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PLAY WITH CARD GAME
How to play card game
It is important to remember that we count only the cards we can see. The number of cards remaining in the pack used in the game is not necessarily the same as the number of unseen cards.
When the number N, of unseen cards, is between 101 and 200 (101
More precisely, in a four-deck game we start from “a total number of cards equal to 8 and then from a total number of cards equal to 100.” Once we have seen 108 cards we start again from “100.” A similar method can be used in games dealt from more than 4 decks.
Example. Assume that we play in a four-deck game and that we use the main-count system. The first seven cards we see are
5,5, king, 8,6, jack, 7.
The corresponding running count is 3. The number of unseen cards “is indicated by 1 (8 — 7 = 1).” If the next card we see is a 2, the running count becomes 4, and the number of unseen cards “is indicated by 100.” Hence, at this moment, the number of unseen cards is 200. If the next two cards we see are a 5 and an ace, the running count becomes 5, and the number of unseen cards “is indicated by 98.” Hence, at this moment, the number of unseen cards is 198.
Instead of counting backwards each card he sees, the player may try to estimate visually the number of unseen cards. If he is confident that his estimation is reasonably accurate, he may use it for computing the running index. This method is used by a few successful players and by many others, who pretend to be successful.
Instead of counting backwards, the player may count forwards the cards he sees. In this case the tables giving the values of the running index must be modified. We count backwards, since we prefer to use a parameter which decreases instead of one which increases.
The First Method
This method uses Table l.* To explain how the table should be read, we start by noticing that the numbers to the left of the arrows (denoted x) are running counts, while those to the right of the arrows are running indices:
The player who decides to use this table, particularly if he estimates visually the number of unseen cards, should remember that:
a six-deck pack contains 3 12 cards;
a five-deck pack contains 260 cards;
a four-deck pack contains 208 cards;
a three-deck pack contains 1 56 cards;
a two-deck pack contains 104 cards.
Let N be the number of unseen cards. If, for example, N is between 157 and 208 (157
of Table 1, and obtain the running index 12/2 = 6.
If N is between 105 and 156 and the running count is 16, we use the row 105, 156:x — 2(x/3) of Table 1, and obtain the running index
2 X (16/3) about 11.
If N 47 and the running index is 5 we use the row
27, 52:x — 2x
of Table 1, and obtain the running index
2 X 5 = 10.
The running index is determined in the same manner when the running count is negative. For example, if N = 145 and the running count is —25, we use the row
105, 156:x —a- 2(x/3)
of Table I, and obtain the running index
2 X (-25/3)about—17.
We obtain the same result if we compute first the running index corresponding to 25 and then, multiply by —1.
If we play in an eight-deck game, if313 cN< 416 and ifx is the running count, 2x/ 10 is a good estimation of the running index.
Instead of adjusting the running counts, according to the number of unseen cards, one could adjust the indices in the betting and strategy tables. Hence, instead of computing running indices, one would multiply the indices in the betting and strategy tables. In theory, this might seem easier, particularly if one would write the tables differently. In practice, this would probably be even more difficult than computing running indices.
The Requirements for a Take-out Double
I have been playing poker for more than twenty one year and still I have the same eagerness for playing the game and still want to earn a lot of money through this game. Now let me give you some information about take out double requirement.
The requirements for a take-out double vary according to circumstances, such as vulnerability, position at the table, whether you have passed previously, and so forth. Returning to the situation when South has opened, the requirements for a take-out double by West are:
• The values for an opening bid; but to some extent good distribution will compensate for relative lack of high cards. With, say, A K 3 8 5 c2 A 9 6 4 2 0 4 4. 0 10 8, which is a king weaker than the example in No. 44, West can double one diamond because of the excellent support for both majors.
• Essentially, the player who doubles must be able to deal with any response that partner may make. This means that, unless you have a good suit of your own, you must not double when you are weak in a suit which partner may well bid in response.
