Best Poker Books
Best Poker Books
A Guide To The Top 10 Poker Books
Many new poker players begin playing poker after seeing it on television. Although TV poker is fun to watch, and can teach the basic rules of the game and a little bit of strategy, it doesn’t really show the ins and out of poker that you need to learn to be a winning poker player. Consequently, after watching poker on TV, and losing some money, many new poker players do one of two things, 1. Continue playing poker without studying, and continue losing money, or 2. Invest in some Poker Book and learn what professional poker players can teach you about how to win money at poker. These recommended poker books found below are good for both the beginning poker player, or the more experienced player looking to take his game to the next level. So if you are a Texas Hold’em Poker player, pick up one of these top 10 poker books to help develop your game.
One thing you should keep in mind when reading poker books, even the best poker books, is that what is right for one poker player isn’t right for every poker player. Read these top recommended poker books, incorporate their strategies into your game, but don’t get stuck playing only one style. Even the top poker book won’t magically turn you into a better player if you aren’t willing to study and adapt your game.
1. Buy – Doyle Brunson’s Super System
 |
Doyle Brunson’s Super System: A Course in Power poker is the original guide to poker. Doyle Brunson is one of the most well known poker players today. He has been playing since the 1950’s, and has 11 world series of poker bracelets. When this book was first published in the 1970’s, many other poker players thought that Doyle “Texas Dolly” simply gave away too many of poker’s juiciest secrets, and that it allowed amateur poker players to get too good too fast, eliminating some of the biggest fish at the table. This edition of the poker book includes many chapters by other poker players in their respective areas of expertise. Top cash game players, tournament poker players, and heads up poker players all wrote chapters in the book. Doyle Brunson’s super system is the epitome of a how to guide for poker books, and definitely one of the Best Poker Books |
2. Buy – The Theory of Poker – David Sklansky
 |
The Theory of Poker is one of the most detailed and in depth poker books ever written, and ranks second on our list of Top 10 Poker Books. This book does not illustrate specific hands; rather it goes into a general understanding of poker situations you will encounter. This best poker book will require a lot of study and re-reading to gain maximum value from it. However, it is worth the time and money and will help you gain a much better understanding of poker. Many top poker players swear by this book. |
3. Buy – Phil Hellmuth’s Play Poker like the Pros
 |
Play Poker like the Pro’s is one of the best poker books that any beginning poker player can buy. Phil goes into detail on many different poker variants, including poker tournaments, online cash games, and home poker games. Phil Hellmuth is to many, the Tiger Woods of poker. He has won the most world series of poker bracelets in Texas Holdem of any poker player, and is considered by many to have the best poker instincts. What is unique about this book is the breadth of coverage of different poker topics. Hellmuth gives a detailed discussion of dozens of different poker situations. Consider this book a poker textbook. It is essentially a training manual for the aspiring poker player. |
4. Buy – Caro’s Book of Poker Tells – Mike Caro
 |
Mike Caro is nick named the mad genius of poker. His poker book goes into rich detail in an area where many other poker books are lacking, poker tells. To win at poker you need to do two things, understand how your opponents are playing and develop a strategy to beat them. Other books help you develop a strategy, but this is absolutely the best book for reading your opponents and understanding how they are playing. He gives tips on what tells to look for from beginning, intermediate, and experienced poker players, and has dozens of pictures of the actual tells demonstrated. This book’s depth and usefulness lands it the fourth spot on our list of 10 Best Poker Books |
5. Buy – Internet Texas Holdem – Matthew Hilger
 |
Internet Texas Holdem focuses exclusively on playing online poker and winning. This book is the most popular poker book for young poker players who play almost exclusively online. This recommended poker book gives you detailed information on what starting hands to play, and some of the best ways to play them. It has over 200 different poker hands the author played on the internet, and will walk you through the though process and strategy for each one. This is a great book to use as a reference as you play poker. In fact, you may even photocopy some of the pages and hang them beside your computer to look at as you play. It is a must have for any internet cash game player. |
6. Buy – Sit ‘n Go Strategy – Collin Moshman
 |
Sit ‘n Go’s are a popular form of online poker. Also known as single table tournaments, they are constantly running at any poker site and launch whenever 9 or 10 players fill out the table. This is the most detailed book published about how to dominate sit and go poker tournaments. Follow it’s strategy on how to play the beginning, middle, and end of the sit and go tournament and you will be amazed at how often you can beat the table. This book gives a sit and go strategy over view, as well as detailed hand analysis. If you play a number of online sit and go’s, then this book will quickly pay for itself. Sit and go’s may be a niche poker genre, but this book’s detail and it’s ability to make you money guarantees it a spot in our list of Top 10 recommended poker books. |
7. Buy – The Poker Mindset – Matthew Hilger
