What to do with a bad hand or a great hand is comparatively easy. I’m sure you can see that you should fold the bad hands and somehow extract as much as you can with the great hands. Let us discuss some of the in-between hands; non-lock, GOOD betting hands. These hands are usually called “driving” hands — and for good reason — because you should “drive” with them; that is, bet strongly. These hands are your bread and butter. They are much more frequent than the all too infrequent locks — and generally should be played entirely different than locks. If you get nothing else out of this book, you should learn the strategic difference between a lock and a good “driving” hand.
Now try hard to get the feel of the following. Good driving hands should not be bet merely nonchalantly! In the finest traditions of poker, these hands should be driven with some amount of flair! You should understand that typically a certain psychological offensive feeling or attitude usually accompanies driving. Most good poker players have their own individual style and characteristic quirks when it comes to driving. But whether the money is thrown in, slammed in, delicately and politely moved in, or deposited with a song, the money goes into the pot — and that player has taken the offensive.
A money gauntlet
This is what is really happening: the player is throwing a money gauntlet at the other players and telling them to pay up or get out of his pot. Since any of these good betting hands can be beaten, it is an absolutely necessary strategy to try to lessen the competition. Since a free fourth card often changes a ho-hum, droppable hand into a potential winner, now is the best time to try to reduce attendance. Note again, however, that you do not want to drive with an absolute lock hand, because with a real lock, you simply do not want to drive players out.
Let us take a closer look at some of these good betting, “driving” hands. Note that many of these driving hands are related to a certain type of flop. Flops can be generally analyzed into four types, in descending order:
I. pair — flop contains a pair (trips are very rare);
2. flush — flop contains two or three cards of same suit;
3. straight —flop contains two or three adjacent cards;
4. random — none of the above.
If a flop is more than one type, it is the higher type (lower number) that prevails. For example, if the flop consists of both a pair and a flush, you should be wary of your flush prospects (especially if the raising starts), since there is a high likelihood of a full house. Similarly, be wary of straight prospects when there may be a flush lurking.
The following list of good flop-betting hands usually assumes the lack of a higher flop threat presence (beware driving flush or straight comes if the flop contains a pair):
1. board set — you have a card that matches the pair flopped;
2. hidden set — one flop card matches your pair in hand;
3. high flush — you hold the I st, 2nd or 3rd highest flush draw;
4. straight — you hold a made straight (beware the low end) or an eight card or more draw to a nut straight;
5. high two pair — the higher the better;
6. high and low pair — marginal, beware the “drawing dead” possibilities (few or no win cards).
Finally, the dealer turns over the second community card, giving each player the equivalent of five cards. She then proceeds to turn over each player’s hand, one by one, and pays off the winners. The actual payout schedules will be described in the section on payoffs.
Until the dealer turns them over, players are supposed to hide their cards from each other. If you do get a glimpse of another player’s hand, it can occasionally help your decision making process. How to take advantage of such added information will be covered in the section on playing strategy.
Table etiquette
The first thing you have to do is to put out three equal bets. Place these bets directly on the three circles in front of you as soon as the dealer has collected all the cards from the previous round. Although it is not recommended, this is also the time to place a $1 bet on the red bonus spot.
After all the cards have been dealt, look at your three cards. Since it is against casino rules to show your cards to anyone else, you should make a reasonable attempt to shield them. Make your betting decision quickly enough so as not to hold up the game. This should be easy to do if you remember the strategy rules given in this chapter.
If you decide to “let it ride,” square up your cards and place them face down directly behind the center bet. To get your bet back, wait for your turn and then scratch the cards on the felt (like getting a hit in blackjack). Wait for the dealer to push the bet toward you so that you can retrieve it. Once the cards are dealt, you are not allowed to touch any chips that are on the betting circles.
When the first community card is turned up, the betting decision is repeated. After the second community card is turned up, place your cards face down in front of you. The dealer will then turn over every player’s cards, in turn, and make the appropriate payoffs. Do not toss your cards; let the dealer turn them over even if you do not have a winning hand.
