Ladders go both up and
down
28 January 2003
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
I feel I am decent player at video poker. I also
feel I am ready to move up the ladder to the
poker room. Are there enough similarities
between the two to make me a successful player?
Clarence M.
Before you thrust your hand into that beehive, I
got to tell ya, Clarence, you might not enjoy
the honey. BEE---sides, Clarence, proficiency at
table poker takes years of practice-a sort of
beekeeper's protection, lacking which you will
be stung senseless by the killer drones that
swarm over poker tables.
Skill aside, there are subtle differences-far
too many for this column's space limits. But for
starters, in video poker, you are playing
against a machine that doesn't talk back, nor
snicker at shabby play, not give a hoot whether
and how much you win or lose. In table poker,
you are facing thinking and skill-rich
adversaries, some of whom make their living off
of "video poker graduates." They who can bluff
you into giving up a winning hand and as easily
get you to fold what would have been a winning
hand, in both cases easing you into Livin' La
Vida Broka.
Video poker's other valuable variables include
no "ante" with the exception of the coins you
initially risk on the game. There are no bets to
call or raise to build a pot. The video poker
pot is predetermined never changes, except for
progressive machines. With video poker, the
higher the hand, the more you win, with Royal
Flushes paying sweet and heavy buckaroos, while
on the table game, the best you can do is to win
the pot, -- often a starved and measly mess.
With video poker, you set your own pace and more
importantly, decide how much to invest in each
hand and selecting a machine consistent with
your plan.
Not so on a table game. In a spread limit game,
any wagers between the two limits are allowed.
Also, hand totals can be different and
discouraging. In video poker, three deuces are
just as powerful as three aces.
That constitutes the Preface to the Poker 101
text. Do consider this brief shower of words
before they evaporate, Clarence, and learn by
heart: "Self-proclaimed aptitude at video poker
isn't in a class with expertise at the human
poker table."
Dear Mark,
One of the more difficult decisions to make in
Pai Gow Poker is what to do when you have two
pairs. How do you recommend setting your hands
when you get them? Adrian G.
Initially, Adrian, let's clue in some of the
readers as to what you mean by "setting your
hands."
Pai Gow Poker begins with the dealer dealing
seven cards to each player. Each player must
then arrange his seven cards into two hands. One
hand, called the high hand, consists of the five
cards. The other is aptly named the low hand,
and consists of the remaining two cards. The
object of the game is to form a high hand and a
low hand that are BOTH higher in rank than the
dealer's corresponding hands. As your question
intimates, Adrian, setting a two-pair hand can
lead the novice player into costly errors.
Foremost, your playing strategy depends on the
rank of your pairs. If one of your two pairs is
Aces, Kings or Queens, then split the pairs by
putting the As, Ks, or Qs in the high hand and
the other pair in the low hand. But if you have
a sole King or Ace that could be used in your
low hand, place your two pair in the high hand.
If you have neither, then split the pairs with
the higher pair in the high hand, and the lower
pair in the low hand.
Gambling quote of the week: "In games of pure
chance the tension felt by the player is only
feebly communicated to the onlooker." Johan
Huizinga, Homo Ludens (1949)
|
