Fun Poker Fact #1
Did you know that one of the most famous players in the world is Stu Ungar, who won 10, count ‘em, 10 major No Limit Hold ‘Em championship events, in which the buy-ins were $5000 or higher!

Fun Poker Fact #2
A member of the Poker Hall of Fame goes under the cool moniker of Amarillo Slim…his real name is Thomas Austin Preston.

Fun Poker Fact #3
One of the most famous movies about 5 Card Stud Poker is the Cinncinati Kid, starring Steve McQueen. The hand he lost with was Aces-Full House…

Fun Poker Fact #4
Wild Bill Hickok was a big poker player, in fact, he was shot in the back whilst playing poker – his hand was Eights and Aces.

Fun Poker Fact #5
“Fish” is a commonly used term for sucker in poker!

Fun Poker Fact #6
Two Aces is the best pre-flop hand you can get in Texas Hold ‘Em, and you should always re-raise.

Fun Poker Fact #7
The Poker Hall of Fame was created in 1979, and seven players were enshrined, including Johnny Moss, Red Winn, James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok and Edmund Hoyle.

Fun Poker Fact #8
The name given to the strongest hand in High-Low poker is The Wheel.

Fun Poker Fact #9
Jack Strauss was the incredible poker player who went on to win the Las Vegas World Poker Championship with just ONE CHIP!!

Fun Poker Fact #10
Poker player Doyle Brunson was the first player to win $1 million in tournament play when he won the 1976 and 1977 World Championships.

“The guy who invented poker was bright, but the guy who invented the chip was a genius.”
Big Julie

“Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.” Steven Wright

“Cards are war, in disguise of a sport.”
Charles Lamb, “Essays of Elia” (1832)

“You call…gonna be all over, baby.”
Scotty Nguyen, during the 1998 World Series of Poker. Down to the final 2 players, he said this to his opponent while he held the best possible hand.

“Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.”
Nick “the Greek” Dandalos (after playing heads-up No Limit poker for 5 months at Binion’s Horseshoe with the famous Johnny Moss. Legend has it that “The Greek” lost between two and three million dollars from their marathon game. This is equivalent to losing $50 million in today’s dollars. The forerunner to the WSOP.)

“Aces are larger than life and greater than mountains.”
Mike Caro

“The commonest mistake in history is underestimating your opponent; happens at the poker table all the time.” General David Shoup

“I must complain the cards are ill shuffled till I have a good hand.”
Jonathan Swift, “Thoughts on Various Subjects” (1728)

“How long does it take to learn poker, Dad?” “All your life, son.”
David Spanier, “Total Poker” (1977)
“It’s not enough to succeed. Others must fail.”
Gore Vidal

One of the grand traditions of poker was developed by the professional cardsharps who made their living in the Mississippi. Bluffing is a way to develop a psychological edge over the other poker players, and should be used as part of a careful strategy to win a reputation, not only a game.

When should you use a bluff? Simply put, when you know the players at your table and understand each one’s strategy and playing style. This means putting in some time at the tables you prefer and studying the regulars.

Once you’ve figured them out, there are certain reasons and situations you can use a bluff successfully.

The first reason to use a bluff is to establish respect from other players. If you succeed in winning a hand based on a good bluff, other players will respect you and not know exactly what to expect from you. Once that happens, you can rule the table.

Look out for the players who fold quickly, because they are the ones who are often expert players and do not often bluff! If they do stay in the game, however, watch out, they are perhaps bluffing. Here you take your chances, because their hand could be solid – make sure you know your opponents.

The trick to bluffing is to use it only when it will be highly effective. If other players get to know you as the guy or gal who bluffs during every other hand, then there’s very little element of surprise.

To Hold or Not To Hold?
Don’t hold four cards of an inside straight—an inside straight is one where the potential straight can be completed only one way. An outside straight is one that can be completed in two ways and so is twice as likely to be successful. The only exception to this rule is an ace-high straight.

• Don’t hold three cards of a straight except for K-Q-J

• Don’t hold three cards of a flush- do not hold three cards of the same suit unless it is also a potential straight flush.

• Don’t hold a kicker with any pair or with three of a kind- a kicker is a single high card (J,Q,K,A) that has the potential to turn into a winning pair.

• The pair or three of a kind should always be played and the kicker discarded.

To Fold or Not to Fold?
Poker experts advise folding often if the hands you are dealt are not promising. This is called ‘playing tight’ and it’s a wise strategy, especially when there are a lot of players at the table.

Did You Know these Poker Terms?

All In: When a player puts the last of their chips into a pot, that player is said to be all-in.

Ante: A small, forced bet that everyone at the table is required to pay before each hand (in games with an ante).

Back Door: A hand-made back door is one made using both of the last two cards, as in seven card stud or Texas hold ‘em.

Bankroll: The total amount of money one is willing (and able) to put at risk

Blind Bet: A blind bet, or blind, is a forced bet that must be posted before you see any cards.

Bluff: A bet with a weak hand (typically a busted hand), usually intended to get other players to fold.

Boat: Another name for a full house.

