Read an Excerpt
Win at Poker
By Jeff Rubens Dover Publications, Inc.
Copyright © 1968 Jeff Rubens
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-486-15478-7
CHAPTER 1
The Rules of Poker
Along with the majority of popular card games, poker is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. The four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs) are equals—one is as good as another—but the cards within each suit have an order of rank which is of great importance. The order is the usual one: ace (A) is highest, followed by king (K), queen (Q), jack (J), 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 (or deuce), which is lowest.
There are literally thousands of different forms of poker, but they all adhere to one basic idea: poker is every man for himself, and each player attempts to make the best-valued poker hand. Bets are placed as to which player has the best hand (just as bets are placed on which horse will win a race) and that player wins all the bets (usually called the pot).
A poker hand consists of five cards. The hands are ranked in accordance with their relative frequencies. The rarer the hand (and thus the more difficult to get), the higher its value as a poker hand. Since the rank of poker hands plays an essential part in determining the outcome of each deal of poker, it is necessary to memorize the relative values of all poker hands.
RANK OF POKER HANDS
The highest-ranking poker hand (when there are no wild cards—a term I will explain later—in the game) is the straight flush. Only one out of every 65,000 poker hands falls into this category! A straight flush consists of five cards in the same suit and in sequence. For example,
[??] 10 [??] 9 [??] 8 [??] 7 [??] 6
and
[??] A [??] H [??] Q [??] J [??]10
are straight flushes, whereas
[??] 10 [??] 9 [??] 8 [??] 7 [??] 6 (not all the same suit)
and
[??] A [??] K [??] Q [??] J [??] 9 (not in sequence)
are not. Among straight flushes, the one containing the highest-ranking card is superior. Thus, the second example hand above is higher ranking than the first. In the spade hand, the top card is a 10, whereas the diamond hand contains an ace. A straight flush headed by an ace (the highest-ranking poker hand of all) is usually dignified with the name royal flush. Only one in 650,000 poker hands is a royal flush. (So don't expect one too often!)
The next best hand is four of a kind. This is a hand with four cards of the same rank, such as
[??] A [??] A [??] A [??] A [??] 2 (four aces)
or
[??] 3 [??] 3 [??] 3 [??] 3 [??] J (four threes)
The nature of the fifth card is irrelevant. Between such hands, the one with four of the higher rank is superior. Thus, four aces outranks four kings, which in turn is higher than four queens and so on.
Next in line is a full house: three cards of one rank and two of another rank. Full houses are designated by the rank of the three of a kind, and the higher this rank, the higher the full house. The following hands are given in order of rank:
[??] A [??] A [??] A [??] 2 [??] 2 (aces full)
[??] K [??] K [??] K [??] 9 [??] 9 (king full)
[??] 9 [??] 9 [??] 9 [??] Q [??] Q (nines full)
[??] 2 [??] 2 [??] 2 [??] A [??] A (deuces full)
Notice that the rank of the three of a kind determines the value of the full house.
After a full house comes a flush: all five cards in the same suit (such as five spades or five clubs). The straight flush—discussed above—is a very special kind of flush. Between flushes, the one with the higher card is higher ranking. If the top cards are equal, the one with the higher ranking second card takes precedence. The following flushes are listed in order of rank:
[??] A [??] J [??] 9 [??] 7 [??] 4 (ace-high flush)
[??] A [??] Q [??] 10 [??] 9 [??] 6 (king-high flush)
[??] Q [??] J [??] 6 [??] 5 [??] 4 (queen-jak flush)
[??] Q [??] 10 [??] 9 [??] 8 [??] 6 (queen-ten flush)
A straight, the next hand, consists of five cards in sequence (e.g.: A-K-Q-J-10, 9-8-7-6-5), regardless of suit. If all the cards happen to be of the same suit, we have our old friend the straight flush (which, as you now can see, is a hand that is both a straight and a flush). Between straights, the one with the higher top card is the higher ranking. Thus, A-K-Q-J-10 is the highest-ranking straight, K-Q-J-10-9 is next, and so forth.
In modern poker, the ace is usually considered the lowest card as well as the highest when it comes to forming straights. The lowest straight is therefore 54-3-2-A. (You cannot, however, "turn the corner." Thus holding 3-2-A-K-Q is not a straight; in fact, it is nothing at all.) The five-high straight (5-4-3-2-A) is sometimes called a bicycle or a wheel.
Next in line is three of a kind (sometimes called triplets): three of the five cards in the hand are of the same rank. The other two are unmatched. Again suits are irrelevant and the higher the rank of the three similar cards, the higher the hand. Thus, A-A-A-3-2 (three aces) is higher ranking than K-K-K-Q-J (three kings).
