Face cards.

Passive: A player who doesn�t like to bet or raise much. These players will call, but are not aggressive with their play.

Pocket: The two face-down cards dealt to all players at the start of the hand, also known as the hole cards.

Pocket Pairs: When the two pocket cards form a pair.

Position: A players spot at the table relative to the dealer button and when they have to act. Early position is one of the first to act. Late position is one of the last to act.

Position Bet: A bet made more on the power of the player�s position than on the strength of their hand.

Pot Committed: Staying in a hand against logic because you have already bet too many chips to fold.

Pot-Limit: Variety of poker where the bet cannot exceed the size of the current pot.

Pot Odds: A risk/reward ratio for a poker hand. If you are on a nut flush draw, odds against you winning are about 5:1. If there is a $20 bet to call and the pot is $140, you are getting 7:1 on your money if you hit. These are profitable pot odds, so you should make the call.

Presto: Pocket fives.

Pre-Flop: Action that takes place before the flop comes out.

Prop Player: A player who earns money for playing at certain tables as decided by they poker room or casino.

Protecting The Blinds: When a player in the big blind calls a raise because he has already put money into the pot.

Pulling The Trigger: Going all-in with a hand when you are the short stack.

Put Them On A Hand: Guessing what a player is holding without seeing the cards based on their betting patters.

Quads: Four of a kind.

Rabbit Hunt: Turning over the last card even after everyone has folded out the hand and someone already won the hand.

Rake: The money that a poker room or casino takes from every pot as profit.

Ran Down: When one loses a lot of chips in a hand to an inferior hand with a lucky draw.

Read: When you can tell what a player is holding based on his behavior and betting.

Reagan: When you are dealt 3-9 as your pocket cards.

Re-Buy: When a tournament allows you to buy more chips even after you have been eliminated from the game.

Represent The Flop: Betting as though the flop strengthened your hand.

River: The fifth and final card dealt out on the table.

Rock: A very tight player.

Rockets: A pair of aces.

Run: When a player begins to win several hands in a row and has momentum working for him. Also known as a rush.

Runner-Runner: When a player has to catch two specific cards in a row in order to make their hand.

Scare Card: A card that could complete an opponents hand and make his cards stronger than yours. For instance, let�s you have pocket Kings and the flop comes out: 8, A, 10. The Ace is a scare card because someone with an Ace will now have a better hand than you.

Set: Three of a kind.

Semi-Bluff: When a player makes a bet to win the pot with a mediocre hand or draw.

Semi-Connectors: Cards that are separated by one card. 7 and 9 are semi connectors.

Short Man Table: When the table that table that you are playing at has had some players eliminated leaving less than the normal amount of players.

Short Stack: The player at the table with the fewest chips.

Shorthanded: When a table has less than 6 players remaining.

Showdown: At the end of the hand, after all the action is over, when the players turn over their cards to determine the winner of the hand.

Side Pot: The pot used to hold bets after a player has already gone all-in. The remaining players put their bets into a side pot that the all-in player is ineligible to win.

Slow Play: Playing a strong hand like it was weak in an effort to entice other players to make large bets.

Small Blind: The smaller of two forced bets to ensure betting on every hand.

Smooth Call: When a player calls a bet even though his hand is strong enough to raise with. This is to trick the opponents into thinking his hand is weak.

Split Pot: When two players have hands of equal value, the pot is split and each player gets an equal amount.

String Bet: An illegal move by players to place chips into a pot, then put more in a moment later. Instead players must put their entire bet in at one time or call out the amount of their bet before they put any chips into the pot.

Suited Connectors: Two sequential cards that are of the same suit (examples: 8h, 9h or Js, Qs).

Table Talk: Chatting with opponents to intimidate or confuse them.

Tell: A signal, habit, or mannerism that tells other players at the table the strength or weakness of your hand.

The Nuts: The best possible cards for the hand. You have the nuts when no hand can possibly beat yours.

Tight: A player who doesn�t play a lot of hands. These players are the opposite of loose players.

Tilt: An emotional state where players act irrationally because they are upset about the game or a previous hand.

Trap: When you play so another player bets when you have the stronger hand.

Trips: Three of a kind.

Turn/River: The last two cards dealt after the flop.

Under The Gun: The first person to act in the hand before the flop. This person is directly to the left of the big blind.

Value Bet: A bet made to increase the size of the pot, but not scare weak opponents away, when a player has a solid hand.

Verbalizing: Stating to yourself the reasoning for a certain move.

Wheel: A straight using the ace as a low card: A, 2, 3, 4, 5.

How What You Say at the Poker Table Can Triple Your Profits!

Editor's note: Mike Caro is generally regarded as being today's foremost authority on poker strategy, psychology, and statistics. In his books, videos, and seminars, his unique method of communication has earned him the title "Mad Genius of Poker," or "America's Mad Genius." He is the founder of Mike Caro University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy.