 |
Do you want to know what separates the top poker pro’s from other players? It isn’t just their ability to read other players, or odds crunching abilities, it is a mindset and a series of habits that allow the best poker players to bring their top game to the poker table day after day. Have you ever gone on tilt and blown a whole night’s winnings in 20 minutes? This book will show you the seven core attitudes and concepts to enable you to have the best emotional and behavior attitudes for playing your best poker game. This book will show you how to avoid tilt, how to manage your bankrolls, how to study and outplay your opponents, and how to come back from downswing and bad beats. Other books will help you win more money in a given hand or in one night, learn the concepts in this book and you will have more money after the end of the year. |
8. Buy – Holdem Poker For Advanced Players – David Sklansky
 |
Texas Holdem is an easy game to learn, but a difficult one to master. There are hundreds of different concepts that you have to understand and balance against each other. Should you play tight, or try to push people off their hands. When do pot odds dictate a fold, but the implied odds necessitate a call. Skalansky’s Hold’em for advanced poker players is a must for any poker player looking to take their game to the next level. However, this book isn’t for the beginning poker player. Some of the concepts and tactics won’t make sense until you have a good understand of the game. |
 |
Dan Harrington is one of the most winning tournament poker players in history, including back to back appearances at the world series of poker final table. Dan Harrington’s book Harrington On Holdem is one of the classic Texas Holdem strategy books. It is one the required reading list for any serious tournament poker player. This book will take you through the strategies and tactics required to work your way through the hundreds or thousands of hands that you need to play to win a poker tournament. He will show you how to analyze hands, optimize your bets, and win the most money possible. |
10. Buy – Winning Low-Limit Hold’em – Lee Jones
 |
Most poker players start out playing low stakes. You need to build up your bankroll, and demonstrate to yourself that you can win, before you want to venture into the shark infested waters of higher stakes poker. However, many poker authors are experience pros who have only played high stakes poker for years. They don’t know the differences between the high stakes games, and the low stakes internet games you will be playing. However, Lee Jones’ book is an excellent reference for the low stakes internet player. It details all the things that you will need to know to win low stakes poker, including how to play against bad poker players, and how to take the money of players who are splashing around tons of chips. |
7 Poker Dealing Tips
7 Poker Dealing Tips
If you want your home poker game to go smoothly, good poker dealing is a must. If there are a lot of poker dealing errors, or even just slow and sloppy dealing, the game can quickly go from being a fun time, to a shouting match. Here are some tips for dealing poker that you should use the next time you decide to host a poker game or poker tournament.
1) Don’t Rotate The Deal – A common thing you see at home poker games is people rotating the deal. Everyone deals one hand, and then passes the deck to the next person who shuffles and deals the next hand. Rotating the deal is a mistake! And I will tell you why
- Many poker players are quite terrible at shuffling and dealing cards. Not only do inexperienced dealers make the vast majority of poker dealing errors, just watching a person try to shuffle cards who can’t do it grinds on the nerves
- The Dealer should be in the middle of the table – If you have an oval poker table, as opposed to a round poker table or an octagonal one, then whenever the dealer is at the ends of the table, all the other players will have to strain to see the cards that are dealt. Keeping the cards in the middle of the table makes it much easier for all the players to see the cards, and for the dealer to pull chips into the pot, and push the pot to the winning player.
2) Don’t Host & Deal – If you are the host of the poker tournament, you should not also be the dealer. If you want to run a smooth poker game, you will need time to do you poker hosting jobs, such as cashing players in and out (So you don’t get Missing Money at your poker game), explaining rules to new comers, and generally trying to keep your poker buddies from making a mess of your house. Although it may unavoidable for you to deal your first poker night, after that you should find out which of your friends are reliable dealers, and rotate it between them.
3) Do Rotate Between Reliable Dealers – Dealing poker the whole night can take some of the fun out of the poker game. Although you shouldn’t let the worst players deal at your poker night, once you have a group of reliable dealers you can rotate between the. Whether you want to rotate nightly, i.e. someone deals the entire night, but then 2 or 3 other people each deal the next several nights, or you want to rotate every hour, changing dealers will help make the game good for everybody. ( If you are hosting a poker tournament, as opposed to a poker cash game, when ever you rotate dealers it is a good time to change tables or redraw for seats.
4) Consider using two decks – Using two differently colored decks (a red deck and a blue deck) at your home poker game can significantly speed up play. Instead of waiting while the dealer retrieves, organizes, and then shuffles at the cards a new hand can be dealt almost instantly. If you do use two decks, then have the player sitting to the right of the dealer shuffle the deck not in use that hand for the dealer.
