# I love Texas Hold 'em **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 31, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739 "2006-03-31T19:02:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/1 "2006-03-31T19:02:09Z")
Just thought I’d share that. Whether playing online at PokerStars, or in person with my set of chips at my collegeue’s bi-weekly poker night, I just love it. Great strategy, luck, fun! Even when I lose I have fun. I win more in person than on-line, but it’s fun either way. Just thought I’d share. (I do happen to be on a winning streak on PokerStars…in the money my last three tournies.) I’ve tried the other poker varieties, but I don’t think anything has the right combo of luck and strategy as Hold 'em does. So, who’s with me!!! ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/2 "2006-03-31T19:13:46Z")
Sure, it’s fairly popular. You might have a look at [This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=365259) and [This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=352712). ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/3 "2006-03-31T19:18:00Z")
Texas Hold-'Em has destroyed the home poker game. Any idea how hard it is anymore to find a group of people who think “Weekly Poker Game” isn’t synonymous with “Weekly Texas Hold-'Em Game”? Yes, it’s fine to play a hand of it every now and then, but geez, people! Dealer’s choice! One game, and only one game, all fricking evening? What, you’ve never heard of Five-Card Draw? Seven-Card Stud? Maybe a little No-Peek? No thanks… ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/4 "2006-03-31T19:59:12Z")
When I’m winning, I love it. When I’m losing, I hate it. I’ve been hatin’ it for the last couple of months. grumble grumble…goddamn idiots callng preflop out of position with 9-high and catching two pair on the river…must be nice to play like a moron and get paid…mutter mutter… ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/5 "2006-03-31T20:12:14Z")
Hal, I understand, and online, I’ll try the other games (mostly Omaha and stud), but I prefer Hold 'em. My bi-weekly game is all hold 'em, and that’s fine with me. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/6 "2006-03-31T20:14:30Z")
Oh, and Otto, I feel your pain. Though, after two solid weeks of bad beats (online…I won $60 live last week), I’m finally getting cards again (in the money the last FOUR tournies, and leading the one I’m in now…) ---
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/7 "2006-03-31T20:22:26Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > Texas Hold-'Em has destroyed the home poker game. > > Any idea how hard it is anymore to find a group of people who think “Weekly Poker Game” isn’t synonymous with “Weekly Texas Hold-'Em Game”? Yes, it’s fine to play a hand of it every now and then, but geez, people! Dealer’s choice! One game, and only one game, all fricking evening? What, you’ve never heard of Five-Card Draw? Seven-Card Stud? Maybe a little No-Peek? No thanks… I agree, and I’m only 19. There were flyers around campus recently announicng a vague “poker tournament.” So I called the number on the flyer and asked what game we’d be playing. And I heard, “Ummm, poker?” I eventually got the guy to explain the game, and it was obvious that he was talking about no-limit holdem. He thought that there was only one kind of poker! And he was hosting a decently sized tournament! :sigh: I’d like to play in a regular, recreational home game, but they don’t exist. As a result, I’ve never even played Omaha, Stud, or anything else. :sighs louder: ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/8 "2006-03-31T20:29:12Z")
> [@Jman](#): > > Oh, and Otto, I feel your pain. Though, after two solid weeks of bad beats (online…I won $60 live last week), I’m finally getting cards again (in the money the last FOUR tournies, and leading the one I’m in now…) Oh, I get cards, I just can’t get paid with them. It’s the old “win small pots, lose big ones” syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/9 "2006-03-31T20:41:46Z")
I’ve been running ice cold myself lately. All kinds of bad luck and, humbly I must admit, bad play. I don’t know what has changed, because I was on a killer wining streak for about three months and the last two weeks have been horrible. I understand Hal’s complaint. It’s not so much the game itself, it’s just the pouplarity of it that can be aggravating. ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2006, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/10 "2006-04-01T03:38:35Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > I understand Hal’s complaint. It’s not so much the game itself, it’s just the pouplarity of it that can be aggravating. I hear ya. Daniel Negreanu has been pushing the notion that the “big game” at the Bellagio (which is a mixed game), rather than the WSOP main event, is the pinnacle of poker. The addition of the 50k HORSE tourney this year should help a little. (As an aside, I’m hooked on the HORSE SNG’s at Full Tilt.) ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/11 "2006-04-01T03:54:30Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > grumble grumble…goddamn idiots callng preflop out of position with 9-high and catching two pair on the river…must be nice to play like a moron and get paid…mutter mutter… Calling a raise with 9 high might be enough to get mad at, but otherwise calling the blind with any two cards in any position is fine. A and K aren’t the only cards in the deck. Although it is wise to play AJ or better in early position, you can win with any two cards in any position… If you got the goods, you got the goods. Drives some people bonkers, but that’s poker. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/12 "2006-04-01T04:18:46Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Calling a raise with 9 high might be enough to get mad at, but otherwise calling the blind with any two cards in any position is fine. That’s what happened. I don’t remember where we were in relation to the blinds but I had position on him. He called, I raised what should have been enough for him to be able to release a freakin’ 97os, and he calls. The flop comes K94. He bets, I raise, he calls. The turn is a brick. He checks, I bet the pot, he calls. Then he catches a 7 on the river. There’s no way he can possibly reasonably think he’s ahead at any point in the hand. What can he possibly put me on? A4? 