Poker Practice Exercise

[MrRoyal]

A little exercise for newcomers to poker that I found useful when I started playing.

Take a deck of cards and deal out 4 or 5 starting hands. Look at each one and consider whether you would play it or not. Then deal flop, turn and river while at each stage considering what each hand currently holds, what it could potentially hold and what you might do if you held it in a real game.

This can be useful as it helps to:

a) learn to read what your hand is. Once this is second nature it is easier to concentrate on the actual betting.

b) learn to read the board so you can look out for potential draws and also be aware of potential danger hands that other players may hold.

c) get an idea of the potential of different starting hands and see which ones perform better.

It can help to get a feel for the game in this situation rather than while watching your chips disappear at a table.

P.S. Don't click the link in my signature because it's a bluff for the Outlaw's City game on this site.

[Jmahoney]

If you hold connectors(unsuited) from 4&5 to 10&J you have a 10% chance of getting a straight on the flop.

[MrRoyal]

Originally Posted by Jmahoney

If you hold connectors(unsuited) from 4&5 to 10&J you have a 10% chance of getting a straight on the flop.

Think you may need to check your probabilities. Probability of straight on flop from connectors is about 1%. Probability of being on an open ended draw is about 10%.

[future2112]

probablity of some one going all-in with 7 2 off suit whilst you calculate the odds of hitting a straight on the flop with your connectors is beyond the law of math

No matter how good one is at calculating their odds off hitting draws, flushes or how many outs they have, you cant account for pure luck.

However, i do like the exercise you have posted. It certainly will help to read hands which in turn will help to make better decisions.

I think poker is about deception, getting a read on your opponents, gut feeling and luck. Learning stats and learning how to play position is an added bonus if one can use them in their game.