5) Do Use A Dealer Button – I’ve been to poker home games where a dealer button wasn’t used. You can get away with that if you are passing the deal, as the deck is the de facto dealer button. But since shouldn’t rotate the deal at your poker game, you need to use a dealer button to keep things straight. Each hand before you begin dealing the cards, pass the button on to the next player. It will keep the other poker players from complaining that you made a mistake and skipped their turn on the button, or that they were already in the big blind. Many poker chip sets come with a dealer button, and if you don’t have one and large round white object will do, even a real button !
6) Do Take Steps To Discourage Cheating – It’s amazing, but some people will cheat at a poker game for even the smallest of stakes. Having dealers that you can trust, and who don’t make many poker dealing mistakes can go a long ways towards minimizing cheating and minimizing the opportunities for an angle shooter. However there are other things you can do to further reduce cheating. One way of reducing cheating is to have your dealers lay the deck of cards on the table, and to deal each card by sliding off the top. This has two fold advantages, laying the deck on the table keeps any dishonest poker player from being able to peek at the bottom card of the deck, or from seeing the cards being flashed as they are peeled off the top. Additionally, if you have a mechanic at your table, this method will help to prevent them from being able to deal off the bottom or to deal seconds.
7) Do Keep Track Of The Number Of Players in the Hand - This is a pet peeve of many poker players, that the dealer does not keep track of how many poker players are still in the hand and announce it on each street. As the dealer, knowing which players still have live hands is very important, it keeps you from making mistakes like dealing a street too early when there are still players left to act. Announcing how many hands are live on each street lets each player know how many opponents they have, and keeps someone from trying to take advantage by hiding their hand behind their chips.
Following these tips at your next poker tournament will help to ensure that it is a success. Check out this Poker Tournament Hosting checklist for more tips on how to ensure you have a great poker night.
Free Poker Blind Timer Software
Free Poker Blind Timers
A poker blind counter is a piece of software that keeps track of what level you are at in your poker tournament and how large the small and big blinds should be. Some of these free poker blind clocks will also help you seat the poker players at the start of the tournament, and move poker players as people bust out. There are actually quite a few free poker blinds programs on the internet. Some of them just have the basic countdown feature, while others have useful additions like poker chip distribution calculators, or the ability to track your poker league statistics.
Some of the programs are completely free and internet based, some require a download but are portable, and others give a free trial. These timers are separated by those that are free, and those that require payment after a free trial.
Free Poker Blinds Programs
- Blind Valet – Creates the blinds and levels based on your desired tournament length and chip set (nice software) – Web Based
- DD Poker – Poker Clock as well as online poker stat tracker – Download
- Dr. Neau – Nearly fully featured free version, extended extra features available for people running a league or a lot of tournaments for a fee – Download
- G3 Poker Tournament Clock – Download
- Poker Room Home Game Organizer – Download – From PokerRoom.com who always has nice products
- Poker Time - Web Based – Free to use but has a nag screen unless you donate
- Pokerino – Download
- Simple Tournament Director – Web Based
- That Poker Clock – Download Version and Web Based Version
Premium Poker Blind Timer Software – With Free Trial
- Birdsoft Poker Timer - Download
- Home Game Hero – Download
- Party Countdown Timer – Download
- Poker 2 Night – Download – No time limit on the trial but limited levels in the tournament
- Poker Clock – Download – 14 day trial
- Poker Tournament Hero – Download – trial limited to 3 blind levels
- Say It Poker – Download – Trial Limited To 8 Levels
- The Tournament Director – Download – 30 day trial period
- Poker Tournament Supervisor – Download – 15 day trial period
If you know of any other poker blinds counters or have used any of the ones listed above, please leave a comment and let us know what you liked or didn’t like.
Poker Hand Win Rates Against Tight Opponents
Poker Hand Win Rates Against Tight Opponents
If you are playing Texas Holdem Poker, it is important to understand the difference between good starting hands that you should play, and the junk hands that you should fold. One of the biggest differences between winning and losing poker players is their starting hand discipline. How should you pick which starting hands to play? A lot of that depends on your playing style, position, chip stack, etc. but it is all based on how often any given poker hand wins. This link shows the poker hand win rates against any random hand, i.e. a blind vs. blind or a heads up situation. The tables on this page show the poker hand win rates against fairly tight opponents, ones that are being at least somewhat picky about their starting hand selection.
How Can You Tell How Tight Your Opponents Are?