Recently I was playing a shorthanded hold'em game at Commerce Casino. I flopped an ace-high flush. My conversation as my opponent started to bet and then hesitated was playful and went something like this: "Don't go betting that hand into me. What if I have a flush? Oh, you are betting? I might be trying for the biggest flush in the history of poker. I might already have it. I might have a pair of sixes. Nope, it's a pair of jacks. Anyway, I call."

Sounds like babble, right? But it isn't. Every word, my inflection, my tone of voice, my brief pauses for reaction - everything - were carefully gauged to elicit a tell and to put me in a position to manipulate the action. No, I don't expect everyone to be able to duplicate what I do. I'm the best there's ever been at manipulating opponents. I wish I hadn't written that last sentence, but there's no way to take it back now. I don't like to boast about my poker skills, and I feel bad because it happens so often.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. You don't need to completely master the psychology of poker conversation to be rewarded. You just need to understand the basic truth. That's what we're talking about today - not the specifics of what to say, but why it's important to say the right things.

Don't Annoy Your Foes

Many people hear about my reputation for using hard-core psychology and manipulation in poker, and assume that I talk a lot at the table. They're wrong.

Some players are annoying to play against because they're always babbling, whether they're in a hand or not. Many opponents resent this incessant chatter. The unwelcome talk demands their attention and makes it difficult to ponder things that are not poker. You see, your opponents often wish to evaporate within their own thoughts. Then, time passes for them. They sometimes wish to brood over bad losses. Time passes. They sometimes wish to escape poker hell when the cards are making everyone else happy. So, they daydream. And time passes.

What you shouldn't do - what you must never do - is deny your opponents the chance to escape into their own minds. You want happy opponents who are willing to lose their money to you without feeling the same pain they feel when losing to more strident opponents. The less it hurts them to lose money to you, the more money they will lose to you. That is something I constantly keep in mind when I'm playing poker. It's so important that I'm going to repeat it. The less it bothers your opponents to lose money specifically to you, the more money they will give you.

They Don't Mind

Now let's talk about constant babbling at the table. There are times when everyone is friendly and engaged in conversation. That's fine. I often join in. But there are other times when most players are withdrawn and absorbed in their thoughts. When they're not in a hand, I try not to bother them. What's important is to talk to them when they are involved in a hand. That's when they're not daydreaming and I have their full attention. It's also when they don't mind being talked to. In fact, they welcome it, because they subconsciously think they're gaining information. They are, but it's the information you want to provide - which usually is false - that will coax them toward choosing the action you desire.

In the first paragraph, I gave you some actual language that I used at the poker table. I suggested that I might have had all kinds of different hands. But as I suggested each one, I watched my opponent's reaction. Since I'd flopped the nut flush, this wasn't an attempt to determine if I had my opponent beat; it was an attempt to determine how I should play the hand. Let's say my opponent held a pair of tens. Some opponents would have given me a clue to the approximate strength of their hand by showing false concern when I suggested I might have a pair of sixes, but not looking at all worried when I said I had a pair of jacks. This is instinctively how many players behave - look concerned when they have you beat, look unconcerned when they're worried. It is the essence of what I discuss in Caro's Book of Tells - The Body Language of Poker: Most opponents go out of their way to act weak when they're strong and strong when they're weak.

But nothing happened as I rambled. The equality of reactions, no matter what I said, indicated to me that my opponent didn't have much of anything, and therefore didn't care about exactly what I held. He just wanted me to throw my hand away and hoped that any mention of any strength was a lie on my part. He actually had J-8 offsuit, and neither card paired the flop. He paired eights on the turn (fourth boardcard) and could use his jack for a flush after the river card (a fourth heart on the board), checking and calling on both streets. In this case, the information was worthwhile. By determining that he was weak or bluffing, I just called - rather than raised - on the flop. Had I raised, he most likely would have folded immediately and I would not have made an additional $400. But although the value of this type of babbling is significant if used correctly, this example exaggerates the profit. Sometimes the knowledge you gain is worth nothing, and sometimes it works against you, because you lose a hand that you wouldn't have played or would have played differently. In this case, sometimes I would have just called with the nut flush on the flop, even without a tell.

Always a Reason

Very often, by simply talking and saying the right things, I'll see something that will provide a clue as to the strength of an opponent's hand. But I don't speak for no reason at all. I very often see players trying to work this verbal magic on their own, and they say the wrong things at the wrong times. It's pure luck that they talk someone into a call they're seeking or out of it. Of course, in general, they're more likely to talk them into it, because players are looking for rationalizations for calling, and anything you say usually raises suspicions and is better than nothing if you want to be called. However, some words are much better than others, and I always try to say the things that are most likely to get the result I'm seeking.

But I don't talk just for the fun of it. When I'm not in a hand, I'm usually quiet. I'm confident that when I leave the poker table to cash out, nobody ever says, "Doesn't he ever shut up?" as they do with undisciplined blabbermouths. And nobody says, "I'm sure glad he left, now we can play poker in peace." The reason nobody feels that way about me, despite my sometimes animated and vocal behavior while playing, is that I'm always sensitive to what fits the situation and what doesn't.

