History of Poker

I finally broke down and took McEvoy’s quiz (on limit holdem) I am happy to report he scored 85%. I did have a real problem with one of his answers: 5 callers, you have AQ on the button. He says just call. I say raise most of the time. You probably have the best hand, and almost certainly at least second best. A raise in position will often get you a free turn or river card if you want one. You may lose the blinds with a raise. Assuming you have a sufficiently large bankroll for the game, what have you got to lose by raising? Have I been doing it wrong all these years?

Answer 1:

I got 18 out of 20 on the quiz, and have never played limit hold’em in my life. Don’t know how this affects the “value” of the quiz—all it is really is one guy telling you how he plays hands in the games he plays in. That being said, I BEAT YOU!!

Answer 2:

If you refer to Tom’s quiz on PokerPages.com, it is for beginners. We asked for an easier quiz this time.

Answer 3:

Many of these guys limp in on garbage and you should raise to magnify their mistakes. About one third of the time you flop top pair with an excellent kicker. There will be a small percentage of the time where you will flop a decent draw considering the pot odds. Your little raise pulls into the pot many extra bets with you having the best hand normally. Having the button makes it even better.

The game is Stud H/L live game and on Fourth Street you hold A-2-3-6 with no suit. On Third Street 3 players put in one full bet. Player A’s board reads K-K and you are CERTAIN that player has three kings. Player B’s board shows 8-6, and you assume he holds a four card low. The question is, if the K-K bet on fourth street and the 8-6 raises making it two bets to you, what would be the correct mathematical play? You have virtually no chance to win the high, and the other opponent most likely holds 5-6-7-8 or a hand similar. So, should you invest the two bets on four even though you are probably only drawing to half the pot?
A similar question came up later. Say on fifth street you hold the A-2-3-6-9 and are against an obvious high K-K-4, and an obvious 8 low 8-6- 4. If the K-K bet and the 8-6-4 raise should you call? Again you assume the K-K has three and the 8 is already made. If you do call, if the K-K-4 is full, you may have to face as many as 5 bets on Fifth Street, and possibly five more on Sixth Street.

Answer 1:
I think this is a definite call. If you make your low next card, especially a 6, you and the kings are going to be able to whipsaw the guy still drawing…a juicy (and profitable) situation if the kings will play with you. I’d call the raise, and hope the kings aren’t full. Even if they are, and you are correct in reading your low opponent, any low you make is probably going to be good. Maybe I’m fishy, but I’m going to take that whipsawing (if it happens) and take one off. I might even go to the end if the 864 catches bad and my low cards are still very live.

Answer 2:

Your immediate odds suck. Your paying 2 bets to win 3+ (6 + ante in the pot) with a chance of a re-raise behind you and your something like a 1:2 dog to make a low. The problem I see is that if you can read KK for trips and the low straight draw can read you for a low and KK for trips then you don’t have any implied odds to make up for the crappy immediate odds. I think it’s a fold. If the 8-6 is one that normally goes too far with his hands you might have a really thin call, but I think that’s more fantasy then reality. So you called the 2 and KK didn’t jam? There are 7.5 bets (3.5) + ante in the pot and its 2 to you. A close fold. The ante is probably enough to make the call marginally correct but the made right and made low are going to jam up the pot. Drawing to half the pot against two made hands that are:
(1) Going to jam it up and
(2) Can see you improve is death.

Answer 3:

I think both situations are pretty clear FOLDs. I would want some decent scoop potential to continue in this situation. For example, if instead I held 2-3-4-5 with three suited up in a live suit and the aces and remaining sixes are live then I would give it a shot.

How would people consider the poker room at Foxwoods as a place for a rank beginner? Are there low limit Hold ‘em games?

Answer 1:

This is an excellent place to start. There are many 1-5 and 1-3 tables for Stud and a few 3-6 Hold Em tables. It is much better for Stud than Hold Em. The quality of play at the lower limits is awful. It almost makes up for the very high rake (10%, $4.00 maximum).

Answer 2:

You really can’t expect to find loose action at either casino at any time. With the exception of the very lowest stud games, that is (i.e., 1-3 and 1-5). While every game there is beatable, none are super loose a la California. If you come during tournament time (the NEPC and the WPF) then you will find much more action, and much more variety of games and limits.

