The First Casino Visit

If you're new to Texas Hold'em, or perhaps just play at home or online, it might seem intimidating to play in a casino or card room for the first time. Read this post to learn what it's like.

Arrival

When you go to the poker room in a casino, the first think you want to do is check in. Seating is assigned. They either seat you if your game is available, or will take your name and put you on a list if it's full. Some casinos have computer monitors setup where you can see where you are on the list, while others will call your name when it's your turn to be seated.


How much money should I bring?

Games are ranked in terms of the betting limits. For example, in a $2/$4 game the first two rounds of betting have $2 bets (and $2 raises), while the final three betting rounds have $4 bets and raises.

A good rule of thumb is to get about 30 big bets worthof chips. In a $2/$4 game the big bet is $4, so buy about $4x30 = $120 worth of chips.

Tipping

When you win a pot, it's customary to tip the dealer. At lower limits, e.g. $3/$6, the tips are usually $1, or $2 for a big pot.

Seating

You often won't have a choice in where you're seated. If it's busy, you will get the first available seat. If you do have a choice, I don't recommend sitting directly to one side of the dealer. You won't have a very good view of the table. If someone leaves, feel free to ask the dealer if you can move to their seat.

Turn $0 into $10,000

I came across this and thought it's ideal to share with anyone getting started in Poker.

Professional poker player Chris "Jesus" Ferguson took on a challenge from Full Tilt Poker to turn $0 into $10,000. He started with "Freeroll" tournaments (a sort of promotion where you can play for free and the winner gets some real money). Then he played at the lowest-limit tables, working his way up. The key is Bankroll Management.

Read about it at FullTiltPoker.com

PS - If you sign up to play for real money at Full Tilt, please use the promotion code AAA99. That will help me out.

Losing? Here's Why.

Even though you can consistently win at poker by learning to play well, 19 of 20 players lose money in the long run. Many players, even at medium-stake games, make basic mistakes that cost big money. If you don't consistently win at poker, chances are great that you make the same mistakes.

Playing too many hands

You can win at poker with any starting hand. You can win. But with many starting hands, you won't win consistently enough to make up for the times you lose with that same starting hand.

In Texas Hold'em, your starting hand is the two secret cards you receive at the beginning of each hand (the "pocket").

Different authors recommend different starting hands.

I'll post a few book reviews with great advice for starting hands in a few days. For now, here's my personal list of starting hands that should be pretty safe to play most of the time.

AA, KK, QQ, AKs, AK, AQs, AQ, AJs, TT, 99, 88

T stands for ten. "s" as in AKs means that the two cards are suited (have the same suit, e.g. both hearts or both spades).

All things being equal, you should win in the long run if you restrict yourself to that set of starting hands, play against players that have lower standards for starting hands, and play reasonably well after the flop (which is the subject of future blogs).

You can win more, and play more hands, using more advanced starting hand strategies that take other factors into account such as position (see below). My favorite book for starting hand strategy is Internet Texas Hold'em by Matthew Hilger (it's also great for offline games).

I'm playing online poker as I write this post using the starting hands in that book. So far I have tripled the money I sat down with.

Playing out of position

It matters quite a bit how far to the left of the dealer (or dealer button) you sit in a hand. The person just to the left of the dealer is first to act. Simply put, if you are first to act, you have to decide what you will do before anyone else decides what they will do. On the other hand, if you are last to act, you can see what everyone else did before you (call, raise, fold) before you make up your mind what you want to do.

Only play the very best starting hands from early position.

Going too far with your cards

"Fit or fold" is a lesson that cost me quite a bit of money. Learn it now, and save yourself the expensive lesson.

Simply put, if the flop doesn't fit the cards you hold in your pocket, fold your hand. For example, K-Q is a good starting hand. However, if the flop comes A-A-J and there's lots of betting before it gets to you, chances are you are already beaten. The betting tells you someone likely has an ace for three of a kind, or maybe even A-J for a full house. Fold your good starting cards and wait for a better hand.

Learn to Beat Poker

Poker is an extremely popular card game. Unlike most forms of gambling, it is a game of skill. By studying the game a little, you can eliminate common mistakes that cost money. By studying the game a lot, you can expect to CONSISTENTLY win money at poker.

I'm not an expert player. In fact, I just started playing recently. However, I'm already a WINNING player.

By reading this blog, you will learn two main things:

• Key concepts for beginning and intermediate players
• The must-have books for your poker bookshelf

With some study and effort, you can become a winning player, too!

- Eric

PS - I started with today's most popular game, Texas Hold'em. For now, the posts in this blog apply to that form of poker. Still, many of the general concepts are true for any poker game.