Overcalling In the opponent’s suit
With an exceptionally strong hand, particularly a two-suiter, you may overcall in the opponent’s suit, bidding two diamonds over one diamond. This is foreing for at least two rounds and so gives you time to give a picture of your distribution.
Responding to a Take-out Double
These are the general lines of action to be followed when your partner has made a take-out double:
• If the third player (opener’s partner) has made any call other than a pass, you as fourth player may pass on a bad hand.
• Assuming that third hand has passed, you as doubler’s partner with a weak or moderate hand should: make a minimum response in your best suit. If your: main strength is in the opponent’s suit, you may bid one no trump.
• With a fair hand, about 8 to 10 points, or less with a long suit, make a jump response. This is not forcing.
• To show a likely game hand, opposite a double, bid the opponent’s suit. With a strong suit of your own you may go straight to game.
• With exceptional strength in the opponent’s suit, not less than 0 3 10 9 x, you may make a PENALTY, PASS, converting the take-out double into a penalty double. (Then any further doubles by your side will be penalty doubles.)
Action by Third Hand over a Take-out Double
When your partner’s opening bid has been doubled by the second player, you act as follows:
• With moderate values, you pass.
• With a moderate hand but a fair suit, you bid the Suit at minimum level. This is not forcing, or even encouraging.
• With a balanced hand of about 7 to 9 you bid one! Lot rump.
• With moderate values but support for partner’s Suit, rise to the limit—and beyond! Partner will recogilize that you are bidding defensively.
• With support for partner and upwards of 9 points (so that you do not need to pre-empt), or with a fair all-round hand but no support, redouble. This tells partner that you have the situation in hand, one way or another, and will bid again if he passes.
. Bidding in the Protective [or Balancing] Position
When an opening bid is followed by two passes, the South opens one heart and West doubles. What ac- fourth player may PROTECT on less than would be tion should you, North, take on the following hands? Considered necessary for an immediate overcall. He should not think, “I will pass before worse befalls,” but “My partner has probably passed on quite a good hand.” One no-trump in the protective position suggests only 11 to 14 points, and a guard in the opponent’s suit is not essential. One of a suit is limited; with up ward of 13, prefer to double.
Whenever the opponents drop the bidding at a low level, it is reasonable to assume that they are limited and that partner, even though he may not have spoken, must have some values. It is highly important to judge when to BALANCE, so that your side will not be out- bid in the part-score area.
The Poker Play
The play 
You are in three no trump, so you need to make nine i tricks. When you look over the dummy you will see that your two hands contain between them three top clubs and the ace of hearts, for certain. What about the spades? With a little experience you will appreciate at once that after the suit has been led from your left you can be sure of two tricks. So six tricks are guaranteed. The hearts are capable of producing extra tricks, but the diamonds are more reliable because by simply forcing out the ace you can establish three sure winners, which is all you need for game.
You must play low from dummy at trick I to ensure a DOUBLE STOP in spades, where the main danger lies. East plays the king and you win with the ace. You make the next two tricks with the queen and 10 of dia monds, West declining to part with his ace. You come to your hand with a club and lead the king of diamonds, which West tops with the ace, establishing your third trick, the jack, in this suit. West may CLEAR the spades by leading queen and another, but you have the jack as a STOPPER and will have no more problems.
Sometimes the more solid and reliable suit will not produce enough tricks. Consider your prospects with the following cards:
You are West, playing as declarer in three notrump. North finds your soft spot with a spade lead. You are missing nine spades, and even if they are 5—4, which is the best you can hope for, there will be three spade losers after you have lost the lead twice. You have not time to play diamonds. You must hope to be lucky in hearts. Win the first trick with the ace of spades and lead a low heart from the table (the East hand in this case). If South has K x x you will be able to make four tricks in hearts, enough for game.