If you are playing online poker, the easiest way is to use software like Poker Tracker. Which will keep track of all your opponents stats for you. The most important stack for tightness is how often your the other poker player voluntarily puts in money preflop, i.e. he calls or raises preflop if he isn’t in the big blind, or if he is in the big blind he calls a raise preflop. Any one who plays more than 25% of the non-blind hands is playing loose or extremely loose. Anyone playing less than 25% of the non-blind hands is anything between tight and a rock.
If you are playing a live poker game, at a casino or a home poker game, you can count how many hands a poker player plays each round to get an idea of how loose or tight they are.
Reading the Table
The chart shows how likely a given hand is to win in each scenario. The upper right half of the chart shows the win rates for suited cards, and the lower left half of the chart shows the win rates for unsuited cards. Pairs are down the diagonal. Each of these charts show the win rates against a single opponent.
Win Rates Against A Fairly Tight Opponent – 25% of the starting hands played
This chart shows the win rates of a hand against an opponent who is being somewhat selective in his starting hands, and only playing 25% of them. Some of the hands in the top 25% are a little bit weak, but there is nothing in there that is total junk. (Note, the top 25% of hands is calculated as a percentage of times that hand is dealt. Any given pocket pair gets dealt .452% of the time, any off-suit combination gets dealt .905% of the time, and any suited combination gets dealt .302% of the time)
| Hand Win Percentages Against Top 25% of Hands | |||||||||||||
| Against Any Pair, Any Suited Ace, Any 2 Broadway Cards, AKo-A6o, 10-9s, 98s, 87s | |||||||||||||
| A | K | Q | J | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
| A | 0.847 | 0.634 | 0.608 | 0.583 | 0.560 | 0.510 | 0.487 | 0.468 | 0.452 | 0.453 | 0.447 | 0.439 | 0.433 |
| K | 0.619 | 0.757 | 0.500 | 0.477 | 0.455 | 0.423 | 0.411 | 0.407 | 0.398 | 0.399 | 0.392 | 0.389 | 0.384 |
| Q | 0.587 | 0.471 | 0.716 | 0.449 | 0.430 | 0.408 | 0.392 | 0.377 | 0.375 | 0.373 | 0.368 | 0.362 | 0.355 |
| J | 0.561 | 0.447 | 0.420 | 0.672 | 0.411 | 0.395 | 0.382 | 0.370 | 0.358 | 0.357 | 0.356 | 0.349 | 0.339 |
| 10 | 0.534 | 0.426 | 0.395 | 0.383 | 0.626 | 0.398 | 0.386 | 0.368 | 0.357 | 0.345 | 0.346 | 0.339 | 0.330 |
| 9 | 0.483 | 0.391 | 0.373 | 0.365 | 0.367 | 0.588 | 0.394 | 0.379 | 0.366 | 0.356 | 0.341 | 0.340 | 0.335 |
| 8 | 0.459 | 0.375 | 0.358 | 0.351 | 0.351 | 0.362 | 0.561 | 0.384 | 0.371 | 0.361 | 0.345 | 0.330 | 0.325 |
| 7 | 0.436 | 0.372 | 0.343 | 0.336 | 0.336 | 0.347 | 0.350 | 0.536 | 0.376 | 0.364 | 0.353 | 0.333 | 0.319 |
| 6 | 0.419 | 0.368 | 0.341 | 0.320 | 0.319 | 0.331 | 0.337 | 0.343 | 0.512 | 0.375 | 0.359 | 0.343 | 0.323 |
| 5 | 0.420 | 0.365 | 0.340 | 0.322 | 0.311 | 0.320 | 0.326 | 0.332 | 0.340 | 0.492 | 0.373 | 0.355 | 0.339 |
| 4 | 0.412 | 0.359 | 0.334 | 0.316 | 0.305 | 0.303 | 0.307 | 0.315 | 0.323 | 0.335 | 0.474 | 0.348 | 0.331 |
| 3 | 0.408 | 0.353 | 0.327 | 0.310 | 0.299 | 0.300 | 0.291 | 0.299 | 0.305 | 0.319 | 0.313 | 0.453 | 0.326 |
| 2 | 0.401 | 0.347 | 0.319 | 0.304 | 0.293 | 0.294 | 0.288 | 0.280 | 0.288 | 0.301 | 0.294 | 0.288 | 0.435 |
Win Rates Against Tight Aggressive Opponents – 14% of the Starting Hands Played
Someone only playing 14% of their starting hands is waiting for good hands to play. They are only playing 1 hand per orbit when they aren’t in the blinds. Since they are playing so tightly, your win rate against them will drop significantly. Hands like weak aces lose a lot of value, because of the 14% of hands that your opponent is playing, there are so many that dominate a weak ace. Strong hands such as the Ace-King suited still retain a lot of value and win more than 60% of the time.
