Poker Strategies
After receiving pocket cards, you are immediately faced with a choice: play your cards and either raise or call the blinds, or fold.
Practice Matters
Suppose four Poker cheats plus a mark are playing pot limit. The
Suppose four Texas Hold'em Poker cheats plus a mark are playing pot limit. The ante is $1. Each of the five players antes $1 for a total pot of $5 before the cards are dealt. The cheater to the mark's left we will call Pete, the cheater to Pete's left is Joe. The other two players' names are irrelevant. The mark will be known as—Mr. Mark. The pot is opened by Pete for $5. All the players stay, and each puts $5 into the pot, making a total of $30 in the pot. The draw now takes place. After the draw Pete bets the pot limit, which is $30, making a total of $60 in the pot. Joe calls Pete's $30 bet, and raises it $5, making a total of $95 in the pot. The other two cheaters drop out. Mr. Mark calls the raise by putting $35 into the pot. The pot now holds $130. Pete calls Joe's $5 raise, and reraises the pot limit, which is $135. The total amount in the pot is now $270. Joe calls Pete's $135 bet, making the pot limit $405, and raises this amount. The total amount in the pot is now $810. Mr. Mark calls the two raises by putting in $540 for a total of $1,350 in the pot. Pete calls Joe's raise of $405 and raises the pot limit, which is now $1,755, making a total of $3,510. Joe calls the $1,755 bet, making the pot total $5,265, and raises the pot limit, for a total now of $10,530 in the pot. It will cost Mr. Mark $7,020 to call Pete's and Joe's raises. Should Pete not raise and should he just call Joe's raise of $5,265, the total amount in the pot would be $22,815. The total amount lost by Mr. Mark is $7,601, and that was with only five raises. Should Pete desire to make another raise of pot limit, it would cost Mr. Mark $22,815 more to call the hand. So a player must not only watch the dealer to prevent himself from being cheated, but must also keep his eyes on his own deck while he is offering the pack to be cut.
Don't think that cold decks are used only in steer joints. The fact is,
Don't think that cold decks are used only in steer joints. The fact is, they may be switched into any Online Hold'em Poker game in which the sharper believes he can get away with them. I once witnessed a private Draw Online Hold'em Poker game among "friends" in which a card mechanic switched in five cold decks in a three-hour session. But as a rule, cold decks are reserved for specific high rollers.