How not to suck at Poker

A publication from Dat Nguyen PUBLICATION DESIGN FINAL PROJECT

HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER A GUIDELINE TO A VERY MINDFUL, FUN AND INTERESTING WESTERN CARD GAME

Publication Design

RMIT University

If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, you are the sucker.

Mike MCDermott Rounders

Copyright @Dat Nguyen, 2019

“How not to suck at poker” is a publication product from Dat Nguyen (s3578282), a student of RMIT University, Bachelor of Design for Digital Media, under the supervisor of lecturer Giang Nguyen.

Author Dat Nguyen

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Lecturer Giang Nguyen

HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Designer Dat Nguyen

Advisor Anh Nguyen Duc Dang Vu Nguyen

A publication from Dat Nguyen PUBLICATION DESIGN FINAL PROJECT

HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER A GUIDELINE TO A VERY MINDFUL, FUN AND INTERESTING WESTERN CARD GAME

HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

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Special thanks to Duc Dang for your precious knowledge and your love for Poker!

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HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Dear my beloved reader!

Card games have always been an entertaining activities that we are all enjoy, regardless of ages, genders, regions,... In Vietnam, the deck of 52 cards can be play with various of different games like Tien Len, Ta La, Ba Cay,... But do you know that there is one card game that stand out from the rest, it is so interesting, so engaging that it were loved by everyone around the world and were called an actual intellectual sports?

Have you ever watch those Hollywood movies that have people playing card game at casino and wonder what kind of game they are playing? Why it looks so tense, so elegent and yet very entertaining?

It is Poker.

Poker has been around for a quite long time but before 2000 it was only popular in Western countries. It has gradually become an international game and is present in almost every country. For Vietnam, Poker was previously known only to international students who had the opportunity to interact with this card game in the

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country. In the past 10 years, Poker has been introduced to Vietnam and increasingly loved by young people.

Not just a card game, Poker is also a career to earn a living or part time job with many people. Not counting professional players, playing poker just for fun and earning three hundred dollars of coffee a month is no longer a rarity in the Vietnamese Poker community.

If you want to learn about poker and how to make money, you have come to the right place at the right place. But first, you will have to learn how to play Poker.

This book is dedicated to the people who are willing to try new thing, willing to learn a new kind of card game which is called..... the art of Poker!

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HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Table Of Content 5 Chapter I: Introduction to Poker The history or Poker Terminology Before we play Rules Positions Actions Betting phases Hand rankings Limits

9 10 15 19 22 24 26 28 36 42

Chapter II: Advance techniques

45

Counting Outs Turn Outs to Odds Pot Odds Bankroll Management Don’t Tilt

46 48 49 50 51

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I 10

HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION TO POKER This section will cover the brief history of poker, the very first and basic rule on how to play poker, as well as explain some necessary terms for beginner

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Introduction to Poker

The history of Poker oker is known as a very popular sport today by many factors in one game (session). Players are attracted to the game because of the magic power from creative gameplay as well as play style from individuals. A game that not only make people feels relax, entertain but also experiences nervous, anxious or extremely happy because of the changes in the game.

P

Unlike other card games, players rely on the majority of luck to win, Poker gives you the opportunity to show your intelligence in tactics.

Moreover, you can guess both the tactics and plans that your opponent uses to help you take each step of the way to make it easier to win. How exciting and interesting is this game to take to become as popular as it is today?

Poker origin is still controversial The origin of Poker has always been a debate among many countries without an end. Chinese people believe that 12

the game originated from China in the 900s AD with the precursor game being domino game.

While Egyptian

HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

claim that the Persian played “As Nas� are the father of Poker now because they first have laws about betting rounds. Oth-

Introduction to Poker

ers believe that the game called “Poker” is derived from the French game “Poque” from the 17th century or the

“Pochen” game of the Germans since the 18th century by the similarity of the name and rules.

Besides, the name

Poker is quite similar to Hindu Pukka.

The turning point in the history of Poker formation Despite all the controversy surrounding the origin of Poker, the 52-card deck is still set to play poker rules properly and put into widespread use around the world in the 1830s by word of mouth and through books.

Poker has become quite popular but it still suffers from many things due to involvement in the criminal gang.

It took more than 30 years for new poker to be covered with variations such as draw poker or stud poker ... Poker was well received in America especially in pubs, good players they noticed that they can make money out from this magical game.

Organized as the first World Series of Poker (WSOP) major tournament in 1970 in Las Vegas is a big mark making this tournament the biggest and most prestigious annual poker tournament until nowadays.