9 with a lower kicker? Pretty much all he can beat until he catches his little 5-outer is a total bluff. He made at least five errors in playing the hand. And I have to disagree with you that calling with any two cards in any position is fine. Routinely calling with weak hands in early position is just wasting money. Say you call UTG or UTG+1 with, say, T3os and the next player raises and the table folds back around to you. Are you going to call out of position with a ten high, knowing that you’re going to have to catch and that even if you do you could very easily still be behind, and you have to act first on every round of betting? No, you’re probably going to have to fold, so you’ve just thrown that money away. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2006, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/13 "2006-04-01T08:31:45Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Routinely calling with weak hands in early position is just wasting money. I agree to a point, as I’m at a personal battle with this. I play a regular live tournament game every week, and I see it time and time again. People calling with weak hands, and taking down huge pots, getting lucky and such. From what I understand, is that if people keep playing this way, they’ll eventually bite it in the end. But no, these same people that play these hands, and get into the bubble every damn week! Logically, I understand that you want to play with the best hand going in, but the best hand doesn’t always hit. And its hard to bluff if you raised big late position actually hold something like QQ or AK, and UTG over there calls with 86os (not callable IMO preflop), and the board flops a straight draw, and hell, they might “get lucky” and bet into you. And they river the damn thing… Because, well they know you got a big hand, and have a feeling you didn’t hit, and they have a middle pair on top of it. I’m mean what do you do? If you keep playing like a rock, they’ll know what you’re playing with. So sometimes switching it up when they least expect it, and calling something with 73os in the hole, will just as likely hit as an A or a K would. The percentages preflop with a big hand is usually, what, 52-55%? Yeah, you have the advantage, but what comes next can crush you with a calling station. So F it. I’ve been playing some weak hands, and taking down some nice sized pots. Otherwise, if I play like I have TT and up, or if I have these hands and raise enough to get the weak hands out, most are going to fold anyway, and big deal, I take down some blinds. So I figure to beat a calling station, you might have to become one. Honestly Otto, I value you’re opinion on the game, and insight you have on these types of situations, I’m all ears. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2006, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/14 "2006-04-01T18:27:40Z")
Of course your play needs to vary based on who you’re up against. I’m not saying _never_ play weak hands from early position, because you’re absolutely right about people being able to peg your hands too easily if you don’t mix up your play. In general, though, playing a weak hand passively pre-flop is a mistake. > [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > And its hard to bluff if you raised big late position actually hold something like QQ or AK, and UTG over there calls with 86os (not callable IMO preflop), and the board flops a straight draw, and hell, they might “get lucky” and bet into you. I’m not sure what you mean here. If you have overcards or an overpair to the board, and you put your opponent on a draw, it’s not a bluff for you to play back at them. Your A-high or your overpair is beating their 8 high with a draw. This is where, if you’re sure of your read, you want to raise them enough to make it a mistake for them to call you. Charge drawing hands a big price. Now, if they have a pair to go with the straight draw, you are a pretty big dog with just overcards (less than 25%) but with an overpair you’re still about 65% to win. Again, you have to charge them enough so that calling is a mistake. > [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > The percentages preflop with a big hand is usually, what, 52-55%? Depends on the cards. In my case, with a suited AK vs 97os I was about 65% pre-flop. On the flop I was better than 80% and on the turn just under 90%. In the case of an overpair vs two undercards, the overpair is over 82% to win preflop and even if the flop brings an open-ended straight draw the overpair is still better than 67%. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-texas-hold-em/350739/15 "2006-04-01T18:47:03Z")
My Hubby loves it, too, and he’s a good player-- at least good enough to almost always beat the people with which he usually plays. (A group of five co-workers.) I’ve watched the group play often enough so that I know everyone’s tells. (One guy always takes a drink before he bets if he’s got a good hand. Another guy plays with his chips if he’s bluffing. Another guy looks “too casual” when he’s got a good hand.) So, when I play with them, I do better than I should, because I’m really a bad player-- I don’t know all the odds, and I’ll sometimes think I have a better hand than I do. Hubby likes it when I play with them, because I’m a distraction-- everyone thinks I won’t know what I’m doing, and they’re too busy watching me to pay attention to him. 😃 I don’t like gambling. My midwest Protestant upbringing keeps screaming in the back of my head that it’s a waste of money, but I try to remember that it’s much the same as, say, going to a movie-- entertainment that you pay for but get no tangible return. (Unless you win, of course.) But I’ll sometimes play because watching it gets boring, and I feel relatively confident that Hubby will win back whatever I lose.