Poker Handbook

Poker is a microcosm of all we admire and disdain about capitalism and democracy. It can be rough-hewn or polished, warm or cold, charitable and caring or hard and impersonal. It is fickle and elusive, but ultimately it is fair, and right, and just.

The card game poker is the most popular of a class of games called vying games, in which players with fully or partially concealed cards make wagers into a central pot, after which the pot is awarded to the remaining player or players with the best combination of cards.

Poker Jargon

The large and growing jargon of poker includes many terms. This set of pages contains brief glosses of most of the popular terms you may encounter in text or over the table.

If more than a brief gloss is required, there may be a link to a more complete article on the topic. Though space is not an issue here, the list has been trimmed to primarily those poker-specific terms one might find in poker texts or in common use in casinos. Not included here are those terms whose meanings are obvious or not specifically poker-related, those that are too regional, and those that are just obvious variations of words covered here.

Cheating at Poker

Cheating in poker is more common than most people care to believe. Although most cheating occurs in private games that do not follow strict gaming procedures, it is also very common in regulated card rooms and casinos.

Cheating can be done either by means of collusion, sleight-of-hand (such as bottom dealing, stacking the deck, switching cards etc), or the use of cheating gaffs (such as marked cards, holdout devices, glims etc).

Cheating is as common in friendly games as it is in high-stakes games. A card cheat may operate alone, but most of them operate in pairs or small groups. The groups are often composed of one card mechanic who is in charge of manipulating the cards, one or several shills who pose as regular players, and a muscle who acts as a bodyguard. Street gangs also often employ a wall man who acts as a lookout, however this approach is more common with three card monte mobs, and back-alley dice gangs.

Poker Strategy

Miscellaneous topics to cover: Probability - Bluffing - Sandbagging - Game theory - Psychology - Tells - Pot odds - Drawing - Protection - Value - Outs - Starting hands - Game selection - Position

Specific games: Texas holdem strategy - Draw poker strategy - California lowball strategy - Seven-card stud strategy - High-low split strategy - Razz strategy

Poker Variants

The game of poker has many variations, most of them created in the United States in the mid-1900s.

The standard order of play applies to most of these games, but to fully specify a poker game requires details about which hand values are used, the number of betting rounds, and exactly what cards are dealt and what other actions are taken between rounds. Any game may also use any betting structure.

Poker Betting Structure

The game of poker as played today requires that players agree before play on allowable amounts for betting (called limits), and the use and amount of forced bets.

These are collectively called the betting structure of the game.

The betting structure of a poker game is a more significant factor in its balance of luck and skill than the game variant being played. Higher forced bets and smaller limits increase the influence of chance. Smaller forced bets and larger limits increase the element of skill. Good games are carefully balanced so that skillful players will win in the long run while recreational players can win often enough for the game to be exciting to them.

Poker Terminology

In the game of poker, Opens and Raises are considered aggressive plays, while Calls and Checks are considered passive (though a Check-raise would be considered an aggressive play).

It is said that "aggression has its own value", meaning that often aggressive plays can make money with weak hands because of Bluff value. Aggressive plays also tend to give the opponents more opportunities to make mistakes.

Poker Hands

The word hand in the game of poker is used to mean any of the following:

The set of cards held by an individual player during play. Joe took another look at his hand when Virginia raised. The term holding can be used for less ambiguity.

The value of a player's hand(1), as determined by the rules of the game being played (see below). Karen's hand was a flush, but lost to Steve's full house. The term hand value can be used for less ambiguity.

A single instance of poker game play, also called a deal. We played eight hands of draw poker, then eight hands of stud poker.

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Let It Ride Poker

Let It Ride was first introduced to the casinos in 1993. Shuffle Master Inc, the company that makes those automatic-shuffling machines, created it.

The game is popular because it offers a potential for high pay outs. Because the players are not playing against each other or trying to beat the dealer, camaraderie develops among the players creating a fun atmosphere. The game and the correct playing strategy can be learned quickly.

Poker Game

Online poker is not one game, but a large family of related games. Hence the online poker rules may vary from site to site.

There are so many variations of these poker rules that it sometimes seems a new "family member" appears every time someone picks up a deck of cards. Still there are general poker rules and principles that unite almost all games that fall under the name of poker.

Online poker is a rich, complex game that combines skill, luck and intense psychological warfare. Every player competes against and interacts with every other; each player's actions influence each other player's actions.

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