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Okay! Now that we’re all settled, are you guys ready to start talking about actually playing cards?

If you've just tuned in, you can find last week's discussion by reading to the bottom of this page and clicking on Past Tips , or by simply clicking the links below listed as topics for discussion.

Starting Hands?

Finally we are going to play some poker. This is the most important decision in poker. Not only does it provide the basis for the success of our game, it is the decision that is made most often. Now that we are actually talking about poker there is one thought I want you to keep in mind throughout the discussions?

"In a ten handed game, we will only have the best hand one out of ten deals." - Turner

This is rather simplistic but it should get the idea across that we should fold a lot of hands, roughly 90%. Folding is seldom a bad decision. By folding early we limit the number of choices where we can make bad decisions later. In Hold'em, for example, <Qs 8s> in a called pot. If the flop comes Tc, 8s, 6h, we have second pair and an over-card. Do we call a bet, or do we bet? There are some real bad decisions available for this choice. I suggest we preclude this choice by mucking the Q8 suited. This example illustrates the choices we might face if we play marginal starting hands. By mucking the cards initially we never reach this choice and have kept ourselves from making a bad decision. Straights probably lose more money than any other hand. You only catch them one out five times, and when you catch them they are often beat by better hands and you lose a lot of chips.

"My grandfather lost three farms chasing straights and flushes. Finally caught one and lost the fourth." - Unknown poker player.

Without getting specifically into Hold'em, Omaha , or Stud, it is hard to discuss starting hands. So, since Hold'em, and Stud are somewhat similar most of this discussion will those two. There are a myriad of books on both, that list starting hands, usually dividing them into groups, Premium, Good, Marginal, and Garbage. Since you are spending the time reading this, it is safe to assume that you throw away garbage. General rule of thumb:

"If you can't bet it, muck it." - Unknown

Ten years ago, when Big Slick meant AK spades and not any AK, many local Vegas players made money by only playing Premium hands. At the Plaza, downtown, the shills played under this strict rule: Check, Fold, and only call if they had trips or better. Often at the end of the month, the shill fund would have made a profit. In both instances the play wasn't "good" but it did win. A monkey that gets the cards will win; the trick is not losing with Good, Marginal, or even Premium cards. In Stud, if you have a pair of Kings, and an Ace raises the bring-in, you should consider folding. In later articles, I promise a discussion on when to muck a pocket pair of aces before the flop. Two words are used to describe a poker player; Tight or Loose. A person, that restricts his starting hands this much, is very tight.

Generally small pocket pairs must improve to win, although can play well with few players, they must improve to win. Play small pairs like flushes. In later articles on tournament and short table play small pocket pairs will get a more detailed discussion.