Poker for Dummies (Mini Edition) Read Online Free PDF

also know which of your adversaries are representing strength by betting or raising. The later you act, the more information at your disposal. And poker is a game of information — incomplete information, to be sure, but it’s a game of information nevertheless.
    Starting Hands
Some starting hands are so strong that they can be played in any position. You don’t get these hands very often, but when you do, you’re generally a favorite from the get-go to win that pot.
Table 2-1 shows that we recommend playing any pair of 7s or higher in early position, as well as the 12 suited and 6 unsuited card combinations.

When you are the fifth, sixth, or seventh player to act, you’re in middle position and can safely play smaller pairs like 6s and 5s. You can also add ten additional suited hands and four more unsuited combinations to your playable repertoire if the pot has not been raised. Table 2-2 spells it out.

In late position, you have the advantage of acting last or next-to-last. As a result, you can add a variety of hands to your arsenal. Most are bargain-basement specials, however, that you should play only if the pot has not been raised. Moreover, you should be disciplined enough to release them if the flop brings anything less than an abundant harvest of friendly cards. Check out Table 2-3 for the breakdown.

If you’re new to the game, you’ve been playing indiscriminately, or you have an any-two-cards-can-win philosophy, you may believe that these recommendations are too tight. They’re not. In fact, they’re somewhat loose.
A hand like K 2 , while playable in late position, is a pretty sorry excuse for a Hold’em hand. If you flop a King and there’s any appreciable action, it’s fairly apparent that someone else has a King with a bigger kicker than yours. If you flop a 2, you’ve guaranteed yourself the lowest pair on board. Even if you’re incredibly lucky and you flop a flush, there’s no assurance that it’s the best flush. Probably the very best flop you could hope for is something like A 2 2 , which gives you three deuces with a strong kicker. You also have three cards to a flush, and though the odds against catching two more hearts are long indeed, it is an additional way to win. Players call this a backdoor draw. More importantly, an Ace on the board guarantees a call or two from any opponent holding an Ace in his hand.
Still, K 2 and a lot of the other playable hands in late position are vulnerable from any number of directions, and it takes some degree of skill to navigate your way through the murky waters of a Hold’em pot in a rickety canoe like this one.
    The Art of Raising
Raising adds spice to the game of poker and money to the pot. Raising is an act of aggression and causes everyone to sit up and take notice. When there’s a raise or reraise, the level of excitement escalates. Sometimes you’ll be raised, and sometimes you’ll do the raising. Regardless of whether you’re the raiser or raisee, it’s time to sit up and take notice whenever a raise is made.
You’ve been raised
If the pot has been raised before it’s your turn to act, you must tighten up significantly on the hands you play. Savvy players might raise with almost anything in late position if no one except the blinds are in the pot, but if a player raises from early position, give her credit for a good hand, and throw away all but the very strongest of hands.
You need a stronger hand to call a raise than to initiate one. After all, if you raise, your opponents might fold, allowing you to win the blinds by default. If you call a raise, you have to give your opponent credit for a strong hand, and generally you should call only if you believe your hand to be even stronger.
When someone’s raised after you’ve called
When an opponent raises after you’ve called, you’re essentially committed to calling his raise, seeing the flop, and then deciding on the best course of action.
But when you call only to find yourself