Poker Books and Strategy
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Discover the Exact Breakthrough Strategies an Underground Poker Pro Uses to Earn Over $1200.00 Per Night Effortlessly at Online Poker Sit and Go (SNG) Tournaments…
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Poker strategy is one of the most complex and interesting fields out there right now.
Mathematicians of all sorts love it. It is the ultimate game for people who are obsessed with numbers. As a whole, poker betting is all about odds. There is room for personal playing style, but essentially it all comes down to numbers.
You have to weigh the chances of someone having a better hand than you, the odds that the other players are bluffing, and the risks of raising them that against the possible rewards. Once you really understand poker strategy, it becomes a real nail biting obsession. It is enough to make even the most cool, calm and collected players sweat. Yet this is just what is so good about the game.
Of course, like in any other game some people feel that the best possible poker strategy is cheating. Unfortunately, poker cheating is very difficult as well as poor sportsmanship. Some online systems have holes in them that allow you to see other people’s cards, so if you can exploit these, you can cheat. Cheating at a poker table, however, requires a lot more skill. Serious poker players know how to spot a cheater. If you want to be able to cheat them, you have to be better than them. If you want to be better them, you have to take every opportunity possible to study poker strategy.
This really starts with poker books. A lot of people assume that a poker book will be dry reading, but in fact they are often quite fascinating. They explain the game in details you will never hear without them. Not only will you learn poker strategies, but you will also learn betting strategies, ways to tell if someone is cheating, how to bluff, and every other aspect of playing poker.
Poker is great because it integrates both the high and the low. On the low level, there is gut psychology – trying to fake your opponent out and not be faked out by him. On the high level, poker strategy involves some pretty sophisticated mathematics and statistics. True poker players can master both of these. On the one hand, they are intellectual enough to understand how the game is played, but on the other hand they never lose touch with their guts. Poker doesn’t take luck – it takes brains and it takes nerves. If you have all those in abundance, you can make it. That is all it takes to be among the best.
I got into poker for the same reason many people do. When I was a kid, I loved Westerns. I loved watching the bravery, the courage, the villainy, the adventure, and of course the beautiful women. But most of all, I loved the games of nerve. I loved the moment before the Cowboys would draw their pistols. I loved the silence that would surround them. And of course, I loved the card games, where the hero would outsmart the villain.
Once I got serious about poker, however, I realized that it was a much different game than I had thought it was. To play good poker, you need to read poker books, and study the game as thoroughly as possible. Instead of working on my sneer, or learning to hold my whiskey, I read a poker book every week. Instead of studying gunslinging, I studied mathematics. It turns out that poker is not a game for tough guys. Poker is a game for nerds and geniuses.
The reason that poker books are so important is that poker becomes more complicated the higher the level of play gets. Poker books will tell you about odds, when to bluff and when not to, how to bluff, and how to calculate the perfect bet to make. The first time I tried to sit down and read books about poker, I found the whole experience boring. I was in it for the action, after all, not the theory. But when I got to sit in on a game and test what I had learned, my opinion of the poker books changed for the better. Just one week of closely reading those poker books had improved my game tremendously. I skinned my poker friends alive!
No matter what your game, you should start with basic draw poker books. They will tell you all about poker hands, and how to count cards and calculate percentages. After that, you can choose your game. I like to play Texas holdem poker, so that is what I study the most. It is usually a good idea to try out a lot of different games and see what you have a natural knack for. Then you can buy a few poker books and study them. When I say study, I mean study! It will not help you to casually read your poker books. You have to dive into them deeply if you want to improve your game.
3 Card Poker
One of the most poker games today is Texas Hold ‘Em, although there is a growing trend among players who are looking into 3 card poker. This game is also referred to as tricard poker or guts by those who have played it for quite some time. It is an exciting game that tests both the skill and nerve of even the most veteran player simply by the nature of its rules.
In 3 card poker there are usually five or more players in order to create a more competitive match. The maximum number of players is usually set at ten which almost always results in a most exhilarating time for everyone. Play begins with all at the table placing their bets or antes into the pot. Players are then dealt three cards each and must decide whether or not they are going to play or fold. As it is very difficult to get even a pair in this version of poker most players will routinely fold. If everyone at the table folds their cards the pot is carried over to the remaining hand. If only one person plays they win the pot regardless of what they have. As you can surmise the amount of money in the pot can build rather quickly as there are no other cards available to the players than the three that are dealt. A game of 3 card poker can quickly turn into something similar to a race to the finish between horses at your local track.
Now that the basic rules for 3 card poker are known, it is also fun to decide which of the two most well-liked versions of the game you should play. The first is called Survivor. In this type of guts, of all the players who do not fold only the one with the lowest valued hand must pay the pot amount back into the center of the table. Therefore, if you feel that you have a competitive hand the risk of playing is not as great as in the version known as Monte Carlo. In Monte Carlo 3 card poker everyone who plays and does not win must pay into the new pot. This can be from as little as one player to everyone at the table except the winner assuming no players folded. As long as there is more than one person playing each hand the successful pot will always be more than just the original wagers with the potential winnings growing rapidly.
As you can see it is quite easy for the pot to build in either version of 3 card poker. When a round eventually occurs with just one player showing his cards, the game returns to what is essentially the beginning and the excitement begins anew.
