The second of a multi-part guide series designed to take readers from having little to no knowledge of poker to being a profitable and competent virtual money low stakes player.
This part covers how to play like a rock, the training wheels stage of any budding poker player
introduzione
The rock is one of six classifications of players I personally like to use. Capitolo 3 will go through all six in some detail. There are many basic guides to “play like a rock” in poker, ma non lo so’t feel it’s possible to do a guide like this one without giving it some reasonable attention. At low stakes poker, whether it’s on fake money sites/games or even on microstakes real money games, you can be profitable by doing nothing other than playing like a rock. Esso’s essentially “learning to walk before you run”, getting a solid enough grasp of the fundamentals of the game, and learning to start to read the other players at your table.
The first thing a budding player wants to grasp is the relative value of their hole cards. Some cards are effective short-handed (when only 2 o forse 3 people are in the hand) and less good with more people playing, and for other hole cards the opposite is true. Some are almost always just bad, and some are almost always good.
The goal of a rock is to limit himself to only hands that are either always good, or hands that are at least “reasonable” but with a chance of becoming very good. Either he lands something strong and pushes for as much money as he can get, or he folds and waits patiently for the next hand. Poker always requires patience, così’s best to learn this early.
Starting Hands
The following is a brief and easy starting hands list (Chiave: A = Ace, K = King, Q = Queen, J = Jack, T = Ten, numbers are self-explanatory, “S” means both cards are the same suit, mentre “o” means the cards are of different suits):
(Three-star hands) Raise pre-flop, re-raise if facing another raise: A-A, K-K, Q-Q, A-Ks
(Two-star hands) Raise pre-flop, call if someone else raised: A-Ko, A-Qs, K-Qs, A-Qo, A-Js, A-Ts, J-J, T-T – includere “pocket pairs” (both cards the same value) down to 5-5 if it looks like at least 3 other players are going to be in the hand.
(One-star hands) “Limp” (just pay the blind and that’sedersi), fold if someone else raised: Any two cards where both cards are at least a ten, and all pocket pairs down to 2-2.
Fold all other hands. Questo significa te’re only playing about 5% of the time if another player has raised (74 fuori da 1326 possible hands), and only playing 18% of the time even if there are no raises (244 fuori da 1326). This is a very “tight” range and will feel incredibly boring if you’ve dived in just wanting action at the table, but it achieves two things: In primo luogo, it means you get more time to read what other people are doing at the table, and secondly it gives you an opportunity to see how many of your folded hands would have been the winning hand.
Ricorda, poker is not about winning more hands than everyone else, esso’s about winning more chips. There are two elements to this: one is winning as much as possible on the hands you win, and the other is losing as little as possible on every other hand – being happy to fold is a key skill and this is the foundation on which the rock strategy is profitable. Players who call too often are those who tend to lose the most.
Post flop
Così, now you’re equipped with your starting hands, E tu’ve reached the flop, what next?
“Raise with the best, draw to invest, fold all the rest” (Dave Scharf, ex-professional poker player, and a saying I’ve always liked for memorability). As a rock you want to bet or even raise when you’re confident that you’re holding the best hand, call and check when you have good chances of making a hand that will become the best, and fold to every bet where neither outcome is likely.
Bear in mind that “playing like a rock” is the equivalent of putting your training wheels on a bicycle. Eventually you want to take them off, but the self-imposed restrictions will greatly help you to gain confidence in your game.
Counting outs and pot odds
Before going into the details of what hands to play and how to play them, there is one key principle you now need to include in your decisions, namely “counting outs” (the number of cards needed to improve your hand to the best hand when it isn’t already best).
Sometimes you completely fail to have a hand when the flop is dealt, but you’re only missing one card out of that key straight or flush. Purtroppo, just when you hope to see the next card, someone goes and places a bet into the pot. As a rock, generalmente, you’re learning to call when you think you have a good draw, but some calls are obviously going to be better than others. This where you need to learn to count outs and do some very basic maths to decide whether calling makes sense or not.
Esempio: You have J-Ts, both diamonds, and the board is 4 of diamonds, 8 of diamonds, 9 of clubs. Qualunque 7 gives you a straight (4 outs), any Q gives you a straight (4 outs) and any remaining diamond gives you a flush (7 outs, come il 7 and Q of diamonds you’ve already counted). Quello’s a total of 15 outs, e quello’s not counting the fact that another Jack or ten (6 outs) may also be good enough.
Calling here is an easy decision, and with two cards still to be drawn, you’re actually strong enough to call a bet of all of your chips. The only time you’re likely to be in an awkward situation here is if the bettor has the 9 and K or A of diamonds and will beat all your flush draws, but even there you have 14 outs.
Cautious draws: There are times when you think some of your outs are not “vero” outs. Per esempio, se hai un 9 of hearts and there are three hearts on the flop, esso’s very reasonable to assume that anyone with a better heart than yours is also excited about the board, and you may find that any of the outs that give you a flush give another player a better flush than yours.