Two pairs is next and the title describes the hand well: two sets of two cards of the same rank. Between hands with two pairs, the one with the higher pair is the higher ranking. (If the high pairs are of the same rank, the rank of the low pairs determines the rank of the hands.) If, through incredible coincidence, there are two hands in which both pairs are of identical ranks, the rank of the extra card determines which hand ranks higher. The following hands with two pairs are listed in order of rank:
[??] A [??] A [??] 6 [??] 6 [??] 7 (aces up or aces over sixes)
[??] K [??] K [??] 5 [??] 5 [??] Q (kings up or kings over fives)
[??] K [??] K [??] 3 [??] 3 [??] 7 (kings over threes)
[??] Q [??] Q [??] J [??] J [??] K (queens over jacks, king next)
[??] Q [??] Q [??] J [??] J [??] 7 (queens over jacks, seven next
If you can't get two pairs, the next best thing you can do is get one pair. Between hands with one pair, the higher pair determines the higher hand. (If the pairs are the same, then the higher-ranking odd card determines the rank; if these cards are equal, the next higher odd card, etc.) The following hands are listed in order of rank:
[??] A [??] A [??] 7 [??] 6 [??] 4 (pair of aces)
[??] Q [??] Q [??] 9 [??] 8 [??] 2 (pair of queens, nine next)
[??] Q [??] Q [??] 7 [??] 6 [??] 3 (pair of queens, seven next)
[??] 2 [??] 2 [??] A [??] K [??] Q (pair of deuces)
Last and least are hands with no pair (and nothing else of value such as a straight or flush). These hands are disgustingly common (about half of all poker hands have no pair). Between hands with no pair, the one with the higher odd card ranks higher; in case of ties, the one with the second-higher odd card, and so forth. Thus, A-7-5-4-3 (ace high) is ranked above K-Q-J-9-5 (king high, queen next) which is higher than K-10-8-6-4 (king high, ten next).
Here is a summary of the ranks of poker hands (highest first):
Straight flush All in suit, ranks in sequence
Four of a kind Four of the same rank
Full house
Three of one rank, two of another
Flush
All in the same suit
Straight
Ranks of cards in sequence
Three of a kind Three cards of one rank
Two pairs
Two cards of one rank, two of another
One pair
Two cards of one rank, three unmatched
No pair
Five unmatched cards
If you have never played poker, or if you cannot repeat this table from memory, forward and backward, take a deck of cards and deal out hands of five cards for each of a group of imaginary players. Examine each hand and determine its category by referring to the above chart. (This exercise will give you an idea of how hard it is to get one of the higher-ranking hands.)
After you have done this for a while, take a group of hands and make as few changes as necessary to get each hand into one of the higher categories.
THE BETTING
The ranks of the various hands determine which player wins and which players lose in a deal of poker. How much they win, or lose, is determined by the betting. It is the betting phase which determines the winners and losers in poker, for in the long run everyone gets his fair share of good cards.
In each deal of poker there will be one or more betting rounds in which each of the players has the opportunity to wager that he will have the best poker hand at the conclusion of the deal. Within each betting round, the bets must be equalized. For instance, if Player A has bet one dollar, and Player B wishes to bet against him (i.e., Player B thinks his hand is as good or better than that of Player A), then B must also bet one dollar. All bets, which are usually made by means of chips, are placed in the pot in the center of the table. If a player does not wish to enter the betting at any stage, he may relinquish his chance to win the pot by discarding his hand face down. A player who does so is said to have dropped from the pot. He need put no more money into the pot, but he has no chance to win, even if it later develops that his was the superior poker hand.
After the bets have been equalized in the final betting round, there is a showdown. All players who are still in the pot (i.e., have bet as much as anyone else) expose their cards and the player with the best hand wins the pot.
There are two questions that arise frequently regarding the showdown. Let's avoid later uncertainty by dealing with them at once.
First, there is the matter of obligation to show a hand in the showdown. Suppose the following situation arises: Al and Bob are the only two players in the showdown. After the final betting round, Al announces three jacks and shows his cards to substantiate his claim. Bob, perhaps disgustedly (he may have three tens himself or some hand he is ashamed to show), throws his cards down and refuses to let anyone look at them.
Question: Is Bob under any obligation to show his cards? Answer: Yes.
In a showdown, all hands should be shown. It is not a violation of the rules not to show your cards if not asked to do so, but any player has the right to request that they be exposed. (We will see later that information gained from these situations may prove very valuable when it comes to learning the style and analyzing the level of skill of your opponent. )
Do not confuse the case above with the following: Charlie and Dick remain in a pot and Charlie makes a bet which Dick does not wish to call. Dick therefore drops and throws away his cards; Charlie wins the pot. Neither Charlie nor Dick is obligated to show his cards to any other player. It is only when the outcome of a deal is determined by a showdown (that is, when two or more players have bet equally) that all the hands must be shown.
The second issue is the misreading of the cards.
Question: If a player overlooks a winning hand, and miscalls his values, is he entitled to the pot? May or should someone else point out an error of this kind?
Answer: There is a poker saying covering this situation, "The cards speak for themselves."