Suppose, next, that you were playing in two notrump. It would then be more sensible to play for the spades to be 5—4 than to rely on the rather desperate chance in hearts. When you win the first trick, play diamonds. The opponents win and drive out your second stopper in spades. You will lose two diamonds and three spades, but that will be all.
60. Hold’-up Play
When you have reason to fear the suit that has been led, retain your control in this suit for as long as you can. The object is to exhaust one defender of the suit so that he will be unable later on to lead it back to his partner.
he opening leadWest leads the fourth best card from his longest suit, the 5 of hearts.
The play
Declarer can see six sure winners—two in spades, one in hearts, two in diamonds, and one in clubs. He therefore needs to develop three more.
There are possibilities of establishing extra tricks in both diamonds and spades, but obviously the clubs are the best prospect. Barring a 5—1 break, the suit will be worth four tricks after the king has been forced out. It may even be possible to make all five tricks (if West holds K x x ).
However, the heart suit looks dangerous. When East plays the king on the first round, South must HOLD UP the ace. East returns the jack and South holds up again. He wins the third round and finesses the queen of clubs. When East takes his king he has no more hearts to play and South makes his contract easily.
It is often necessary to hold up even with a double stop in the suit led.
South opens one club, North responds one diamond, and South rebids one notrump. North raises to two no- trump, inviting game, but South, having opened on a minimum, can say no more.
West leads from his long suit, the 7 of spades. South has five tricks in top cards and must aim to establish three more in diamonds. See, first, what happens if he takes the first trick with the ace of spades and leads a diamond. East will win and return the 10 of spades. West will OVERTAKE with the jack (he can count all 13 spades now) and lead a third round, forcing the king. When West wins the next diamond he will CASH his three remaining spades, giving the defense four tricks in spades and two in diamonds.
Since South is well upholstered in the other suits and does not fear a SWITCH, he must hold off on the first round of spades and win the second. Then East will have no spade to play when he wins the first round of diamonds. South will make his contract with three tricks in diamonds and at least five winners in the other suits.Money Management and Bankroll
Minimum size of bankroll
If you are trying to survive as a “professional” poker player, the minimum size of the bankroll you will need to provide for your inevitable losing streaks depends mostly on the size of the stakes at which you usually play. Obviously the greater the stakes you usually play at, the more money you need in reserve.
Although it is certainly possible to encounter long losing streaks that exhaust any limited bankroll, a consensus of many professional players suggests that a winning player (let’s define a winning player as capable of averaging more than one big-bet-per-hour in the given game), should have a bankroll of 250 to 300 times the big bet to survive about five or six large losses (where the typical large loss for a session might be about fifty times the big bet size, for example, a typical large loss at twenty-forty is fifty times forty or two-thousand dollars).
Thus a ten-thousand dollar bankroll should enable a “twenty-forty pro” to survive most “dry spells.” Again, that assumes that this player is indeed a winning player and actually wins an average of at least one big-bet-per-hour in the long run. Of course, if he is not a winning player, than he should expect to lose any size bankroll in the long run. It is just a matter of time.
If you are fortunate enough to be a winning player in the long run, what about spending some of your basic bankroll capital9 your bankroll money is the tool of your trade. If you sell off your tools, you jeopardize your ability to make money at your profession. Here are some strong words of advice from Mike Caro:
Handling your bankroll Important survival warning! Don’t spend your bankroll
Another reason skilled player put themselves out of action is this: They spend their bankrolls. This is a very common mistake. What happens is players seldom anticipate a long run of misfortune. But count on this the cards will turn bad for many days in a row and you’ve got to plan for it. It’s a good idea to keep more bankroll in reserve than you think you’ll need. Violation of this advice results in this common example...
A player starts with $1,000 bankroll. Gets lucky. Builds it to $27,000. Buys refrigerator watch, 157 compact discs, a new stereo system, a wall-size TV and a motorcycle. Bankroll is still $14,000. Player now (often having promoted him- or herself to larger limits) losses $14,000. Player now broke. Player feels like loser Yep. Happens all the time, my friends. Now this same player, who actually won $12,000 in a short time, and who is possibly averaging $300 an hour at poker, crawls around humbly trying to borrow money to play in a small-limit game.