A good rule of thumb is “call with 8 or more outs for any bet smaller than the pot, and call with only made hands or 13 or more outs for any bet bigger than the pot”. Bear in mind that doesn’t apply to made hands – if you have top pair, and you think it’s probably the best hand anyway, you still want to call. Tuttavia, this is not to catch one of your outs, but because you think you’re already ahead. This is always fine.
The next mini-section covers more sophisticated maths for those who want a bit more precision in their decisions, but if that doesn’t appeal, skip straight through to “Three-star hands”.
Pot odds (for those who want to play with the numbers)
Pot odds are the size of bet you can realistically call profitably. You’re calculating “if we were to create this situation an infinite number of times, would my call here win the pot often enough to make more money than I would lose when I don’t win”.
This is a relatively straight forward maths effort for those who want to apply a bit of precision to their play. The following guide is quick reference for prices when calling to see the final river card. Bear in mind that “eventual pot” includes any money that you think will be added to the pot on the last betting round.
5 outs = call if you’re having to spend 1/9th or less of the eventual pot (including your call, and all bets and calls on the river). Per esempio, if there’s 3,600 chips in the pot, and someone bets 800 to make it 4,400, you multiply your 800 required to call by 9 (which in this case is 7,200 – as this is the size the pot would need to be for your call to be worth making). As the pot will only be 5,200 after your call, you should fold unless you feel it is likely to get at least 2,000 more chips from other players by betting on the final betting round if you get your outs on the river.
6 outs = call if you’re having to spend 1/8th of the eventual pot or less
7 outs = call if you’re having to spend 1/7th of the eventual pot or less
8 outs = call if you’re having to spend 1/6th of the eventual pot or less
9-10 outs = call if you’re having to spend 1/5th of the eventual pot or less
11-13 outs = call if you’re having to spend 1/4th of the eventual pot or less
14+ outs = call if you’re having to spend 1/3rd of the eventual pot or less
Making this decision on the flop with two cards still to draw makes this more complicated, but as a general guide you can just move the fractions two places further (Così 5 outs can call 1/7th pot, all the way up to 14+ outs can call any pot sized bet).
The complications arise from the fact you only get to see one of the cards for that price, and you have no idea what the betting player is likely to do. He may be bluffing or have a weak hand and check the turn, allowing you to see the river as a free card. In alternativa, he may already have the nuts (the best hand possible to have at that point) and decide to shove all in, creating a situation where you can’t possibly call to draw a single card, when the first call will now feel like it was a complete waste.
If this feels like way too much maths, just go with “8-12 outs to call bets less than the pot, 13+ outs to call anything bigger, otherwise fold”.
For the following section, “three-star”, “two-star” e “one-star” hands are referring specifically to the pre-flop card groupings we made at the beginning of this chapter.
“Three-star” hands post-flop
All of your three-star hands are almost definitely the best pre-flop (essi’re literally the top 1.6% of hands), and unless the board (another name for the community cards on the table) is paired (two cards of the same value, like 8-8-K), voi’re almost definitely still the best with the pocket pairs (or A-K if another ace or king is on the flop).
In realtà, voi’re probably best even if the board is paired, as in the 8-8-K example there are only two other 8s in the deck for other people to have, e loro’ve had to call a raise. The only exception to being confident that you’re the best here is overcards (for example if you have K-K or Q-Q and an Ace appears on the flop – cards higher than your pocket pair), or if you have A-K and don’T “connect” with either of them.
Di conseguenza, you should always be betting unless someone has already bet before you, at around half to two thirds of the current value of the pot. If someone has already bet, raise by doubling it if your hand “colpo” the flop (a card of the same value of one of the two you were holding is on the table as well), otherwise call. If the bet before you was large, and someone else has called it, you need to start being very cautious of paired boards (where three-of-a-kind is already possible) and overcards (where someone could have made a pair above yours).
If there is a bet and a call and there’s a single card that beats you, assume one of them has it. Là’s no shame in folding if the board isn’t kind to you – each poker hand is literally “luck of the draw”, and sometimes you need to accept it and cut your losses. If you have A-K and the board is 8-8-K, even though you’ve a very strong hand, you may still be drawing very thin* if the betting is heavy enough to indicate another 8.
* Drawing thin = having few “outs” (see the counting outs section), which are the cards left in the deck that would improve your hand to the best hand. In questo caso, esso’s possible you’re facing “trips” (three of a kind) and you have only 2 outs. An Ace is no good against trips as two pair is not enough, so the remaining two Kings are the only single cards in the deck that can improve your hand sufficiently.
This continues pretty much through the turn and the river. Unless there’s a very good reason to suspect someone has picked up a better hand (like you have A-K, the board is 5-8-K, and after another 8 appears on the board someone gets very excited with their bets), you can continue to bet until the showdown or all players have folded. This is where a rock will pick up all his money, ed esso’s important to force other players to put money in the pot if you think you have the best hand.