As we've discussed before, it matters a great deal how you conduct yourself at the table. There seems to be a lot of players who believe that psychology doesn't matter much, because opponents are almost always going to make decisions based on their cards. That's wrong. Most players are going to make decisions based on you! I know that's controversial, but it's the truth. Very few hands "play themselves." Most involve borderline decisions that make it unclear to an opponent what he should do. Because most of these decisions are precariously balanced, it doesn't take much to push those decisions in the direction you desire. It's just a matter of knowing what you want to accomplish and saying the right thing.

Everyone Knows

Used car salesmen know that what they say and how they say it influences people. Advertising people know it. Everyone knows it as they try to persuade others around them. Saying the right words at the right time in the right way makes all the difference in the world. So, why don't poker players know it?

How much is saying the right stuff worth? It's hard to say. If you're a slight winning player making $1 an hour, and could move to $21 an hour by saying the right thing, that would increase your earnings 20 times. But that's a silly way to look at it. To me, talking is so important to the game style I play that I believe it triples my earnings compared to playing the same way in silence. However, if I couldn't talk, I wouldn't play the same way - it just wouldn't be profitable. I'd have to abandon a lot of my "exploratory" hands, where I see the flop in order to manipulate my way out of trouble. So, who knows exactly how much my mastery of this phase of poker psychology is worth? It's worth a lot, though.

A Powerful Tip

Although I'm going to leave the specific discussion of what you should and should not say to a future column, I want to give you one powerful tip today. There exists a magic word that will get opponents to bet weak hands into you or to outright bluff. Use it often when you are strong and would rather have your opponent bet than check.

The magic word is "might." Warn them, "I might call you." The reason this works so well is that nobody can see through to the con. If you say, "Go ahead and bet," an opponent might be suspicious and lose his nerve. If you say nothing, an opponent might decide not to risk a bet. But if you say you "might" call, the natural response is to finish the statement with "or might not call." With pots in limit poker many times as large as the bet at risk, most players will jump at this opportunity to take a chance if they only "might" get called. Your subsequent raise will be wholly unexpected.

In some poker games in England, they have a rule that you're not allowed to talk about your hand during play. That's sick. Poker is a game based on the concept of talking your opponents into and out of pots. As I've said many times, there's nothing wrong with a wagering game involving pairs, straights, flushes, and full houses that is played in silence. Just don't call it

Two Key Ways We Learn to Play Poker !

Positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement

Two primary ways in which we learn how to play poker, just as how we learn to do many other things in life, were coined by the famous psychologist B.F. Skinner, and they are positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Before I go any further, you might be wondering why these concepts matter to you as a poker player. Let me assure you that they matter a great deal, as these concepts influence your play on many levels, in both potentially good and bad ways, whether you realize it or not.

Positive reinforcement is fairly easy to explain; it involves being rewarded as a result of your behavior. An example of this would be overplaying a small pocket pair in limit hold'em, calling many bets and raises and catching one of your two outs on the river (assuming that you had outs), and winning a gigantic pot that you had no business winning. This example reinforces bad play (overplaying small pairs), and often affects not only the player who won, but other novice players at the table. A novice player who watches this unfold a few times may start to get the idea that this is the proper way to play such holdings, and may start playing much worse as a result. What that player is not seeing, of course, is all the times that these chasers go to the end and come up short. Another example of this is one of which I am guilty. I have an extreme fondness for playing pocket tens as a result of winning my first World Series of Poker bracelet with them. I have noticed that I tend to play them as a stronger hand than they really are, and I need to be very careful not to let the positive reinforcement of winning a bracelet with them delude my thinking when I am dealt them.

Negative reinforcement is a much more confusing concept, and one that people often mistake for punishment. Negative reinforcement is really quite similar to positive reinforcement, except that negative reinforcement encourages a specific behavior by ceasing or avoiding a negative condition. A lot of people confuse negative reinforcement with punishment, when they are in fact very different, as punishment is a way of discouraging a behavior by applying negative consequences to that behavior. Both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement encourage specific types of behavior, but in different ways. Here is an excellent example of negative reinforcement, which I experience at some point in most sessions that I play.

I will put this as bluntly as possible: I hate to be stuck during a session, even if it's just a relatively small amount. Not surprisingly, if you were to look at my win-loss records, you would see mostly wins with some big losses and virtually no small losses. This is negative reinforcement at work; being stuck is a negative condition that I will do most anything to rectify. This is not just a bad mentality for a professional poker player to have, but an awful one.