Broadway: An Ace high straight.

Bullets: A pair of aces in the hole.

Bump: To raise.

Bust:
To run out of money, especially in a tournament.

Buy: To buy a pot is to make a bet large enough that other players would be unlikely to call.

Call: To call is match the current bet.

Catch: When the cards are treating you well, you are said to be catching cards.

Check:
If there has been no betting before you in a betting round, you may check, which is like calling a bet of $0, or passing your turn.

Chip:
Poker chips are small round discs used instead of money at the poker table.

Coffeehouse:
To talk about a hand one is involved in, usually with the intent of misleading or manipulating other players, is coffeehousing.

Cowboy:
A nickname for Kings, more often heard in the plural.

Cut:
After the cards are shuffled but before they are dealt, usually the deck is split in the middle and the halves are reversed.

Door card:
The first card dealt face up to each player in seven card stud is the door card.

Drop:
To fold. Also, to lose a particular amount of money.

Fast:
To play fast is to play aggressively.

Fishhook:
A nickname for a Jacks, more often heard in the plural.

Flop:
A number of games, such as Hold ‘Em and Omaha, are played with 5 community cards.

Fold:
To abandon your hand, usually because someone else has made a larger bet than you are willing to call.

Four Flush:
A hand with four cards of the same suit.

Four of a kind:
Four cards of the same rank.

Full House:
A hand consisting of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank.

Gutshot:
An inside straight draw.

Heads Up:
A play between only two players.

High:
The high hand is simply the best hand.

It:
Refers to the largest amount anyone has yet played in a round.

Kansas City:
Kansas City lowball is a low game played for a deuce to seven low.

Live card:
A card that has not been seen.

Lock:
A hand that is guaranteed to win at least part of the pot.

Make:
To (non-specifically) make a hand means to get a decent hand that has a shot at winning the pot.

Maniac:
A player who plays extremely loose and aggressive, often raising with just about anything.

Omaha:
Omaha is a flop game similar to hold ‘ em.

Outs:
A card that will improve your hand, usually one that you think will make you a winner.

Paint:
A Jack, King or Queen (i.e. a card with a picture on it).

Passive:
A style of play that is characterized by reluctance to bet and raise.

Pineapple:
Any of a number of variants of hold ‘em in which each player gets three cards and must discard one at some point.

Pushka:
An arrangement between two or more of the players to share part of the pots win, or more precisely, the container into which the shared chips are played.

Quads:
Four of a kind.

Rag:
A card, usually a low card, that, when it appears, has no apparent impact on the
hand.

Rainbow:
Three or four cards of different suits, for example on a flop.

Raise:
After someone has opened betting in a round, to increase the amount of the bet os to raise.

Rolled Up:
In Seven Card Stud, three of a kind on the first three cards are called rolled up X’s, where X is the rank of the cards.

Round:
A round can refer either to a round of betting or a round of hands.

Royal Straight Flush:
An ace high straight flush is a royal straight flush, or a royal flush, or just a royal.

Semi-bluff:
A semi-bluff is similar to a bluff, except that the semi-bluff has some chance of making a winning hand.

Seven Card Stud:
Of the poker games most commonly played in public cardrooms, seven card stud is probably the most well known. In this game, each player is dealt seven cards of their own: two down, then four up, and a final card down.

Sir:
One of those confusing terms that can have a completely different meaning at the poker table than elsewhere. If someone says “nice hand, sir,” after you win a big pot, what they’re really saying is “congratulations on winning money through sheer luck.”

Snap Off:
To beat someone, often a bluffer, and usually with a not especially powerful hand, is to snap them off.

Speed:
Speed refers to the level of aggressiveness with which you play.

Straight Flush
: A hand consisting of five cards of consecutive ranks of the same suit.

Suit:
Clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades.

Texas Hold’em:
Texas Hold’em (or just Hold’em) is a poker game in which each player gets two pocket cards, while five community cards are dealt face up on the table.

Underdog:
When two hands face off, the underdog is the one that’s less likely to win than the other.

Rule number one: No Swearing! It’s a game that’s meant to be enjoyed by everyone.

• Refrain from criticising other player’s methods standard of play.

• Do not abuse the dealer, verbally or in any other way.

Likewise, please don’t feel that you have to tell everyone what your last hand was and what you would have bet if only you had stayed in the pot, some polite people might feign interest, but few really are.

Speech play (often called “coffee housing”) is the term used to describe what happens when a player makes comments about a hand when it is in progress. This is not prohibited in the terms of the rules but is considered unethical in the UK (not so in the USA). So be careful what you say during the play of a hand and resist the urge to talk about a hand during the action or when someone is thinking.

• Do not try to educate players at the table by pointing out what you think are mistakes. Its odd and they will resent it and mark you down as a smart Alec, or worse. Why not let people pay for their education – its how I had to learn.

• Players should speak up and assist the dealer by calling attention to an error in the amount of the bet or the improper reading of the hand etc. Likewise, any player who sees as error about to be made, such as awarding the pot to the wrong person, has a duty to speak up.