| Hand Win Percentages Against Top 14% of Hands | |||||||||||||
| Against AA-66, AKs-A7s, KQs-K10s, QJs, AKo-A10o, KQo, KJo, QJo | |||||||||||||
| A | K | Q | J | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
| A | 0.847 | 0.612 | 0.566 | 0.526 | 0.471 | 0.436 | 0.423 | 0.412 | 0.406 | 0.410 | 0.412 | 0.405 | 0.404 |
| K | 0.599 | 0.747 | 0.458 | 0.420 | 0.392 | 0.376 | 0.365 | 0.359 | 0.354 | 0.353 | 0.348 | 0.349 | 0.348 |
| Q | 0.542 | 0.431 | 0.676 | 0.375 | 0.368 | 0.359 | 0.341 | 0.330 | 0.324 | 0.325 | 0.325 | 0.319 | 0.313 |
| J | 0.498 | 0.385 | 0.344 | 0.610 | 0.359 | 0.352 | 0.340 | 0.325 | 0.315 | 0.312 | 0.314 | 0.313 | 0.303 |
| 10 | 0.440 | 0.357 | 0.326 | 0.328 | 0.554 | 0.365 | 0.354 | 0.334 | 0.324 | 0.314 | 0.316 | 0.313 | 0.309 |
| 9 | 0.403 | 0.341 | 0.319 | 0.320 | 0.331 | 0.521 | 0.362 | 0.349 | 0.340 | 0.327 | 0.314 | 0.315 | 0.315 |
| 8 | 0.389 | 0.325 | 0.306 | 0.303 | 0.317 | 0.329 | 0.494 | 0.352 | 0.343 | 0.334 | 0.320 | 0.311 | 0.305 |
| 7 | 0.375 | 0.320 | 0.290 | 0.289 | 0.300 | 0.314 | 0.321 | 0.462 | 0.345 | 0.338 | 0.326 | 0.308 | 0.299 |
| 6 | 0.369 | 0.320 | 0.292 | 0.276 | 0.288 | 0.301 | 0.309 | 0.315 | 0.441 | 0.349 | 0.335 | 0.321 | 0.304 |
| 5 | 0.377 | 0.317 | 0.291 | 0.278 | 0.278 | 0.291 | 0.299 | 0.303 | 0.315 | 0.428 | 0.349 | 0.335 | 0.320 |
| 4 | 0.375 | 0.315 | 0.288 | 0.272 | 0.276 | 0.276 | 0.282 | 0.291 | 0.298 | 0.309 | 0.422 | 0.330 | 0.317 |
| 3 | 0.372 | 0.312 | 0.283 | 0.272 | 0.272 | 0.277 | 0.268 | 0.277 | 0.283 | 0.298 | 0.296 | 0.415 | 0.312 |
| 2 | 0.370 | 0.310 | 0.279 | 0.267 | 0.269 | 0.274 | 0.269 | 0.261 | 0.269 | 0.282 | 0.280 | 0.275 | 0.412 |
Win Rates Against Total Rocks – 6% of the Starting Hands Played
You won’t often see a player play poker this tight. 6% of the starting hands played means they only play 1 hand out of every 2 orbits at a full table. When this player is in a hand, they have a powerhouse. Don’t give this rock any action unless you have a premium holding.
