Well, I did a search for the word inside, and nada. So here goes: don’t draw to an inside straight! That is 3,4, 6, 7 and say Jack. You have only four chances of making a straight, whereas an outside straight has twice as many, eight, chances to get you the card you need. Watch to see if any of your buddies are this stupid, and make note of that, and never forget it.
Another thing is to pick up a book on poker strategy, a simple one, as this is a “friendly” game and all you need to know are the odds. You can memorize the odds in an hour.
And since you are always playing with the same bunch, keep notes at home (where they won’t find out) on the sort of figeting they do when they have good or bad hands. These are called “tells”. (Didn’t check to see if someone else has already mentioned this, sorry if that is the case.) Never let on to any of your friends that you know their tells. Pay attention to your own. People are very unconscious about their body language, and after a while, you won’t need to see your opponent’s cards, but you will know what they are holding.
My hubby, a semi-professional poker player, advises that books by Sklansky are a tad too advanced for simple home games. They are fine works but they don’t give a lot of info so far as low-limit games go.
Instead, he suggests something like Thursday-Night Poker : How to Understand, Enjoy - And Win by Peter Steiner to begin with.
If you’d like some advice from a semi-pro, just let me know–he can e-mail you.
Thank you all for your help! Sorry I was so late in answering, had a busy week. But I did read your answers.
The first poker game is tonight. Ringo had asked what the stakes are. They’re low. In US money: 5 cents, 10 cents, 25 cents bet, maximum 25 cents raise and three raises. Our host estimates you shouldn’t lose more than $20 per evening. If it was any higher than this I wouldn’t have joined the game because I don’t especially enjoy gambling.
What I’ve learned so far from reading this thread and reading other pages on the 'net:[list=A][li]Don’t do the zany games when it’s my turn to choose the game. I suppose most people take poker more seriously than I do.[/li][li]Try to memorize the odds for each hand. That sounds like hard work! But I’ll make an effort for tonight.[/li][li]Watch your opponents and vary your strategy! I’ll try that too. I was hoping for an easier answer, a system you could follow like at blackjack. But if I start playing by rules (e.g. never raise unless I have at least a pair of jacks, never raise more than once if I don’t have three of a kind, etc…) it sounds like that would make me easy pickings for a professional.[/li][li]Be prepared to lose at first! I’m resigned to that. I am looking at it this way: I’ll be paying $20 for an entertaining evening with colleagues. I don’t hope to make any money.[/li][li]Fold most of the time. That’s what internet sites seem to say. e.g. Beginners have a tendency to stay in the round too often.[/li][li]I’m going to get a poker game for my PC and practice with that. Unfortunately I didn’t have time this week.[/li][li]Some of the poker lingo in this thread has gone over my head, but after tonight I’ll probably understand it better.[/li][li]From the rec.gambling.poker FAQ I’m going to try to buy one or more of these books:[/li]
[/list=A]
I’ll post tomorrow how much money I’ve lost.
OK, so I missed this thread completely, but I’ll throw in my 2 cents while I am at it. Played regualrly in college. What scholarships didn’t cover, poker winnings did.
As a pre-amble, I would probably be classified as a moderately conservative player. I tend to not keep betting if I don’t have a solid base to start from and when i have what I consider a winner, I let others lead the betting and pounce when necessary. We played with $1 bets twice a week for about 2 years. It’s amazing how much money you can have to play poker with when you take the food stipend from sports and use it for other means.
Some of the things I used to guide my play.
When just starting out, keep the variety of games to a minimum. Like most others have said, stick to the 5 card and 7 card and avoid the gimmicks. My rule of thumb with a new crowd was to always call the game the person before me called. Repetition of a game can expose some things.
Whatever you bring, you should be prepared to lose all of it. Don’t take loans from friends if you bottom out. Just sit back and watch and learn.
As DPWhite said above, understand the “tells”. More importantly, understand your own and use them to your advantage. Once you realize you do something when you are bluffing, consciously do it the next time you are loaded. It may cause more people to stay in and you can clean up. Along the same lines, as I said above, I am relatively conservative. Consequently, every now and then I would bet heavily on a bad hand, but since people thought they knew how I played, they would bail and I would win with nothing. Don’t overdo this.
Wear sunglasses - the good amature psychologist/poker player will read you eyes when you are bluffing. Something I could never manage was a good poker face.
Also I remember watching the film House of Games where the point is made during a poker game that everyone has a “tell” that they do when they bluff - some kind of small physical gesture that accompanies the bluff. You should practice deception and learn what your tells are. Don’t try to stop “telling” all the time, you must let your colleagues learn your tells so that you can change them for a really big bluff. Similarly spot theirs to see when they are bluffing.
If it worked for Joe Mantegna, it can work for Arnold Winkelried.
But I’ll make an effort for tonight.[/li][li]Watch your opponents and vary your strategy! I’ll try that too. I was hoping for an easier answer, a system you could follow like at blackjack. But if I start playing by rules (e.g. never raise unless I have at least a pair of jacks, never raise more than once if I don’t have three of a kind, etc…) it sounds like that would make me easy pickings for a professional.[/li][li]Be prepared to lose at first! I’m resigned to that. I am looking at it this way: I’ll be paying $20 for an entertaining evening with colleagues. I don’t hope to make any money.[/li][li]Fold most of the time. That’s what internet sites seem to say. e.g. Beginners have a tendency to stay in the round too often.[/li][li]I’m going to get a poker game for my PC and practice with that. Unfortunately I didn’t have time this week.[/li][li]Some of the poker lingo in this thread has gone over my head, but after tonight I’ll probably understand it better.[/li][li]From the rec.gambling.poker FAQ I’m going to try to buy one or more of these books:[/li]