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Introduction to Poker

Texas Hold’em Actually poker has many genres. But Texas Hold’em is the most popular poker game. So if you only talk about poker, everyone is implicitly referring to Texas Hold’em.

Therefore, in this book, we will learn to play poker in this category.

The invention of Texas Hold’em is unclear but Robstown, Texas is the official birthplace of the game as declared by the Texas State Legislature. This poker variant is believed to have started sometime in the early 20th century.

After the game gained popularity throughout Texas, it was taken to Las Vegas in 1967 by Texas natives. After its initial introduction to Vegas, the game was only offered at the Golden Nugget Casino.

This casino did not draw in many high profile players so the game did not receive much publicity until 1969 when Texas Holdem poker was made available at the Dunes Casino.

In 1971, the directors of the

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HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Introduction to Poker

World Series of Poker decided to feature no limit Texas Holdem as the Main Event tournament and Holdem has been played in the Main Event ever since.

The popularity of Texas Holdem surged during the 2000s because of its exposure in literature, the internet and television. The popularity of this game can also be credited to its combination of simplicity and complexity. The structure and rules of Texas Holdem can be easily learned while allowing for a complex interaction of strategies.

Currently, Texas Holdem one of the most prominent poker variants in online and U.S. casinos.

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Introduction to Poker

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HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Introduction to Poker

Terminology All-In Wagering all the remaining chip you have

Buy-In The amount of money a player brings to a table.

Bankroll An amount of money you let yourself spent in Poker

Call Put the equal the amount of chips has been put in by the player before you

Bet Put your chips in Blind Forces bets before the game begin Board All of the community cards Button The player to the right of the small blind

Community Cards The cards placed in the middle of the table that all players may use to make their best hand.

Early position Players to the left of the big blind. These positions are at a disadvantage because they are often one of the first players that have to act.

Flop The first three community cards which are exposed simultaneously. This can also be used as a verb. For example, “I flopped a very strong hand!�

Flush Five cards of the same suit.

Hand-Reading Taking an educated guess at what types of hands your opponent may have as his hole cards.

Heads up Having only one opponent in a hand.

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Introduction to Poker

Hole cards Cards dealt to a player facedown Implied odds Taking future betting into consideration when examining our reward to risk ratio.

Late position Players to the right of the small blind. Limp: Just calling preflop instead of raising.

Middle position Players between early position and late positions.

Min-raise To raise the smallest amount allowed.

Miss Another card is dealt on the board, yet your hand does not improve.

Nuts The best hand possible.

Offsuit Hole cards that do not have matching suits.

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Out A card that can improve a hand which is not currently the best to being the best hand.

Postflop Refers to the play in a hand just after the flop is dealt. It includes play on the flop, turn and river

Out of position Having to act first during a hand.

Pot The money already wagered and in the middle of the table.

It’s also used to refer to a hand. “There were four people in the pot.” means there were four people playing the hand. “I potted the turn.” means that player bet the size of the pot on the turn.

Outkicked Having the same pair as your opponent but losing because your kicker is a smaller ranked card than theirs.

Overbet Betting larger than the pot.

Overcard A card higher than any card on the flop or your hole cards Pocket pair Having a pair as your two hole cards.

Pot Odds The odds being offered to you by the pot compared to what you must call to continue in the hand.

HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Pot-Size Raise Raising an amount that offers your opponent 2:1 odds.

Preflop Refers to the point in the hand after the hole cards have been dealt but before the flop has been dealt.

Raise Put an amount of chips in the table more than the player before you

Introduction to Poker

Reraise A raise after someone else has raised.

Session How poker players refer to a given period of time where they played poker.

Set Having a pair as your hole cards and a matching rank on the flop.

Showdown The end of a poker hand where it’s determined who has the best hand Stack The amount of money a player has left to be wagered.

Trips Three of a kind where you have a hole card that matches two cards of the same rank on the board.

Underpair A pocket pair that is lower than any of the cards on the board. Also a pocket pair lower than an opponent’s pocket pair.

Value-bet Betting when one believes he has the best hand.

Win Rate A player’s rate of earn.

Wired Pair: See “Pocket pair”

Stakes The size of the blinds in the game you’re playing.

Straight Five cards of mixed suits in sequence.

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Introduction to Poker

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HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Introduction to Poker

Before we play Let’s take a look at our familiar deck of card before getting into Poker

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Introduction to Poker

Starting Poker is played with the deck of 52 cards, starting with 2 as the weakest card to Ace, the strongest.

(Exception for Straight or Straight Flush) In a game, there are separate cards dealt to each player (Hole cards) and the common cards (Community cards) are flipped over on the table. Players compete through betting rounds.