| Hand Win Percentages Against Top 6.2% of Hands | |||||||||||||
| Against AA-88, AKs-A10s, KQs, AKo, AQo | |||||||||||||
| A | K | Q | J | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
| A | 0.839 | 0.529 | 0.438 | 0.387 | 0.350 | 0.333 | 0.322 | 0.322 | 0.324 | 0.330 | 0.332 | 0.320 | 0.323 |
| K | 0.513 | 0.703 | 0.358 | 0.353 | 0.352 | 0.330 | 0.313 | 0.313 | 0.308 | 0.315 | 0.304 | 0.305 | 0.300 |
| Q | 0.407 | 0.325 | 0.610 | 0.343 | 0.343 | 0.318 | 0.297 | 0.293 | 0.292 | 0.292 | 0.286 | 0.287 | 0.282 |
| J | 0.348 | 0.319 | 0.312 | 0.538 | 0.348 | 0.330 | 0.315 | 0.301 | 0.293 | 0.293 | 0.295 | 0.297 | 0.286 |
| 10 | 0.317 | 0.311 | 0.301 | 0.313 | 0.480 | 0.330 | 0.314 | 0.303 | 0.291 | 0.285 | 0.284 | 0.285 | 0.275 |
| 9 | 0.291 | 0.291 | 0.281 | 0.296 | 0.296 | 0.436 | 0.314 | 0.309 | 0.296 | 0.289 | 0.273 | 0.274 | 0.278 |
| 8 | 0.279 | 0.272 | 0.264 | 0.277 | 0.276 | 0.278 | 0.384 | 0.306 | 0.302 | 0.283 | 0.280 | 0.263 | 0.261 |
| 7 | 0.279 | 0.272 | 0.254 | 0.267 | 0.264 | 0.272 | 0.272 | 0.366 | 0.303 | 0.297 | 0.286 | 0.264 | 0.256 |
| 6 | 0.279 | 0.277 | 0.257 | 0.259 | 0.258 | 0.262 | 0.264 | 0.275 | 0.370 | 0.315 | 0.294 | 0.287 | 0.266 |
| 5 | 0.292 | 0.272 | 0.255 | 0.260 | 0.245 | 0.250 | 0.254 | 0.263 | 0.279 | 0.367 | 0.320 | 0.299 | 0.284 |
| 4 | 0.287 | 0.272 | 0.252 | 0.254 | 0.244 | 0.237 | 0.239 | 0.249 | 0.263 | 0.273 | 0.362 | 0.293 | 0.281 |
| 3 | 0.285 | 0.269 | 0.247 | 0.252 | 0.241 | 0.237 | 0.221 | 0.239 | 0.247 | 0.262 | 0.261 | 0.351 | 0.275 |
| 2 | 0.281 | 0.263 | 0.242 | 0.250 | 0.238 | 0.232 | 0.225 | 0.218 | 0.231 | 0.246 | 0.244 | 0.238 | 0.346 |
Win Rates Against The Top 6 Hands - 2.5% of Starting Hands Played
The top 6 hands are AA-10,10 and Ace-King suited. There is no good hand to play against this range, unless you have a top 6 hand yourself. Luckily, someone who is playing this incredibly tight is only in a hand once every 4 rounds. If you are paying any kind of attention what-so-ever, you should realize that they are the rockiest of rocks, and opt to fold any time they are in a hand.
| Hand Win Percentages Against Top 2.5% Of Hands | |||||||||||||
| Against AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 10-10, AKs | |||||||||||||
| A | K | Q | J | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
| A | 0.808 | 0.405 | 0.365 | 0.328 | 0.291 | 0.298 | 0.304 | 0.292 | 0.299 | 0.304 | 0.314 | 0.298 | 0.305 |
| K | 0.379 | 0.651 | 0.326 | 0.291 | 0.287 | 0.269 | 0.265 | 0.260 | 0.254 | 0.269 | 0.257 | 0.257 | 0.252 |
| Q | 0.323 | 0.296 | 0.505 | 0.294 | 0.263 | 0.259 | 0.242 | 0.243 | 0.249 | 0.243 | 0.237 | 0.238 | 0.224 |
| J | 0.295 | 0.258 | 0.250 | 0.376 | 0.234 | 0.243 | 0.237 | 0.230 | 0.205 | 0.206 | 0.217 | 0.221 | 0.211 |
| 10 | 0.267 | 0.235 | 0.217 | 0.201 | 0.240 | 0.228 | 0.218 | 0.218 | 0.199 | 0.187 | 0.186 | 0.188 | 0.179 |
| 9 | 0.256 | 0.231 | 0.214 | 0.201 | 0.183 | 0.227 | 0.231 | 0.226 | 0.210 | 0.206 | 0.184 | 0.188 | 0.186 |
| 8 | 0.255 | 0.221 | 0.212 | 0.196 | 0.181 | 0.189 | 0.227 | 0.235 | 0.222 | 0.209 | 0.205 | 0.190 | 0.179 |
| 7 | 0.257 | 0.218 | 0.198 | 0.188 | 0.169 | 0.184 | 0.203 | 0.235 | 0.226 | 0.232 | 0.218 | 0.192 | 0.181 |
| 6 | 0.256 | 0.223 | 0.204 | 0.177 | 0.163 | 0.174 | 0.186 | 0.207 | 0.233 | 0.245 | 0.220 | 0.212 | 0.186 |
| 5 | 0.268 | 0.221 | 0.205 | 0.179 | 0.146 | 0.162 | 0.179 | 0.192 | 0.206 | 0.228 | 0.250 | 0.226 | 0.218 |
| 4 | 0.270 | 0.223 | 0.201 | 0.176 | 0.144 | 0.143 | 0.161 | 0.176 | 0.189 | 0.204 | 0.229 | 0.223 | 0.206 |
| 3 | 0.265 | 0.219 | 0.195 | 0.168 | 0.145 | 0.145 | 0.143 | 0.162 | 0.173 | 0.187 | 0.189 | 0.218 | 0.204 |
| 2 | 0.263 | 0.207 | 0.192 | 0.162 | 0.137 | 0.141 | 0.147 | 0.144 | 0.156 | 0.170 | 0.166 | 0.159 | 0.218 |
Poker MisDeal Dealing Before Action Completed
Poker Misdeal Question – Dealing The River Before Betting Completed
When you play a home poker game, especially if you pass the deal around, you are going to have dealing errors. Some errors might be accidentally exposing an extra card, others might be that the dealer deals the flop, turn, or river before betting action on the current round is completed. This mistake happens all the time at home poker games if the dealer is not in the hand and isn’t paying attention.