Tripping
Tipping, of course, is a matter of personal preference. Instead of tipping a dealer directly, you may prefer to place a bet for the dealer. In this game, placing a bet for the dealer is discouraged because of the multi-tier betting procedure. Most casinos do let you place a dealer bet at the “$“ circle. Because the return on this bet is unfavorable, do yourself and the dealer a favor by just tossing her a chip.
Betting in poker works like this:
When it’s your turn to play, if no one has placed a bet, you have two options: check or bet.
1. Check – you don't put any chips in the pot; you wait to see what the other players will do
2. Bet – you put chips into the pot. In a limit game the size of the bet is fixed, in a no limit Texas Holdem game the size of the bet can be from a minimum of the big blind to the maximum of your entire stack (all in).
If someone has already placed a bet, and now it's your turn, you have three options: fold, call or raise.
1. Fold – you decide to leave the hand, meaning that you put your cards down and don't bet on this hand anymore.
2. Call – you put into the pot the same amount as the original bet.
3. Raise – you make the bet bigger than the original bet. The amount raised should be at least double the original bet, and should be placed on the table.
The only exception to this rule is if you go all in, you can raise to your entire stack even if it’s not twice as much as the original bet. In this case players behind you will not be able to reraise, for example: player from sit 1 bets $10, player from sit 2 calls and you go all in with $16. Players 1 and 2 can only call your bet and not reraise it.
The dealer
To illustrate the effect of a copy, suppose you beat the banker’s five cards hand and you both have a two card ace-queen. This is a push because the two card hand, being a copy, is won by the banker. On the other hand, if the banker’s five- cards hand was better than yours, you lose because both of your hands were beat.
The dealer’s hand is the first one to be compared against the banker’s (unless the dealer is the banker). Then the remaining hands are compared against the banker’s hand, and the dealer settles the bets. The dealer makes all the payouts and collections, whether or not the dealer is the banker. Winning hands are paid even money, less a 5% commission. Losing hands lose the amount wagered. A commission is not charged against losing or tie hands.
Another player
Although the dealer represents the casino and handles the cards and the payoffs, from the playing standpoint she is just another player at the table. Her hand is on an equal footing with the other players’ hands. The casino earns its profit from the 5% commission. The hand you have to beat is the banker’s, who may or may not be the dealer.
Finally, don’t be put off by the ritualistic procedures and seeming complexity of the game. This stuff is all handled by the dealer. All you have to do is put up your wager and set your hand. In most ways, it is simpler to play than blackjack.
The banker
Each time a hand is dealt, the position of the bank rotates one step counter-clockwise (clockwise in some casinos). As was mentioned earlier, the dealer is included in the rotation, so each player gets the opportunity to be banker on every seventh hand. The dealer substitutes as banker for any player who passes and for all vacant player positions. A white plastic marker indicates the current position of the bank.
A few casinos have different procedures for determining how often a player gets to be banker. When no other players want the bank, some casinos will allow you to bank as often as every other hand. If you accept the bank, you must be able and willing to cover all wagers on the table. If you cannot cover all the bets, many casinos will agree to co bank with you on a 50-50 basis. When co-banking, the banker’s cards have to be set according to the casino rules.
Same advantage
When you accept the bank, you are betting against all the other players and the house. The dealer will place a bet for the house equal to your previous bet. You may request to have this bet reduced to the table minimum. In some casinos, you may decline to bet against the house. There is no good reason for doing this, however, since you have the same advantage (you win all copies) over the house that you have over the other players.
Whenever you assume the bank, the dealer continues to handle all the chips and makes the necessary payouts and collections. At the end of each hand, you are charged a 5% commission against your net aggregate winnings; that is, the total wins minus the losses.
Getting a poor hand while acting as banker could be very costly. So, why would anyone assume such a risk? Because, in the long run, being banker gives you an edge over the other players—just like the casino’s edge. That is, you win all copy hands. For this reason, professionals and expert players try to bank as often as possible.