The winner is the person who has the strongest card combination (from private cards and general cards) when all cards are dealt at the end of each game, or the last factor that no one is following, and thus wins without playing until round the cards.

Opponent’s holes cards

Community card

Your hole cards

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Introduction to Poker

A

Q

4

5

3

D Q

A

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Introduction to Poker

Rules Poker tables with 2 - 10 players.

Currently, when playing online poker, people often play table 9 people, 6 people, 2 people.

There is always a round sign on the poker table with the letter D (Dealer). It rotates from one player to another in a clockwise direction after each hand. Based on that to determine the player’s position on the poker table (who should act first etc.

Don’t worry, you’ll know specifically below).

Each player is dealt 2 separate cards (bleach cards). There will be 5 common cards that are turned over in the middle of the table. A full poker game consists of 4 betting rounds.

In the end, the player who owns the strongest hand (combined from the trump card and the general card on 24

HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

the table) will be the winner.

However, the hand may also end at any time, when there is a player and all others quit the game, then the factor is the winner.

Introduction to Poker

After each round of betting, all bets are pooled in one place, called a pot. In principle, a betting round only ends when everyone’s bet is equal and no one else is going.

The winner will eat everyone’s pot (pot). In case you have wagered all the money before everyone (allin), only the pot amount can be eaten up to the time of the handover.

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Introduction to Poker

Positions Positions play a really important part in a game of Poker. In most betting rounds (except for the first pre-flop round), the player with the Dealer position is the last to act, thus gaining the most information about the card’s power of other players. There are 3 types of positions, early position, middle position and late position

A Game of Poker will be played in this order: Small blind (SB) Big Blind (BB) Under-the-gun (UTG) Middle Position (MP) Cut-Off Button (Dealer)

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HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Introduction to Poker

Early position Small blind, Big blind and UTG are the one that have to act first, thus giving others their informations.

Middle position Middle position (MP1, MP2).

Before this position group, 4 people in the Early Position group acted so you had information to predict the hand that they held through different actions.

Late position Cut-Off, Button (Dealer).

Beautiful cards, bad places, they still lose like normal but weak and beautiful positions still give you a big chance to win.

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Introduction to Poker

Actions After any initial cards are dealt, players are usually called upon to act in turn, moving clockwise around the table.

Each player can usually take one out of 5 actions when it is their turn to act

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Introduction to Poker

5 Actions

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Fold

No more playing, sitting outside waiting for a new game. For example, when you are dealt with bad cards or do not want to spend more money to follow your opponent. You will lose the previous bet amount

Check

When no one is betting, you do not bet and wait for the next person to act.

Bet

You can bet when no one else has done it. At that time, other players who want to continue playing must at least follow the amount you wager on. If they do not want to, they have to fold.

Call

Spend an amount equal to the previous player who bet to continue playing that

Raise

Once a player has a bet, the next player, besides choosing or giving up, can also bet more, also called a raise. This action wants to say that they are having a strong lesson and that if the opponent does not want to give up more money, he can only fold.

HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Introduction to Poker

Different variants of poker have different betting rounds. Texas Hold’em and Omaha are the two most popular poker games in the world and have identical betting structures, with four rounds of betting known as pre-flop, the flop, the turn and the river.

The pre-flop betting round begins as soon as all players have received their hole cards, before any community cards have been dealt; betting on the flop occurs after the first three community cards are dealt; on the turn after the fourth community card; and on the river after the fifth and final community card.

On each betting round, betting continues until every player has either

matched the bets made or folded (if no bets are made, the round is complete when every player has checked). When the betting round is completed, the next dealing/betting round begins, or the hand is complete.

make the best fivecard hand they can make - in this case, you can use both your hole cards and three of the shared community cards to make a straight.

Here’s an example of a Texas Hold’em hand after all the cards have been dealt. As you can see, players may use any of their two hole cards with any of the five community cards to

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Introduction to Poker

Betting Phases At the beginning of a poker game, two players close to the left position of Dealer will have to place a mandatory bet, called Blind money.

The first player on the left of Dealer puts a Small blind (SB).

The next player places a Big blind (BB). Big blind is 2x Small blind and it is also the minimum bet in the upcoming rounds.

The reason is called Blind money, because players have to bet before knowing what cards they have.

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HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

After blind money has been placed, the deal will take place. Each player is dealt 2 hole cards and entered 4 betting phases.

Introduction to Poker

Phase 1: Pre-flop

The first round of betting takes place right after each player knows what his hole cards is. The next player to the left of the big blind will have to act first. Each player can choose to skip cards, follow, bet ... Just like that, the game takes place around the table clockwise.