This mentality has cost me thousands of dollars in silly, negative expectation sports bets and pit gambling, in attempts to quickly make back what I had just lost playing poker. Furthermore, this mentality can lead to an increased chance of going on tilt, poor game selection, and playing longer sessions than one should. If I could simply play in games that I thought were good until I felt tired, felt like I was not playing well, or felt they were no longer worth playing, I'm very confident that my overall records would be better than they are now. Unfortunately, even to this day, I cannot quit playing when stuck, at least not without putting up a good fight. This learned behavior ravaged me early in my career, as I played much longer than my stamina would allow me to play properly, just to try to get even. And I often played in a very aggressive way to increase my fluctuations, hoping to get even faster, even though I knew I was making bad-expectation plays. I often made awful game-selection choices, playing in games with the highest variance rather than in smaller, easier games with better expectation.

Fortunately, these days I rarely go on tilt like I used to, and I have greatly built up my poker stamina to the point where I can play well over 20 hours at times and still feel like I am playing a decent game. However, even until very recently, this learned behavior continued to be a big problem for me, as I tortured myself by making huge sports bets to cover losing sessions. I vowed to quit sports betting and have kept that promise for many months now, so hopefully that aspect of this learned behavior will no longer be a problem.

As you can likely see by now, I could come up with countless examples of how positive and negative reinforcement affect how we play, but I don't think that would be extremely helpful. Instead, I would like to strongly encourage you to realistically examine your own play. If you find that you are making some plays for illogical reasons - because of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, or something else entirely - do your best to correct the problem. You will likely struggle with some of these problems your entire poker career, as I fear I will with quitting when stuck. Just do your best to try, and at least be aware of your problems so that you can focus on doing things to make them less harmful to your bankroll.

The Online Poker Era

Without a doubt, the biggest boom in Poker's recent history has been the explosion of Online Poker Rooms. From simple low-limit games, Online Poker has grown into a billion dollar industry over the past five years. The first online room to go live was Planet Poker in 1998; while this pioneer site has since been pushed into near obscurity by the current big dogs, Planet Poker broke the ground for online rooms, and set up practices that are still in current use, such as rake structure.

The next player to join in the online scene was Paradise Poker in 1999, a site that would soon grab the industry's reins and become the online leader. Shortly after the introduction of Paradise Poker, Dutch Boyd of Professional Poker fame would start up his Poker Spot operation; Poker Spot would unfortunately prove disastrous, as payment processing difficulties arose, and the firm ultimately folded. This would prove to be a major setback to the credibility of online play.

Evidently the troubles emerged from an unreliable payment processing system, and with the online bank void of players' deposits, payment of winnings quickly proved impossible. While this was certainly an obstacle towards Online Poker's rise to prominence, it would bring innovations in payment processing, as it parallels the development of �e-cash� such as PayPal. Fortunately for the online poker industry, this blow wouldn't cripple it. With the advances made in online banking and e-fund transfers, reliable and secure payment would soon become the standard among online poker rooms.

With the fast growth of the World Poker Tour, and Poker in general gaining momentum, 2001 saw the launch of two big time players- Poker Stars and Party Poker. Both entered with grand visions of what online poker could become, and in 2003, Party Poker would take the lead of the industry from Paradise Poker, on the strength of it's aggressive television marketing. First aired during the 2003 during the World Poker Tour, Party Poker's big budget advertising and �Party Million� promotions thrust it to the top of the online marketplace, a position it currently maintains.

With Party Poker reaping the rewards of paid advertising, Poker Stars flopped an ace with Chris Moneymaker's inspirational rise to the top. From a $40 satellite, Moneymaker took the poker world by storm and won the 2003 World Series of Poker, bringing the entire online industry to the forefront. This historic victory catalyzed an explosion in the number of online poker sites.

Origin of Poker

While Poker is currently the hottest game around, played by all types of people in all walks of life, this wasn�t always the case. There is no clear consensus on the exact origins of the game of Poker, however the evidence suggests that conceptually, it is indeed a very old game, likely derived from a multitude of chance games, and eventually evolving into the modern game we have today.

One of the more popular beliefs about Poker is that it was born around the year 900 in ancient China. Legend has it that Poker evolved from a Chinese domino game, with some historians claiming Chinese emperors used to play the game. With little physical evidence to support this claim, this historic account may never be verified.

Another common theory is that Poker as we know it today evolved from the 17th century Persian game known as "As Nas"- this is a game with more resemblance to modern Poker, as it employs a unique deck of 25 cards and consisting of 5 distinct suits.

There are also the German and French games of "Pochspiel" and "Poque" respectively, and these games both involve the elements of wagering and bluffing which seems to make them more direct ancestors; the names themselves also suggest that perhaps Poker was a descendant of these less complex games.

While the exact roots of the game appear unclear, the more recent past is easier to accurately recount. Although many Americans claim the game as their innovation, cards, and card games have been quite popular in Europe since the 14th century, and in fact the game of "Poque" was introduced to the United States by French settlers in New Orleans. Despite this, modern Poker is believed to have evolved in the United States in the early 1800s, born on the big rivers of Mississippi. By the middle 1800s, the modern 52-card deck was in play, and the Gold Rush and Civil War caused a dramatic increase in the game�s popularity, as young men everywhere took up the game.