Answer 3:

I played Foxwoods low limits for the first time a couple weeks ago. Don’t know if it was typical, but that was the tightest 3-6 tables I’ve
seen in a while. 5-10 was average. Maybe I’m too used to the local 4-8 at Harrah’s with 7 callers a hand.

I ran into a difficult hand situation which I would appreciate input on. On 5th st I have a 4 flush (2 flush showing), a player showing A, 7, 7 checks, 3 players fold, a player showing 5, Q, 5 bets. I call and the probable A’s up calls. Game continues with 5′s betting and the 2 pair and I calling all the way up the river. I make the flush but both the A’s up and I loose to the 5′s full. I question what the best play would have been in this situation. There are several ways to loose but only one way to win. Either the A,7,7 or the 5′s could have already had a FH and I’m drawing dead. If either player improves, I loose. The only way to win from 5th st is for me to improve while neither other player does. However, on 6th st the 5′s only has one hidden card to pair and make FH since he has 5, “?” in the hole, otherwise he must pair his board to make FH. Likewise, the A,7,7 can not make FH on 6th without me knowing. I didn’t make the flush till 7th st. After thinking about this hand I also question how it should be played if I were to have made the flush on 5th or 6th st. The 2 pair would probably fold but not the trips. Although I would have the best hand at the moment, if the trips improve, I loose. How should this be played? Are these just a couple of those close hands where betting and calling are the better play?

Answer 1:

Here’s some of the relevant math… Let’s say that your hand was [Ks-10s]-8h-4s-2s, and the opposing hands were [As-x]-Ah-7d-7c and [5s-x]-5h-Qd-5c, and all other cards random… First of all, you can make your flush only less than 1/3rd of the time, and even when you DO make you flush, most of those flushes will LOSE. Overall, the odds are worse than 6-to-1 against…OK?!

Answer 2:

When the fives paired his door card I’m gone with only a flush draw. If I had a reason to get tricky and present a very aggressive image, or if the guy with the pair of 5s showing is a very weak player I might raise with my flush draw. But against regular solid players or unknown players I’m gone. I might be in third place. I’ll save my chips for another hand.

Answer 3:

I would have folded when I saw the five pair his door card. I would have definitely folded on sixth since you did not make your
flush. With two people in, you probably are not getting better pot odds than 6 to 1, as barbara puts it. If we were to assume that the A77 had spit aces, he screwed up by not raising early and forcing out the pair of fives. Some questions… how many of your suit was out?? How many queens were dead? This may change the calculation, but not much.

I’m looking for a furniture-style poker table for a game room in my new home. It’s going to have a bar, kitchen area, suspended TV’s and a pool table –not for family entertainment, just poker. I want a sturdy round heavy table at least 6 feet in diameter and preferably round (sometimes we fit in 9 or 10).  I might consider oval but the casino-style tables I’ve seen have the dealers “box”  built in chip rack which I don’t need and I would prefer a wooden furniture antique type of table.

Answer 1:

Since you want an “antique” look, why don’t you find an antique table with a heavy pedestal base. If you can find one with a damaged top it should be less expensive. Remove the top and bolt on a piece of heavy plywood in the diameter you prefer. Cover the plywood with padding designed for poker tables, then stretch card table felt across the top, securing it with a staple gun on the bottom edge of the table. Next, have a woodcrafter make a “ring” for you, about 5″ wide, which will be approx. 3″ wider than the able. For example, if your table top is 60″diameter, the ring will be 66″ diameter, thus overlapping 3″ all the way around. On the underside of the ring you need to secure a smaller ring, perhaps 1″wide and 2″ high, which will fit snugly around the table top to hold the ring in place. Pad the 5″ ring with heavy foam, and then cover with naugahyde, etc. Set the ring on top and you are ready to go. You want the ring to be removable so you can change the felt and pad as needed. There are variations to this, but if talk to a furniture maker about the ring and explain the idea. I’m sure he can help. Maybe make the ring out of solid wood that matches the table base. Just make sure the base is VERY heavy and stable. These tables get pretty top heavy. Especially when people lean on the edge while playing.

Answer 2:

Billiard supply stores are the best place, but you can build one for 1/5 the price and it will look better.

Answer 3:

The home game I play in is hosted by an accomplished carpenter.  He has built two pretty cool tables- one with five sides, and one with 7.  These are extremely well done regular pentagonal and heptagonal- topped tables. One thing I don’t like about the tables is he built in “chip troughs.”  So player stakes are out of view- I’m used to knowing what everyone has.