The betting round ends when everyone’s bet is equal. All bets are collected in one place (Pot). The card goes to the next round: Flop.

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Introduction to Poker

Phase 2: The Flop

Q

A

5

Now the first 3 community cards will be flipped in the middle of the table. They are called general cards because everyone can view them, and combine them with their eraser to create the best 5 card hand (you’ll find out more about the hands at the bottom. ).

A betting round starts from the first person to play on the Dealer’s left hand. Options are similar to the previous round. But the player has the option of checking to transfer the turn to the next person if no one has previously bet.

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Introduction to Poker

Phase 3: The Turn

Q

A

5

3

The fourth community card, Turn, will be flipped. This card is of course also used to combine with your trump card to create the most beautiful hand.

The remaining players will conduct a new round of betting with the same way as the previous round.

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Introduction to Poker

Phase 4: The River

Q

A

5

3

4

The fifth card, River, is also the last card to be flipped.

At this time, the player has had 5 community cards to combine with 2 hole cards on his hand. Everyone has already known what hands they have.

The remaining players will conduct a final round of betting.

How to play still like the previous round.

At the end of this last round of betting, if more than one player remains, all will face up (Showdown) to determine who has the most powerful deck according to the hand rankings.

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Introduction to Poker

The card ends after the Pot is given to the winner. The Dealer position will move to the next player clockwise.

And a new hand starts!

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Introduction to Poker

Hand Rankings There are 2 ways to win a poker card: or force all of your opponents to drop cards, or have the best hand when facing the cards. So you need to know what hands will win you the game!

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HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Introduction to Poker

How to combine poker cards As mentioned in the previous section, you will combine 2 hole cards and 5 community cards to create the best card with 5 cards. Yes, there are 5 cards, no more or less. It doesn’t matter how many hole cards you use! Sometimes you use both cards, sometimes only 1 card, sometimes even no hole cards are present in your combination.

Here we have an example of a showdown in the next page

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Introduction to Poker

2

8

A

Showdown

After 4 betting phases, here you are. Your opponent reveals his card and you show yours.

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HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Q

4

Introduction to Poker

5

3

D Q

A

So who is the winner and loser in the above situation? We will let you answer yourself after reading the hand rankings in the next page.

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Introduction to Poker

10

J

Q

K

A

Royal Flush

5 same-suit consecutive cards lead by Ace

Straight Flush

5 consecutive cards of the same suit

Four of a Kind

4 cards of the same number

Full House

3 cards of the same number and a pair

Flush

5 cards of the same suit

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Introduction to Poker

Straight

5 consecutive cards of any suit

Three of a Kind

3 cards of the same number

Two Pair

2 sets of 2 cards of the same number

One Pair

2 cards of the same number

High Card

If card had no order, the highest un-ordered card wins

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Introduction to Poker

Limits During a poker game, you can bet when there is a strong card or to trick the opponent. But what is the stake limit? This is the content of this section.

Currently people play poker in 3 main betting limits. These are: Unlimited bets, Fixed limits and Pot limits.

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Introduction to Poker

No limit

As its name suggests, the No Limit poker game does not limit the amount of bets / elements. When it’s their turn, each player can bet / factor any amount, at most all they have on the table. Commonly writen as NL(No-Limit) Example: You sit right behind a big blind in a $ 1/2 $ No Limit table. After the division, you are the first one to act. You can bet from a minimum of $ 2 to large blinds to up to the full amount you have (all-in).

Fixed limit

In poker games with fixed betting structure, each player can choose according to, bet or element, but only with fixed amount. The fixed amount for each round of betting is preceded.

For example: In a fixed $ 1 / $ 2 poker table: 1 $ is called a small bet, applied in 2 rounds of first bet (Pre Flop and Flop). That is, only one bet per fixed amount of $ 1 each time.

2 $ is called big bet, applies to 2 last betting rounds (Turn and River). That is, each time a bet is allowed / the fixed amount is $ 2.

Pot limit

In poker games play according to the pot limit structure, each player can bet or factor the maximum amount equal to the pot size at that time.

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II 46

HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

CHAPTER II

ADVANCE TECHNIQUES This section will teach you how not to gamble at Poker table buy using math, outs, bankroll management and advices from the professional poker players.

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Advance Techniques

Counting Outs In Poker, you are usually in the lower door with hands that still can get better (waiting for Straight, or Flush for example) but you still have a chance to win when the next card is dealt.

You can hit the missing leaf in the turn and river round to create a made hand.

The necessary cards to make your cards become made hand called outs.

When you meet the card needed to form the set, it is also called hit.

And the possibility that you can get outs, called odds.