The game expanded westward, however at this stage it remained primarily the full time craft of cheats and swindlers, as early versions of the game were based mainly on �luck� and were easily manipulated by the unscrupulous. In the early 1900s, the modern game of skill had developed, and Poker started to gain legitimacy and credibility, albeit very slowly. Recreational Poker was still to come, as the game was mainly played by gamblers in bars and saloons. From these humble beginnings, Poker would undergo a world of change in the 100 years that followed.

10 Mistakes That Sink Beginning Poker Players

Like any game involving cards, poker does involve a lot of luck, but if you are new to playing Texas Hold �Em, then you are also playing a game that takes a lot of skill. This is the hot game in America right now, and as such everyone wants to play. That being said, there are many common mistakes that sink beginners who might otherwise be pretty good players. Here is a list of ten of the most common mistakes made by beginning Texas Hold �Em players, and explanations on how to adjust your game accordingly.

#1 Mistake: Playing way too many hands.
This is the granddaddy of all the mistakes, and one that virtually every beginner makes. This can be understandable. When you sit down at a card table, you want to play. The problem is you need to know hand strengths. J-10 off-suit looks like a good hand. It isn�t. Not enough if you have to pay to get in, or if you are playing at a full table. Too often players will play anything with an ace. If you have A-2, what do you think your chances are when another player holds A-K? Yeah, not that good. Learn true hand strengths, and try to stick to only the top 10-20, and even then, you should throw away more of the 15-20�s than you keep.

#2 Mistake: Playing for more than you can afford.
This should be a basic, and yet it happens. This often happens after several bad beats, or they just become greedy. If it is because of bad beats, remember, you get better players at higher tables. Even though this might mean less eight person hands, it also means that at the end of the day these guys are more likely to take your money than the others. Only play in games you can afford, only ones that match your skill level. If you can�t dominate a lower table, you are not ready for a higher one.

#3 Mistake: Emotions.
Emotions are good for sports, but they have absolutely no place at a poker table. Bad beats will happen. Losing sessions will happen. Annoying opponents running their mouths who don�t know how to play but win anyway will happen. 1,000 to 1 mathematical bad beats will happen. Deal with it, but don�t get emotional.

#4 Mistake: Monkey see, monkey do.
Too many players learn how to play poker by copying the styles they see from other players. This can be someone at the table, a relative at the family game, or some pro they saw on the World Series of Poker on TV. If this is what you have been doing, STOP!
Remember that many people who play poker are wannabes who are terrible at it. Would you copy a test off a D- student? Not unless you were desperate. Why imitate a D- poker player then? As for pros, you never see the forty hands they fold for two hours before playing, and their game, from reading an opponent to pot odds to tells to situational tournament factors pretty much guarantee that you will not be able to copy their train of thought. Also, to be good at poker you must learn to make good poker decisions. You have to learn all the nuances of the game from odds to tells to check raising to situational situations. If you don�t learn now, you won�t win later.

#5 Mistake: Not using pot odds
If you just asked �what are pot odds?� Go read a web site, go find a book, go ask a friend whose game is way above yours. Do something. You should not play until you understand this basic underlying concept. Very few beginning players understand pot odds, and they usually call way too often when they should just run away. Learn pot odds, and use them on every single hand.

#6 Mistake: Not following etiquette
There are special rules for conduct around the table, and also playing a game. These are not hard to find, as virtually all dealers, casinos, and players want there to be more people following these guidelines. The most common mistake with etiquette usually does not mean being a joke, but the most common mistake (you see this all the time on movies) is �I see your ZZ and raise you ZZZ.� In poker, your one action is your only action. If you say �I call� or �I see� then that is what you do. If you want to raise, just say you are going to raise, count out the call chips, and then figure out your raise. Always tell the amount of the raise.

#7 Mistake: Lucky Socks and Dead Man�s Hand
All gambling involves luck. While luck will usually even out over the long run, especially in games like poker where so much math is involved, people naturally focus on the short run and on their fluctuations. Since even poker has a degree of randomness, many people will talk about bad luck or an unlucky streak. There is no magic luck, there are no fates around the corner waiting for you to seek your destiny. There are good streaks and there are bad streaks and you will have both. Don�t concentrate on luck, and don�t throw away A-8 if you hit two pair because it is a dead man�s hand. If you have two pair with no obvious threat, play it! If you play well, you will be �lucky,� if you play badly, you won�t. It�s still about the skills.

#8 Mistake: Overvaluing Suited Hands
This is one of the most common mistakes. At many tables full of beginners, every starting hand with two suited cards will be played. Having a suited hand is a plus, it does make your hand slightly stronger, but there�s the key word. Slightly. First, would you even consider playing your hand if it wasn�t suited? If not, throw it away. Too many people go to the flop. The chance of flopping a flush is about 1%. The chance of even getting a flush draw of any kind (even a long shot) is 12%. What if you play 3-8 suited and someone else plays A-10? Well then you�re in trouble.

