JV'S POKER ROOM

BY: John Vorhaus

Okay, gang, we've been at this a while now, learning about the (formerly) mysterious and scary world of card room poker. If all has gone according to plan, you're starting to feel comfortable with the idea (if not indeed the fact) of going into a public card room, buying in to a modestly priced poker game and experiencing the thrill and real satisfaction of gambling in a situation where your decisions truly matter. In case you're starting to suffer from information overload (or in case you're, in fact, new to this series) I'd like to review for you some of the most important points of the public card room experience.

1. THERE'S NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF. Unlike blackjack or craps or slot machines, when you're playing public poker, you're playing against other players and not against the house. Although your opponents are real live people, you don't really need to fear them. They may be more experienced than you, but it doesn't follow that they're smarter, braver, stronger or better looking than you. If you have learned how to play an intelligent, sensible game of poker without going crazy and without getting in over your head, then your opponents are not to be feared. Don't think of them as scary monsters; think of them as contributors to your scholarship fund!

2. THE RULES AND PROTOCOLS ARE SIMPLE. Most public card room games are what's known as fixed-limit games, where the betting on the early rounds is one unit (say $3) and the betting on the later rounds is two units (thus, $6). Most games require that you post antes or some sort of blind bet; in some clubs you also have to pay a collection as you go. All the information you need about a card room's rules and procedures is posted in the room on a big sign. Go ahead and read it. If you have any questions, ask the floor manager. Once you get in the game, you'll easily have enough information so that you don't have to look like a rookie if you don't want to.

3. TOURNAMENTS ARE GREAT TRAINING GROUNDS. All over the public poker world, you can find small buy-in tournaments which will let you practice your poker skills for hours and hours, for a cost as small as $20 or $30. These tournaments are a great way to get your feet wet, to experience the world of card room poker with a fixed, and very small, exposure of risk. Any poker room floor manager will be happy to share his or her club's tournament schedule with you, and you can also find a comprehensive list of these small daily or weekly tournaments in free magazines like Poker Digest. Even if you don't feel like you're ready for cash games, give a tournament a try! Who knows? You might even take home the money.

4. TABLE SELECTION IS KEY. Poker players come in all shapes and sizes. Some players are very skilled. Others are extremely - how can I put this delicately? - unskilled. When you have a choice of games (and in any decent-sized card room you will almost always have a choice of games) try to find the game with the greatest number of timid or passive players. You can easily get the sense of a certain game just by standing and watching for a while. Stand and watch until you find a game that's favorable - then go after it! Remember, poker isn't like tennis, where you want to go up against top pros for the sake of improving your own play. In poker we say, "Don't challenge strong players, challenge weak ones; that's what they're there for."

5. KNOW YOUR LIMIT(S). If you're playing in a $6-12 fixed limit poker game, you should expect to buy into that game for $200. If putting $200 into a poker game makes you uncomfortable, find a smaller limit game to play. Try always to buy into a game for at least the average amount of money that the other players have. If you can't do that, find a different game or a different limit, because short money is scared money in poker, and you never want to be playing with scared money.

6. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Aside from strategy columns like this one, there's a whole host of useful poker information out there, and it's yours just for the asking. Gambling book stores, and even mainstream book stores, have a number of poker books you can read, any one of which will help you sharpen your game. Magazines offer tips from world class players (and also from guys like me) and these magazines can be had for free in any card room. There's also abundant free information on poker strategy available on the internet, not to mention web-based discussion groups like rec.gambling.poker, where your every poker question will be answered in the time it takes you to ask.

7. KEEP RECORDS. Since poker is a game of skill, a game of making correct decisions, you can measure how skillful you are by keeping accurate and complete records of your performance. These records might be skewed by luck in the beginning, but over time they will tell you what kinds of games you excel at, which limits are your best or your worst, even whether you perform better in short "sprint" situations or in longer marathon sessions. Remember, knowledge is power in poker, and your honest, unblinking poker records are the key to your self-knowledge.

8. TAKE TELLS, BUT DON'T GIVE THEM. Many players will unconsciously give away information about their intentions before they act. They'll telegraph their plans to call, fold or raise your bet. This class of information, known as tells, can be incredibly useful to you, so be on the lookout! If the guy sitting behind you has already indicated that he plans to raise, it might be a good time to fold a hand you would otherwise play! At the same time, be on the lookout for tells of your own. Always wait until it's your turn to act, and always act in a neutral, consistent manner. Why give the other guy a free line on your play? Take tells, but don't give 'em!

9. THE FIRST DAYS ARE THE HARDEST DAYS. If you haven't yet taken the plunge into public poker, I suggest you do. Enter a cheap tournament or buy into a low-limit game, but get in there! Even if you suffer a setback at first (and there's no guaranteeing you will) I think you'll find that the experience of playing a betting game where your decisions make a difference will change the way you look at gaming forever.

10. POKER IS A GAME OF MISTAKES. Everyone makes mistakes playing poker. The one who makes the fewest mistakes is the one who makes the most money. So don't worry so much about fancy, tricky play. Just bring your best game every game, and let the other guy's mistakes make money for you.