Poker with beginners (and other stupid things)

Published on August 21, 2004 By Angloesque In Misc

I'm a big fan of pretty much all forms of poker, and admit that I succumb to the current rage, Texas Hold 'em. Great game. Lots of strategy and mind games--

--which all turn to utter CRAP when playing with beginners.

For one, there's beginner's luck. Last night we were teaching, teaching for crying out loud, our friends to play, and H went out nearly immediately betting on pocket aces (and another on the table, so three Aces) when the beginner got a flush (pocket hearts and three hearts on table). Beginner thought he'd lost--didn't realize he had a flush, was just betting up "for the fun of it."

Then there's bluffing: 9 Q 10 then 4 then 8 on table, and I do everything to indicate I've got a jack, and of course I get called "for the fun of it," and Beginner wins with Ace high and then I *do* end up with jack: jack squat.

Gaah! I can't wait 'til they understand the game better. I wonder if parents ever feel this way about their kids, cf. "Life will be more fun when they can think for themselves."

The one thing I have figured out with beginners sounds stupid, but you can't bluff. Period. This means playing conservatively which IMO is boring. But it keeps you in the game, and after all, the longer you play, the more the beginner learns, the sooner you can beat him.

Really, though, I wish I could sit them down in front of celebrity poker or world championship poker and say, "Sit. Watch. Stay." I'd also love to see a beginner in there with Chris Farha, et al, and see what happens.

Comments

historyishere

on Aug 21, 2004

I LOVED watching the World Poker Tour... when you see people who play for a living bluff and play with opponents that are their peers, there is nothing like it.

Hopefully your friends will get better.

Angloesque

on Aug 21, 2004

Yeah! H and I were even watching reruns of 2003 on our honeymoon. He was going for Moneymaker, I was going for Farha. Moneymaker was good but I think, wrongly I'm sure, that you shouldn't be allowed to hide behind sunglasses (ruins my perception of tobacco chawin', whiskey knockin', bandanna-ed cowboys in a saloon when you put one of 'em in sunglasses).

kingbee

on Aug 21, 2004

i wasnt truly introduced to poker til almost too late in life--like 25 or so--when i was invited to a bi-weekly winter game run by the owner of the company for which i worked. at first it seemed like a total disaster. both the host and his son are congenitally lucky (and not just at cards). i had no idea what i was doing (luckily the hand speaks rather than the fool holding it) except that i knew i was losing continously. it took a while, but eventually there came a day when i realized i was finally attenuated to the rhythm of the game. we only played 7 stud-nothing wild of course which is, for me, true poker.

california state law permits municipalities to regulate clubs in which draw poker is dealt on the ridiculous basis that it is a game of skill while stud is a game of chance. in fact, just the exact opposite is true--which is why, some time later in a different game, i was able to add a couple thou a month to my other earnings (higher antes and raise limits).

i dont particularly care for hold-em (i like the stud components but its a hybrid stud-draw game) and i wonder if it is really the best introduction to poker for novices. but it sounds like youre realizing that too.

Angloesque

on Aug 21, 2004

the ridiculous basis that it is a game of skill while stud is a game of chance

That's got to go in one of those books of stupid laws.

As for hold 'em vs. stud, I just have better luck at hold 'em. We play dealer's prerogative and rarely deviate from Texas Hold 'em. I don't think I've quite mastered the technique for stud.

And I grudgingly admire that you make money playing poker. I stick to the Internet (hey, that's how Chris Moneymaker did it) and chips. Playing for money I've done once or twice but I get too worried and it's not fun. I'm too poor to lose anything.....

SSG Geezer

on Aug 21, 2004

I've got a game Sunday, yeah!
Remember if you can't identify the sucker at the table ; It's you!

Angloesque

on Aug 25, 2004

Words to live by, Geeze.

Wish we could have a virtual JU Poker tournament....I've got pocket aces, how about you?

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