#9 Mistake: I have to bluff to win
Bluffing is such a small part of playing poker, that beginners should not even think about it. When you understand the game well enough to only play good starting hands, to read your opponent correctly the majority of the time, to understand betting patterns, to spot tells, and to do all the math in your head on what happens if you are called, then consider it. Until then, don�t even try it. Even to the best players in the world bluffing is a miniscule part of their game, and it often gets them in trouble just as often as it gives them a victory.

#10 Mistake: Gold can turn into Lead
If you are holding A-K before the flop, that�s great. If the flop is 8-8-Q, with one 8 and the Q suited, but none of the suits matching your hand, then the moment people start betting, your hand is worthless. A single eight means you have to catch runner-runner, a queen means you have to assume someone has a full house, and even if you hit an ace or king, there�s a good chance (1/3) that one of them gives someone else a flush. A-K, A-Q- K-Q, A-J may all be good hands before a flop, but if nothing hits, don�t hold on. They�re not worth it anymore.

Bonus Mistake: Using a two-color deck in online games.
All table games will have your normal two colors, two black suits and two red. Some online poker rooms offer four colors, a different one for each suit. If they offer this, use them! If you don�t, it is only a matter of time until you mistakenly think you have a flush when you don�t. Four suits make it easy to see if you do or don�t, and make it easier to identify when someone else might have a flush on a board (ever have that third card sneak up on you on the river because you�re looking at something else? Most of us have). If you think you have a flush and don�t, often times you lose the most money because you bet the house with rags.

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OMAHA RULES

Omaha is similar to Holdem in using a three-card flop on the board, a fourth boardcard, and then a fifth boardcard. Each player is dealt four holecards (instead of two) at the start. In order to make a hand a player must use precisely two holecards with three boardcards. The betting is the same as in Hold'em. At the showdown, the entire four-card hand should be shown to receive the pot. (Click for Omaha Poker Strategy articles.)

Rules of Omaha
1. All the rules of holdem apply to Omaha except the rule on playing the board, which is not possible in Omaha (you must use two cards from your hand and three cards from the board).

Omaha High Low
Omaha is often played high-low split, 8-or-better. The player may use any combination of two holecards and three boardcards for the high hand and another (or the same) combination of two holecards and three boardcards for the low hand. The rules governing kill pots are listed in "Section 13 - Kill Pots."

Rules of Omaha High Low
1. All the rules of Omaha apply to Omaha high-low split except as below.
2. A qualifier of 8-or-better for low applies to all high-low split games, unless a posting to the contrary is displayed. If there is no qualifying hand for low, the best high hand wins the whole pot. - Bob Ciaffone

7 Card Stud Poker - Game Rules

7 Card Stud - Card Distribution and Betting Procedure

Example: $2/$4 Seven Card Stud games.
After all players have anted $.25 or so, (1.) Each player is dealt two cards face down and one face up. The player with the lowest up card makes an forced bet of either $1 half minimum bet or $2 full bet (player's choice) to start the game. The rest of the players, in clockwise order, either call the opening bet, raise it, or not call and "fold" their hands back to the dealer. (2.) All get a fourth card face up followed by a round of $2 betting. From this round on, the player with the highest up card(s) is always first to check or bet. (3.) After the fifth card is dealt face up, the minimum bet goes to $4. (4.) The sixth card is dealt face up and there is another round of $4 betting. (5.) The seventh and last card is dealt face down and followed by the final round of $4 betting. The dealer then determines the highest hand and awards the pot.

Seven Card Stud Strategy

General Strategy:
Seven Card Stud is a HIGH card game. More winning hands are decided by the highest pair of two pair or just the highest pair, than by straights, flushes and other big hands. So if you start with a straight or flush draw, it should have at least two high cards or at least one card that is higher than anything up on the board. These draw hands and low pair starting hands need to improve or turn a high pair quickly to justify continued play. Any time your high hand is beaten on the board, fold, unless you think you still have the best draw hand. Fast play early high hands ( that could win without improvement) to thin out the competition. Slow play draw hands to keep other players in to increase the pot odds in case you hit.

Definitions:
HIGH CARDS - 10 thru A .
LOW CARDS - 2 thru 9
SPLIT PAIR - Starting hand with one of your pair cards down and the other up.
CONCEALED PAIR - Starting hand with both of your pair cards in the hole and your side card kicker up.
DOOR CARD - The exposed upcard of a starting hand.
DEAD CARDS - Cards that have been revealed and no longer in the deck.
FAST PLAY - Bet, raise and re-raise to get as many other players out as possible.
SLOW PLAY - Just check and call along to keep other players in the game and increase the pot odds.
CHECK-FOLD - Check when you can and fold if you are bet into. Gladly accept all free cards offered.