The following is a simplistic traffic light system to help you gauge the quality of the flop:
Green lights :UN “flopped set” (you have three of a kind immediately on the flop) o meglio, a two pair with A-Ks, or a flush with A-Ks. Esso’s very rare that you ever lose these hands, so get aggressive with your bets.
Yellow lights: Board is suited and you don’t have the suit (like you have A-A of clubs and spades and there are three diamonds on the flop). Overpair: You have a pocket pair above the three flop cards. Voi’re likely the best, but just call bets and be prepared to escape and fold if the action gets too hot.
Orange lights: Voi’re facing an overcard with K-K/Q-Q or missed the flop with A-K. In this case you might be the best, but you also might not. If any two other players are willing to spend money either by betting or calling, you may already be beaten. Count your outs! less than 8? Piega.
“Two-star” hands post flop
These rely much more on matching another card and playing with care. Your range here is a lot wider, and a lot of the hands you make will subsequently be weaker. The rules are very similar to the three-star hands, except your chances of having overcards to your pocket pairs are much higher, and you end up relying on outs to bigger hands if you miss the flop. You do have hands with interesting “equity” (chance of improving to the best hand once all the community cards are dealt) against multiple opponents, but you often rely on hitting specific cards.
If you play A-J and a jack comes out, voi’re in a great spot as long as no queen or king appears. Somewhat surprisingly, if you hit the ace instead of a jack, you need to be more careful: you may be beaten by a better ace already if there’s heavy betting, let alone hands like two pairs.
Green Lights: A flopped set, or a paired board on one of your cards. Tuo “kicker” (if you have the same card as someone else that pairs with the board, the other card you have ends up acting as a tiebreaker against their other card, so the higher the better) is always good, ed esso’s unlikely to be beaten by hands other than straights, flushes and better. Flopping two pair is generally not far behind, as both cards will be high value cards if played as your “two-star” holdings.
Yellow Lights: Suited boards where you land top pair and you don’t have the suit. Esso’s generally ok to lead with a bet if there are no bettors before you, but if anyone calls or someone bets before play reaches you keep it as cheap as possible. You may already be beaten and you now want to have a cheap showdown. Voi’re beating most hands, ma tu’re drawing dead (0 outs) against a small number of them.
Having an overpair on that board (your pocket pair higher than all three flop cards) is slightly stronger, and somewhat “disguised” (a hard hand for other players to expect you to have), but similar caution is required. A bet from another player followed by a raise from another is likely to be either two pair, a flopped set or a flopped flush.
Orange Lights: Second pair or pocket pair facing at least one overcard. In both situations any serious betting normally means you’re already beaten. Unless you have at least 8 outs to a straight or better, fold a bet with a caller, and only call cheap bets. If the better bets the turn as well and your hand hasn’t improved, fold.
Red Lights: Anything else. Call only with straight/flush draws with at least 8 outs for pot size bets or less, e 13+ outs for bigger bets.
“One-star” hands post-flop
Any pocket pair in this range is foldable unless it hits the flop. Even low flopped sets are very strong, but your 3-3 is useless in most situations where there’s no 3 on the board. Other hands are mostly relying on big hand equity – your J-Ts probably requires a flush or a straight to be good enough to see any serious betting, unless it’s lucky enough to land on a two pair. Get into the habit of counting outs. Ancora, Chiamata 8+ outs up to pot value bets, call 13+ out hands on anything above that. The only hands you bet here are when you’ve landed top pair, e tu indossa’t want to raise anyone else’s bets.
Riepilogo
Despite what I said in the first guide, playing like a rock involves very little “outplaying” o “outwitting” of your opponents. It’s all about learning that you don’t have to play all the cards you’re dealt, starting with only high-quality cards, and getting into the habit of only putting money in when you have good chances of winning the pot.
This is a very good style to play with to earn chips against weaker players, as they commonly won’t recognise that you’re only playing with good hands. They will make large contributions to your bankroll when they have an “ok” hand that isn’t as good as the one you’ve chosen to play with.
Tuttavia, once the stakes go a bit higher and the level of player skill increases, you’ll encounter more and more people that will realise that you have a good hand whenever you’re betting or calling, and less and less people will be interested in going head-to-head with you. They’ll also notice your tendency to fold without a good hand and will start “bluffing” voi (betting with a weaker hand to make another player fold) whenever they think your hand is not strong.
A questo punto, you need to start broadening your horizons, considering starting with a wider “allineare” of cards, playing in less predictable ways with your cards, and most importantly starting to work out how to identify what sort of players you’re up against at any given table (see the next chapter!) and to play them accordingly.
Hand quick reference guide
Pre-flop hands:
*** hands: A-A, K-K, Q-Q, A-Ks
** hands: A-Ko, A-Qs, A-Qo, A-Js, A-Ts, K-Qs, K-Js, J-J, T-T
* hands: Any others with both cards T+, all other pocket pairs
What to call with
Call with 8+ outs for less than pot bets
Call with 13+ outs for pot or greater bets
