Poker Lab

Some decks, while using the French suits, give each suit a different color to make the suits more distinct from each other. In Bridge, such decks are known as “no-revoke” decks (because it is harder to accidentally “renege” on a contract by not following suit) and the most common colors are black Spades, red Hearts, blue Diamonds and green Clubs. A recent related set occasionally used in Germany uses green Spades (compare to Leaves), red Hearts, yellow Diamonds (compare to Bells) and black Clubs (compare to Acorns). This is a compromise deck devised to allow players from East Germany (who used German suits) and West Germany (who adopted the French suits) to be comfortable with the same deck when playing tournament Skat after the Reunification.

Play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down, with the player in the small blind receiving the first card and the player in the button seat receiving the last card dealt. (Like most poker games, the deck is a standard 52-card deck, no jokers.) These cards are the player’s hole or pocket cards. These are the only cards each player will receive individually, and they will only (possibly) be revealed at the showdown, making Texas hold ‘em a closed poker game.The hand begins with a “pre-flop” betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the player to the left of the dealer, if no blinds are used) and continuing clockwise. A round of betting continues until every player has folded, put in all of their chips, or matched the amount put in by all other active players. See betting for a detailed account. Note that the blinds are considered “live” in the pre-flop betting round, meaning that they contribute to the amount that the blind player must contribute, and that, if all players call around to the player in the big blind position, that player may either check or raise.

The relationship between pot odds and odds of winning is one of the most important concepts in poker strategy. Pot odds are the ratio of the size of the pot to the size of the bet required to stay in the pot.[1] For example, if a player must call $10 for a chance to win a $40 pot (not including his $10 call), his pot odds are 4-to-1. To have a positive expectation, a player’s odds of winning must be better than his pot odds. If the player’s odds of winning are also 4-to-1 (20% chance of winning), and if he plays the pot five times, his expected return is to break even (losing four times and winning once).

Implied odds is a more complicated concept, though related to pot odds. The implied odds on a hand are based not on the money currently in the pot, but on the expected size of the pot at the end of the hand. When facing an even money situation (like described in the previous paragraph) and holding a strong drawing hand (say a four-flush) a skilled player will consider calling a bet or even opening based on their implied odds. This is particularly true in multi-way pots, where it is likely that one or more opponents will call all the way to showdown.

The fundamental theorem of poker, introduced by David Sklansky, states that: every time you play your hand the way you would if you could see your opponent’s cards, you gain, and every time your opponent plays his cards differently from the way he would play them if he could see your cards, you gain.[1] This theorem is the foundation for many poker strategy topics. For example, bluffing and slow-playing (explained below) are examples of using deception to induce your opponents to play differently than they would if they could see your cards. There are some exceptions to the fundamental theorem in certain multi-way pot situations, as described in Morton’s theorem.

When playing short-handed (at a table with fewer players than normal), players must loosen up their play (play more hands) for several reasons:[1] There is less likelihood of another player having a strong hand because there are fewer players. Each player’s share of the forced bets increases because there are fewer players contributing to the forced bets, thus waiting for premium hands becomes more expensive. This type of situation comes up most often in tournament style play. In a cash game, the adjustments are very similar, but not quite as drastic as the table can ask for what is known as a ‘rake break.’ A rake break occurs when the floor-man, who represents the casino, agrees to take a smaller portion than usual for the hand. For example a random casino might normally receive 10% of the pot up to 5 dollars for a ‘rake.’ In this case the table would only owe 10% up to 3 dollars until there are a sufficient number of players again. In online poker rake breaks are determined automatically.