Shouldn’t cannibalize So, if you can avoid it, don’t spend any portion of your bankroll until you’ve accumulated so much money that you can siphon off profit with almost no risk. Your bankroll is your equipment for doing business. It’s hard to convince players that they shouldn’t cannibalize their bankroll to buy groceries for their family as an extreme example. But, in fact, winning players shouldn’t. It’s the same as having a print shop, and the first time you’re short on cash selling off the printing press. That might fix you up in cash for a week, but you then have no means of survival, no way to earn an income tomorrow. I’ll say it one last time.., please, don’t spend your bankroll.
Poker Make Higher
I have been started playing poker. Meter five deals I was to the left of the button. I bet $3 in the blind and looked at my cards. I held 7 5 3 2 A. A pat hand. When three players called, I rose on my turn, and they all called my raise.
Two drew two cards, and the third player drew one card. I stood pat. It was my bet. I bet $5, and the one who drew a single card called. The others folded, as I guessed they would. What could you buy with a two-card draw in lowball except heartaches? I showed my 7 5 high, and the player conceded, but he threw his cards face up on the table, muttering to a fellow crony that he couldn't win with anything tonight. He held a 9 8 high hand. Another sucker.
The game droned on. I played according to my principles, staying in with only pat hands or one-card draws to 7-high hands. Liquor was continually being served at the table, and some of the players were really getting drunk and looser in their play.
I had more coffee. Two of the players, both heavy losers, were getting downright nasty, accusing friends of playing too tightly, of never taking chances. I half expected them to turn on me, but I was a stranger in the game, and they left me alone.
I continued to win my share of the pots. No matter how tightly I played, I had my group in with me both before and after the draw. I beat out one cowboy who went in after the draw with deuces against my pat hand. It was like taking candy from babies.
A few players finally quit the game, but others moved into their seats. A man in his forties sat down, but he was as poor as the player he replaced. A red-bearded man also sat down, and he played a good game. By four in the morning only two of the original group were left, two drunken cowboys. Of the other players my only competition was the man with the red beard, who played a good, tight game.
I was now ahead almost $200. For about two hours after reaching this plateau, I just couldn't get good cards, and my winnings dwindled slightly. The red-bearded player had a good run and was piling up the chips in front of him.
At this point I was so tired that I decided to leave the game, but I wanted to stay for one more round of play since I was about to be the first player to bet, the one under the gun, and it seemed penny ante to leave before I bet blind. I was fingering about $150 in winnings at this time.
When I was under the gun, I bet $3 in the blind, not even looking at my cards. The cowboy who was drunkest and had taken an awful beating in the game raised me without looking at his cards. Another player called the raise, and then the red- bearded player reprised him. I looked at my cards. I held 6 5 3 2 A, wonderful low cards. Only a 6 4 and a wheel could beat me.
I reprised the bearded player, and the cowboy faded out, but the other player called my reprise. The redhead came back with another raise, I reprised, and the other player called. When the redhead wanted to reprise, he was told we had reached our limit of raises, so he called.
I stood pat, the redhead stood pat, and the third player took one card for his draw. I couldn't believe his move, but I was now worried about the redhead's hand.
I was first to bet, so I threw in $5, the redhead raised, and the other player folded. I reprised, and he reprised, and I reexamined my cards.
It's possible, I thought, that he has me beat. He could have the 6 4 or the wheel. Anything was possible, but highly improbable.
I reprised, and then the bearded player turned to the dealer. "How many raises are we allowed?" he asked.
disaster
I just only want to tell you about the disaster when I went to forest with my friends and we play card there. Here I face an incidence which I share with you .