Show One Show All, And Reshuffle
If you deal a street before all the action in the previous round is completed there are two things that you have to do
- Show the card to all players – If any player in the hand saw the exposed card, then all the players have a right to see it. It could be extremely important to know that that particular card is not in your opponent’s hand, such as if there is a flush possibility on the board and the Ace of the flush suit is exposed
- Shuffle the card back into the deck – The card must then be shuffled back into the deck and action on the current round completed. When action is completed the new card can be dealt. You can’t continue the current round with the early card exposed, because it gives too much of an advantage to the players left to act.
Prevent Dealer Mistakes By Pounding The Felt
One way you can prevent early dealing in the future is to teach the players at your home poker game to pound the felt before the deal any street. What that means is before burning and turning a card, they bump the table with their fist to alert all the players that the dealer is about to deal this next street. This quick and easy move is standard casino protocol and gives any poker player left to act a chance to stop the action before the misdeal occurs.
Exposing A Card When Dealing The Flop or Turn
Poker Dealing Error On The Flop Or Turn
It is inevitable that there will be dealer errors at your home poker game. Chances are you don’t have a professional poker dealer, and also that you are drinking. Although there are some steps you can take to minimize common dealing mistakes, like having one person deal a whole orbit, what should you do for different mis-deals?
A Card On The Flop Turned Over But Not Exposed
If you have sticky poker cards, the dealer can often grab four cards on the flop instead of three. He will peel off three cards, but there will be one sticking the the back of another card. Often if this happens the 4th card won’t be exposed on the flop, because it is still sticking to the back of one of the other cards. If you do get an extra card turned over but not exposed, the solution is easy. Since the card was not revealed, just leave it where it is unrevealed and finish playing out the hand normally. Burn another card and the deal the turn, burn a card and deal the river.
“The Deck Is Compromised”
If you run into a poker player who is upset because “the deck is compromised” and that isn’t how the poker hand was supposed to play out, then use the 3 cards that were LOGICALLY going to be on the flop if there wasn’t a poker mis-deal, show the 4 card to everyone at the table, and that becomes the burn card before the turn.
Catering to the superstitious people who insist on playing a hand “as it was fated to be” does seem annoying at times, but you should remember that those superstitious people are the same people who donate at a poker game, so appeasing them during a poker mis-deal isn’t a bad idea.
Chopping Blinds In A Home Poker Game
Chopping Blinds In A Home Poker Game
One poker rule that will be familiar to anyone who has played live poker in a casino, but is new to people who have only played online poker, or poker home games, is chopping the blinds. Chopping the blinds occurs when the entire table folds around to the small blind. In a casino, when this occurs, usually both the large and small blind take their blind back without playing the hand. If you are playing poker in a casino and you don’t chop the blinds when it gets folded around to you, other players will often get angry.
Why Chop Blinds In A Casino Poker Game?
- To Avoid Paying Rake – Casinos take a rake every time the pot gets above a certain amount. Poker players don’t want to pay more rake than they have to, so why play a hand where both players have junk and it is a crapshoot ?
- To Speed Up The Game – Most players don’t want to sit around and watch the two blinds, with hands like Jack-5 and Queen-7 check down all 4 streets in blind vs. blind action. It slows down the game, and, for the casino, limits the amount of rake you can take
Should You Chop The Blinds At A Home Poker Cash Game ?
This is basically a matter of personal preference. If you play with experience poker player who want to move the game along then chopping the blinds at your home poker game is a good idea. If you play with a bunch of new poker players who are having trouble understanding the game as it is, and will get upset if the chopped blinds come to them and they have a great hand, then you shouldn’t chop the blinds. However, since most home games don’t play for hours and hours on end, people don’t like to waste time on small pots where the big blind battles the small blind. If the other poker players will go for it, you should lean towards chopping the blinds at your poker game.