Playable Starting Hands:
HIGH TRIPS - (AAA down to 101010). Fast play these. Your opponents will put you on a high pair.
LOW TRIPS - (999 down to 222). Slow play until your 5th street bet. Keep 'em guessing.
HIGH PAIR - (AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010). Fast play these, split or concealed, if they are not overcarded on the board. Try to narrow the field and play fast until threatened by a higher hand.
LOW PAIR/ High Kicker - Slow play split or concealed low pairs with a kicker that is higher than any upcard on the board. Fold this hand if two or more of your key cards are dead. Check-fold if you don't get trips or two pair on the next card.
CONCEALED LOW PAIR/ No High Kicker - Slow play for trips on 4th street. Fold if one or both of your pair cards are dead. Check-fold if you don't make trips or two pair on the next card.
HIGH OVERCARDS - Two or three high cards that are higher than anything on the board. Slow play and check-fold if they don't make a high pair on the next card.
HIGH 3 CARD FLUSH - (2h 10h Kh). Must have at least two high cards. Fold if three or more cards of your suit are dead. Slow play and check-fold if you don't make a four card flush or a high pair on the next card.
HIGH 3 CARD STRAIGHT - (9 10 J ) to Q K A). Slow play and check-fold if you don't make a four card straight or a high pair on the next card.
ANY 3 CARDS TO A STRAIGHT FLUSH - (5d 7d 9d). Fold if four or more of your key straight and flush cards are dead. Slow play and check-fold if you don't make any four cards to a straight or a four card flush.

Strategy Tips:
When you start with a high pair, fast play to eliminate as many players as possible.
Slow play starting draw hands like three to a straight or a flush. You want to keep other players in to build the pot odds.
Slow play starting trips until the fifth card. You want some players around with this powerful starting hand.
Usually don't begin with a small pair unless they are concealed or your sidecard can beat the board.
Don't play three to a low straight or a low flush.
Watch the board closely for key cards that can seriously diminish your chances of making a good hand and for opponents hands that look dangerous. Play cautiously and fold out early if it looks like the tide is turning against you.
Beware of the paired door card. If an opponent is playing a pair in his starting hand, and pairs his door card (first upcard), the odds are two out of three that the door card is part of his pair. A paired door card presents a strong possibility that the holder has a dangerous set of trips.
Unless you are playing a strong draw hand, usually fold if your complete hand is beaten on the board by an opponent's upcards.
Try to find reasons to fold both your starting hands and those that develop on the later streets. Look for a dead card in the denomination that you need and for two or three dead cards in the suit that you are drawing to. Look for too much strong competition developing for the winning hand. When you can't find reasons to fold, you can then proceed aggressively..
Study your opponents, especially when you are not playing hands and can pay careful attention. Do they find more hands to play than they fold? Do they bluff? Can they be bluffed? Do they have any "tells" (give away mannerisms) that disclose information about their hands etc.
Get caught bluffing once in a while. It is a way to vary your play and not be too predictable. You win pots that you don't deserve when your bluff works. You lose a few chips when it doesn't work but it will get you calls from weaker hands down the line when you are really strong and need the action.
The first four cards are the major key to winning at Seven Card Stud games. If your starting hands develop according to plan, you can be a strong favorite to win. If they don't, you get out early and escape the expensive second best experience. The three card starting hands recommended above are those with the best chance of producing a dominant four card hand. Good four card hands that are carefully played don't always win but they win a lot more than the others

IMPORTANT:
More Seven Card Stud Stats, Articles, and Strategy Information has been selected and compiled from online Poker Magazines and over a hundred other Poker content web sites. . I think you will find this very useful. Go to the Seven Card Stud section in Pokersyte's BEST Of The NET page.

Texas Hold'em

Texas Hold'em is the most popular community card poker game and a favorite for poker tournaments. Each player is dealt two private cards, after which there is a betting round. Then three community cards are dealt face up (in no particular order or pattern), followed by a second betting round. A fourth community card is followed by a third betting round, a fifth community card and the fourth and final betting round. At showdown, each player plays the best five-card poker hand he can make using any five cards among the two in his hand and the five on the board.

Texas Hold'em poker does not play well high-low split (Omaha poker is probably the best high-low community card game). Texas Hold'em does play very well at no limit, and in fact the final game of the World Series of Poker, the poker tournament generally considered to be the world championship of the game of poker, is a $10,000 entry no limit Texas Hold'em game.

Texas Hold'em poker is generally played with 2 to 10 players, but can be played with more (theoretically 23, but beyond 12 players the size of the table is the limiting factor). It is a very positional game, since betting rounds all begin at the dealer's left.

The descriptions below assume that you are familiar with the general game play of poker and >poker hands. They also make no assumptions about what betting structure is used. In casino play, it is common to use a fixed limit and two blinds, one for half of the first-round betting limit and one for a full bet. The limit for the third and fourth betting rounds is generally double that of the first two rounds. It is also not uncommon for the fourth bet to be larger still, and for the big blind to be less than the normal first-round bet, in which case it is treated the same way a sub-minimum bring-in is treated in stud poker. An ante may be used instead of or in addition to blinds. Texas Hold'em poker also plays very well at no limit, and many poker tournaments (including the above mentioned World Series of Poker championship event) are played that way.