Outs are quite simple concepts, but odds are much more complicated.

Focus on understanding the concepts of outs and odds.

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HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

For example: 7

You hold

Flop is

A

8

10

3

You have draw waiting for the Flush.

Any Heart on the Turn will help you hit the Flush. The deck has 13 cards, you have 2 Hearts, 2 cards are on the flop. So 13 - 2 - 2 = 9, you have 9 cards left to help you hit the Flush. That is equivalent to having 9 outs.

The more draw you have, the stronger your post will be. Note that you only count your cards to hit nut (strong cards), and those that even if you hit you are still not sure that your cards are the strongest, do not count them as outs.

Advance Techniques

A

3

10

7

8

9 outs left to make your Flush 2

3

4

5

6

9

J

Q

K

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Advance Techniques

Turn Outs to Odds Odds are a relatively complicated thing to understand. To calculate odds we use the following formula:

For example:

Step 1: Calculate the number of outs to complete your draw.

Flop is

Step 2: Divide the number of outs on the ability to appear that card in the next round.

7

You hold

A

8

10

3

The deck has 52 cards. There are 5 cards I already know are 2 cards on hand and 3 cards on flop.

There are currently 47 unknown cards, which can appear in turn. So let’s try to calculate odds out of a Heart at the turn.

The remaining 9 muscle leaves / 47 hidden leaves = 0.19 = 19% or 4:1 (4 to 1) The number 4 to 1 or odds. Usually I personally prefer using the % win index rather than odds. When we use odds of type 4 to 1, it is easier to compare with pot odds. Pot odds you will learn in the following rounds.

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HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Advance Techniques

Pot Odds Don’t mix odds and Pot odds. Pot odds are completely different concepts.

Go back to the previous example. Pot is $ 8, rival bet on $ 2 is $ 10. You lose $ 2 to call in to eat a $ 10 pot.

So the pot odds are $ 10 divided by $ 2 or 5: 1. So the pot odds are 5: 1 Pot odds are 5: 1 while odds are 4: 1 So simple rules compare Pot odds and odds. The bigger the pot odds compared to odds, the more profitable your call will be.

Pot Odds - Can I play that hand?

This is an important, extremely important issue that determines all your poker games. Applying odds and pot odds you will be able to answer the question when you should quit when you should call.

This is also an economic problem of risk and profit. Cards with low risk of high profits of course we play to the station already.

For example Pot odds is 10: 1 and odds are still 4: 1, so your call is worth a lot.

In contrast, the pot odds are 1: 1 and odds are 4: 1, so consider fold this hand.

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Advance Techniques

Bankroll Management Players have bankrolls to reduce their chance of losing all the money they have set-aside to play the game.

A bankroll is also measured in buy-ins.

Let’s say you decided you wanted to have a 30 buy-in bankroll.

You wanted to play in a NL100 game (No-Limit). How much money would you need? A buy-in in a NL100 game is $100. So, 30 buy-ins would be $3,000.

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A frequent question from beginners is “What is the right size bankroll?” Or in other words, they would like to know how many buy-ins they should have for the game they’re playing.

Well, first things first. A bankroll is for a winning player. A losing player does not need a bankroll; he needs a budget.

As a beginner, there’s a good chance you will not be a winning player for a while. So, make sure you’re playing at a game size where losing many buy-ins is not going to have a large negative impact on your finances or your emotions.

HOW NOT TO SUCK AT POKER

Advance Techniques

Don’t Tilt Tilt - the bankroll numer 1 killer is unfortunately a very often visited person when playing poker.

Tilt is when your gameplay is led by negative emotions rather than rational. It is usually triggered by a series of bad luck (bad cards, continuous bad beat ...). Simply put, every time you get angry, lose control, start playing crazy poker to remove something, you’re tilting!

Which consequence of each tilt is sure you can imagine. Lightly, your bankroll is serious and heavy, flying your account. Which later happens more often!

You need to understand that poker has won, lost. No matter how good you play, it is inevitable to encounter a lose streak.

Accept and practice tilt control. If you can’t do that, then all your hard work will end up dumping the river in one session, even a tilt-up session. In other words if not winning is tilt, it’s best not to play poker because it will only bring about wastage of time, energy and money.

The hardest part in tilt resistance is the discipline factor. Everything in the talk is very easy but it is different. For example, taking a 5-7 minute break after every hour is very simple. But the reality is that when you are engrossed in playing, it is very difficult to comply with it if you are not determined.

Finally, hopefully after this book you have the method and determination to win tilt when playing poker. Don’t let your bankroll continue to be the victim of tilt!

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Have fun playing Poker

Don’t suck