Never Chop Blinds In A Poker Tournament
Chopping the blinds only applies to a poker cash game. Chopping the blinds in a poker tournament isn’t fair to the non-blind players. After all, that could be the one hand where you have Aces vs. Kings and one of the players is going to bust out. In a poker tournament, never split the blinds.
When Is An Absent Poker Player Folded
When Do You Fold A Poker Hand For A Person Not Currently Seated?
If you host a home poker game there will inevitably be people wandering off to use the restroom, or get some food, or to answer their phone. Which leads the the question, should you wait for the absent player before starting the next hand? Should you deal them out of the next poker hand? Should you deal them a hand and fold it if they are absent?
How you fold an absent player’s hand is dependent on if you are playing a poker tournament, or a poker cash game.
Poker Tournament
- A Hand Is Dealt To Every Player, Even Absent Ones
- If the absent player is in the big blind or small blind, you put their blind in for them
- The hand gets killed as action comes to it – So in a preflop situation, if someone is not at their seat as the hands are dealt, but they get to their seat before action gets to them, they can play the hand
Cash Game
- A hand is dealt to every player unless they are in a blind
- If they are gone for their blind they get a missed blind token (Only 1 no matter how many blinds they miss). When the get back to the table for later hands they have to post their missed blinds before they can play. In general, the missed small blind is put into the pot as dead money, and the missed big blind counts towards a players preflop call or raise.
- For players not in the blinds, their hands are folded as the action comes to them preflop.
Poker Table With Built In Chip Racks
Built In Chip Racks In A Poker Table
Some poker table plans call for chip racks built into the table.
Built In Chip Racks
A poker table with built in chip racks looks classy when you first see it. However, as you begin to play poker at the table you will notice some disadvantages
- Most People Won’t Use The Chip Racks – So the racks just take up space where people would otherwise store their chips
- When The Racks Are Used You Can’t See A Player’s Chip Count – The built in poker chip racks effectively hide a players stack, so you constantly need to ask to see instead of being able to eyeball how many poker chips a player has.
- Chip Racks Get Used For Other Things – Like food or an ashtray
On top of all that, if you are planning on building a poker table, the built in chip racks will be one of the most difficult things to make. Since most poker players prefer to stack their chips, just stick with felt.
On a side note however, buying a couple acrylic chip racks for cashing out at the end of the night and selling chips at the beginning of the night, is well worth the investment.
Too Many Poker Players For My House
Too Many Poker Players For Your House
When you first start a poker night the most common problem you are likely to have is how to find poker players. However, since a good poker game often draws a crowd, you could soon run into the opposite problem and have more people who want to play poker than you have seats. So what do you do if you have 12 Poker players on your list but your poker table can only seat 9 players? Here are some options on how to organize your home poker game.
First Come – First Served
A tried and true option. If you have more potential poker players than seats, give seats to the first people who come to your game. It encourages people to show up on time, which will keep the game from starting late and running late due to lack of players. If you are playing a cash poker game, then late comers can join the waiting list, so when people bust out or decide they have to leave, a new poker player can join.
A nice feature about making your game first come first served is that many people aren’t reliable about showing up. It might take 15 people who say “I’ll probably come” to fill a poker table for 9 people. If you do consistently get too many people, and have people waiting to play, you can set up the list the day or week before so the poker players are guaranteed a seat, or know they will be on the waiting list. If anyone promises to come, and is then a no-show, they get moved down the poker waiting list for next time. Also, you can make a rule that anyone present at the cash out is able to pre-register for the next game. This will encourage rebuys and play to the end of the night. It also ensures that your game gets filled with a core group of regular players.
Get A Second Table
Do you have enough poker players to get 2 games going? If so, perhaps you should get a folding table and some chairs for a second game. The second table can serve as a waiting area for people waiting for a seat for the main table, or it can be a table for people who want to play a different poker game, or want to play at higher or lower stakes.
Raise The Stakes
If you have too many people who want to play poker, and you don’t have enough space to set up any more tables, you can begin raising the stakes on your poker game. This is a good option if you are a more experienced poker player and are playing at lower stakes than you would like for the sake of your friends. As you raise the stakes people will begin to decide that they don’t want to play, and you will reduce your player list down to the number of poker players who can fit at your table.
Move The Venue
If your poker game is getting too big for your house, maybe you need to find a new place to play. Are any of the other poker players willing to host?
Play More Often
If you have a fairly infrequent poker game, and are only playing monthly or bi-weekly you could switch to a weekly poker game. Many players won’t be able to come every week, so your list of poker players that used to be too many will likely now just fill up a single table.
Next Page »