Play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. These are the only cards each player will receive individually, and they will not be revealed until showdown, making Texas Hold'em a closed poker game. A first pre-flop betting round now happens, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the dealer, if no blinds are used). Now the dealer deals a burn card, followed by three face-up community cards called the flop, followed by a second betting round. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player the dealer's left. After this round, a burn card and single community card called the turn are dealt, followed by a third betting round. Finally, a burn and a single community card called the river are dealt, followed by a fourth betting round and showdown if necessary.

On showdown, each player plays the best five-card poker hand he can make from the seven cards comprising his two and the board (the five community cards). A player may use both of his own two down cards, only one, or none at all to form his final five-card hand. If the best five-card poker hand he can make is to play the five community cards, then he is said to be playing the board, and is entitled to split the pot with others playing the board if no one can play a better hand. It is common for players to have closely-valued hands. In particular, =kickers often are needed to break ties, straights often split the pot, and multiple flushes may occur (where the ranks of the cards in each flush must be counted carefully to determine a winner).

Examples

Here's a sample Texas Hold'em final showdown:

Board
4♣ K♠ 4♥ 8♠ 7♠

Alice
5♦ 6♦


Bob
A♣ 4♦


Carol
A♠ 9♠


David
K♥ K♦

Alice's best five-card hand is 8♠ 7♠ 6♦ 5♦ 4♥, making an 8-high straight. The best poker hand Bob can play is 4♣ 4♥ 4♦ A♣ K♠, for three 4s with A and K kickers. Carol can play A♠ K♠ 9♠ 8♠ 7♠ for an A-high flush. Finally, David can play K♠ K♥ K♦ 4♣ 4♥, for a full house, which wins.

Here's a sample deal. The players' individual hands will not be revealed until showdown, to give a better sense of what happens during play. Bob, to the dealer's left, posts a blind of $1, and Carol blinds $2. Alice deals two cards face down to each player, beginning with Bob and ending with herself. David must act first because he is the first player after the big blind. He cannot check, since the $2 blinds plays as a bet, so he folds. Alice calls the $2. Bob puts an additional $1 with his $1 small blind to call the $2 total. Carol's blind is "live," so she has the right to raise here, but she checks her option instead, ending the first betting round.

Alice now burns a card and deals the "flop" of three face-up community cards, 9♣ K♣ 3♥. On this round as on all subsequent, Bob begins the betting. He checks, Carol opens for $2, and Alice raises another $2, making the total bet now facing Bob $4. He calls. Carol calls, putting in an additional $2. Alice now burns and deals the "turn" card face up. It is the 5♠. Bob checks, Carol checks, and Alice checks, ending the betting round. After burning, Alice deals the final "river" card of the 9♦, making the final board 9♣ K♣ 3♥ 5♠ 9♦. Bob bets $4, Carol calls, and Alice folds (Alice's holding was A♣ 7♣; she was hoping the river card would be a club to make her a flush). Bob shows his hand of Q♠ 9♥, so the best five-card poker hand he can make is 9♣ 9♦ 9♥ K♣ Q♠, for three 9s, K and Q kickers. Carol shows her cards of K♠ J♥, making her final poker hand K♣ K♠ 9♣ 9♦ J♥ for two pair, Ks and 9s, with a J kicker. Bob wins the pot.

Here's another situation that illustrates the importance of breaking ties with kickers and card ranks, and use of the five-card rule. After the first three betting rounds, the board and players' hands look like this (though the players don't actually know the other players' cards).

Board (after three rounds):


Board (after three rounds)
8♠ Q♣ 8♥ 4♣

Alice
10♣ 9♣


Bob
K♥ Q♠


Carol
Q♥ 10♦


David
J♣ 2♣

At the moment, Bob is in the lead with a hand of Q♠ Q♣ 8♠ 8♥ K♥, making two pair, Qs and 8s, with a K kicker. This just beats Carol's hand of Q♥ Q♣ 8♠ 8♥ 10♦ by virtue of his kicker. Both Alice and David are hoping the final card is a club, which will make them both a flush, but David would have the higher flush and win if that happens. For example, if the final card was the 7♣, David's flush would be Q-J-7-4-2, while Alice's would be Q-10-9-7-4. Alice could still win, though, if the final card were the J♦, as that would give her a Q-high straight. On this deal, however, the final card was the A♠, which didn't help either of them. Bob and Carol still each have two pair, but notice what happened: both of them are now entitled to play the final A as their fifth card, making their hands both two pair, Qs and 8s, with an A kicker. Bob's K no longer plays, because the A on the board plays as the fifth card in both hands, and they can't play six cards. They therefore split the pot.

The rules for Texas Hold'em are not as complicated as they may first seem. Spend some time practicing and this poker game will become second nature.