It is not necessary to call a hand correctly in order to gain the rights to the pot stemming from the value of the cards. Furthermore, any player may (and should) call attention to such an error. (Spectators, however, should refrain from making gratuitous remarks.) Such corrections are not necessarily valid after the cards have been mixed, although most poker groups attempt to settle such matters amicably rather than stick to the precise letter of the law.
Getting back to the betting itself, there are three actions a player may take at his turn. (Turns within a betting round proceed clockwise around the table.) These actions are: check, bet, and drop. A check is a noncommittal move—it announces the lack of desire of the player to bet at this time, but it does not forfeit his rights to the pot. Of course, a player may not check if another player has made a bet during the current betting round. Once a bet is made, everyone must "put up or shut up," that is, match the bet for drop from the pot.
A drop occurs when a player decides he does not wish to bet on his hand as the best poker hand. If some other player has made a bet and you do not wish to match it, you drop out of the pot by turning your cards face down on the table. This relieves you of the obligation to spend any more money but, of course, you also relinquish your chance to win the pot.
A bet is an expression of opinion that the bettor has, or eventually will have, the best poker hand. There are three types of bets: the initial bet on a betting round, made before any other player has bet, which issues a challenge to the other participants to match the bet or drop from the pot; the call, in which a player stays in the pot by matching the amount previously bet; the raise, a bet of more than the amount previously bet, which forces the other players to match an even higher amount if they wish to remain in the deal and retain a chance to win the pot.
Within a betting round, each player is given the opportunity to make a bet or, if the circumstances permit, to check, call, raise, or drop. The turn to bet passes clockwise (to the left), the player with the right to bet first being designated by the rules of the form of poker being played. The turn to bet continues around the table until each player has matched the amount bet by all the others or has dropped out of the pot. (On infrequent occasions, no player will wish to bet; thus, each will check when it comes his turn. When this occurs, the betting round is said to be "checked out." The game proceeds as if a normal betting round had been completed. In certain forms of poker, a check-out on the first betting round necessitates a new deal. )
Here are two examples of complete betting rounds involving four players: Al, Bob, Charlie, and Dick.
Example One: Al, who is designated to act first, checks; Bob bets (let us say $1); Charlie drops; Dick calls; Al calls. The bets have now been equalized, so the betting round is over. It may be convenient to examine this in tabular form.
Notice that Al was permitted to check because no player had yet made a bet. This privilege did not extend to Charlie, because he was forced to match Bob's bet or drop from the pot. When the turn to bet had passed completely around the table, it returned to Al because the bets were not yet equalized. At the end of the round, each player who was still active (i.e., had not dropped) had bet $1.
Example Two: Al bets ($1); Bob drops; Charlie raises, betting $2—$1 to call Al's bet, $1 to raise him; Dick calls for $2 as he must match the total amount bet by Charlie; Al calls the raise, but he need put in only $1 since he already has $1 in the pot.
Each player who is still active has bet $2 on this betting round, so the bets are equalized and the round is over.
There are various rules which may be applied to limit the size of bets. For the present, we will assume that the limit betting rule is in effect. That is, there is a fixed limit (be it a penny, a quarter, a dollar, or whatever) on the amount a player may bet at any one time. Other betting methods will be discussed in Chapter Eleven. The inexperienced player should, however, restrict himself to games in which there is limit betting.
Games with limit betting sometimes have a further restriction on the number of raises allowed within a betting round. The most popular rule (which meets with my approval as the best of its type) is that there may be no more than three raises in any one betting round. The limit on the number of raises (if any) is one of the many "table rules" that must be agreed on before a poker game begins.
In most poker games, betting is accomplished through the use of chips. At the beginning of the game, each player purchases a stack of chips from a banker (who also redeems the chips at the conclusion of play).
THE ANTE
Now that we know the two fundamentals of poker—the value of the hands and the mechanics of betting—we are ready to examine the mechanics of a complete deal.
Each poker deal begins with the payment of an amount (called the ante) to the pot by each player. This amount is usually small compared with the size of an allowable bet.
The ante represents each player's overhead—his payment for the right to obtain cards and have a chance to win the pot. The purpose of the ante is twofold. First, it starts the pot off with a fixed amount that gives the players something to aim at when they make their bets. If for no other reason, a player may make a bet in the hope of winning the antes which are already in the pot. Second, the existence of the ante adds action and excitement to the game. Without the ante, it would be a possible strategy not to play any hand unless it was extremely good. After all, it would cost nothing to sit back and wait for a virtual sure thing. This method of play will result in losses when there is an ante. Whether or not you choose to play, there will always be an ante payment on each deal. Those few times you bet (and win) will not compensate for your many small losses. Thus, the ante provides an incentive to bet on less than a certainty, and stimulates the betting. We will see later that the relative size of the ante and the initial bet plays a large part in determining winning poker strategy.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Win at Poker by Jeff Rubens. Copyright © 1968 Jeff Rubens. Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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