The boys had all eaten and returned to the den. It was around midnight as they started a round of three-card substitution. Mac had liked the game the night before when they played for pennies. Al had warned him to play cautiously in this game. The substitutions were $1, $2 and $3, and with four raises per round a single pot could cost over twenty bucks. Mac had inspected his cigar as he announced that he could take care of himself.
In the first pot, Mac stayed for a quarter on 2, 10CV'. This was no tragedy in a penny game, but it was a boner in this game. He drew an 8CV' and stayed for a 50-cent bet. His fourth card was a 7 •. He stayed for $2. At this point there were three players in the game, and this was the layout after the next card was dealt:
AI bet $1. Mac called. Bill raised to $2. Al raised to $3. The others called. They made the first substitution for $1.
Al played it pat. Mac pitched the 10 and picked up a 5 for an 8, 7 low. Bill pitched the jack and picked up a 7. Mac stared at Bill's cards. Al bet $1. Mac assumed Bill had a strong low and raised to $1.25, to kill a raise, but Bill only called. Al raised to $2.25. Mac stared harder and wondered whether Bill had paired the 7. Finally Mac raised to $3.25. Bill called. AI raised to $4.25.
Al didn't draw. "Play these," Mac announced as he dragged on his stogie. Mac was surprised when Bill also refused the draw. AI bet $1. Mac studied the hands, which were:
Mac concluded that Bill had an 8 in the hole anmd that Bill was hoping that Mac had a 6. In the case, 8,7,6,4 would beat 8, 7,6, 5. But he actually had a deuce and his 8,7,5,2 would beat Bill.
Bill. This would be an amusing hand to tell his cronies about. Mac raised to $2. Bill called and the bet rapidly reached $5.
They all stood pat for the last trade. The bet again reached $5.
Bill didn't have an 8 in the hole. He had a 5. Mac was silent as he pondered this one. The bastard wanted to be sure I didn't draw and acted weak. I raised for him tool I'll remember that little gadget.
The pot cost Mac $20.25.
Mac was next dealt a 9. down and a 107 up. Having read Maverick rather than the previous chapter, he liked the hand. His next card was the 77. The bet was only a half, so he stayed and pulled a pair of 9s.
Frank paid $1, pitched the Q. and pulled the 8 •. Walt tossed the J. and pulled the 30. Al ditched the 10. and pulled a 2 •.
Mac pondered AI's play. The folded cards, he recalled, included a jack but no kings. There were one 6 and two jacks remaining in about thirty cards. He would have three cracks at it, which gave him a fair gamble to make the straight. Mac was also convinced that Al had a king in the hole for kings over deuces. So he paid his dollar and drew a hole card.
It was the 9CVI had he played the pair he would have made three 9s.
Al checked his deuces! When he realized it was his turn, Mac also checked. Frank checked. Walt bet a dollar and all called.
Teaching Dad
I once tried to teach my father to play Deuces Wild. It was a disaster.
For example, I explained that when you’re dealt a straight flush with three deuces, it’s far better to keep the deuces by themselves and throw away the other two cards. In the standard game for quarters, a straight flush is worth 45 coins ($11.25), while three deuces are worth about 75 coins ($18.75). Keeping the straight flush would be on error costing $7.50 on a game that returns less than $6 per hour when played perfectly.
Dad couldn’t do this. “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” he opined. “If it was good enough for Ben Franklin, it’s good enough for me.”
“Old Ben was never a successful video poker player,” I re sponded.
“Nonetheless,” Dad persisted, “you can’t go broke if you always take a profit. And if God hadn’t wanted me to keep the straight flush, He wouldn’t have dealt me a straight flush to begin with.”
As long as Dad spouted platitudes, I had no useful response. He wasn’t really serious, of course; just having fun arguing. If Dad really wanted to get good at this game, I’d take whatever time was required to teach him. But I suspect pigs will fly before he—like so many other casual players—will choose to do what it takes to become an expert video poker player.