Beginners consider poker a card game. Technically, it is—but if you just understand it merely as that, you will never reach the top ranks. We suggest that poker is not a game of cards so much as character. Specifically, poker tests how a player reacts to pressure, which is applied by betting. Most poker games played today—we focus on Texas Hold’em because it is the most popular—requires a player to choose one of only five options. If faced with a bet, a player may fold, call, or raise. Otherwise, a player can check or bet. One of your main challenges is to understand why your opponents act the way they do. To understand your opponents and their actions, you need a good technical grasp of the game. This is because people behave according to their knowledge of odds and commonly accepted assessments of hand strength. It is therefore important to analyze your opponents’ behavior within a sound technical framework. Once you understand how professionals suggest the game be played, you can assess the extent to which your opponents follow or diverge from such standards, and possibly answer the questions of why they deviate, and under what circumstances. Be selective with your starting hands. You avoid a lot of difficult choices later if you make sound decisions early. Avoid entering pots with marginal hands such as King-Jack or medium “suited connectors” such as Jack-Ten or 5-6 of the same suit. Players commonly play these hands to mix up their game or for the implied odds of cracking a big stack’s aces. Playing marginal hands, however, requires experience to do profitably. A suited connector that is not “on the end” such as Ace-King or Ace-2 will be unplayable after the flop 80% of the time. With medium suited connectors, the percentage chance that you will flop three of a kind is approximately1.3%; 2-pair is 2%; a flush is less than 1%; a flush draw is 11%; a straight is 1.3%; and an open-ended straight draw is 6.6%. A good illustration for why it is important to be selective with starting hands is to consider the dangers of playing even a strong hand like Jack-Jack. Many commentators rank this within the top five starting hands in Texas Hold’Em. When you are dealt this hand, the probability that you are facing Queen-Queen, King-King or Ace-Ace in a full table is approximately 0.13. If you get significant pre-flop action with Jack-Jack, you are probably facing one of these bigger pairs where you are less than a 1:3.5 underdog, or at best, Ace-King or Ace-Queen where you are a slight coin-flip favorite. This is not to say that you should not bet Jack-Jack aggressively pre-flop, but that even the top five starting hands are vulnerable. As another example, consider Ace-Jack. Many beginners see these two big cards and think they have a great hand. However, Doyle Brunson is famous for not playing Ace-Queen. The reason why these hands are so dangerous, especially in no-limit play, is because there is a good chance at a full table that anyone betting or calling bets when an Ace flops is playing Ace-King. In this case, you are at a huge disadvantage with Ace-Jack because you usually must hit your Jack to win. Knowing how most good players eschew Ace-Jack or lower, consider what happens if you hold Ace-Jack and the flop comes Ace-Ten-8 offsuit. Someone bets into you, or you bet and are raised. Now what do you do? What can you beat? Most good players had you beat pre-flop with Ace-King, or maybe Ace-Queen. You tie with someone out on a limb also playing Ace-Jack. Someone playing garbage such as Ace-Ten or Ace-8 now is ahead. The only conceivable hand you are beating is Ace-9, or Ace-7 and lower. Given this discussion on how dangerous Ace-Jack is, you can be pretty sure most good players are not playing hands you dominate. This same analysis applies to hands that merely look good like King-Queen or King-Jack. There may be a lot of paint on these starting cards and fancy designs, but that is about it. If you pair one of your cards, you may be dominated by Ace-King or Ace-Queen or even Ace-Jack. If a King flops, you may have trapped yourself into calling big bets with the second-best hand. This is not to say that you should play timid. Never play timid. Once you make the decision to enter a pot, you should be mostly raising. There are times when check-calling is appropriate—such as when you want to trap someone, or you think a player is bluffing and might bet but will not call a raise. Generally, however, it is better to bet or raise than to just call. By betting or raising, you can win by showing down the best hand, or by forcing a better hand to fold. If you just call an opponent’s bet, you need to have the best hand to win. The need to be aggressive also highlights our earlier advice about being selective. The better your starting hands, the more you can bet with confidence. Position is key in games like Texas Hold’em and Omaha. Generally, players who act later have the advantage. The best spot to play is on the button, because you act last every betting hand after the flop. You can see how your opponents bet before you act and exploit this knowledge to your advantage. Position is particularly important in No Limit. Often, you may be able to take a pot with the worst hand if you have better position. This is true, for example, if your opponents show weakness by checking after the flop or turn, or if they vary the size of their bets. You will have a better idea how much money they are willing to commit to the pot before you decide whether to continue with your hand. A final advantage of having favorable (late) position is that pre-flop, there are fewer hands to beat. If you are on the button and the action folds to you, you can raise with marginal hands because there are only two players left who can contest the pot. More often than not, these hands cannot stand a raise, so you stand a good chance of “stealing” the blinds when you raise from late position. Practice does not make perfect, it makes permanent. This is why it is important to be disciplined and develop good habits when first learning the game. You make better choices, and your judgment becomes solid. One of the most important concepts to learn when playing any game of poker is to count the “outs.” An “out” is a card that is reasonably likely to improve your hand to become the best hand. For example, assume that you hold 4-5 spades and the flop comes Ace of spades, 9 of spades, and 8 of hearts. You are confident your opponent has Ace-King, so barring running 4’s or 5’s (or a perfect 6-7 for the straight), you need to make your flush by drawing a spade either on the turn or river. There are four spades taken, leaving nine left in the deck. You see five cards, so there are 47 left. For all intents and purposes, you have nine “outs” among 47 cards. A simple rule of thumb to calculate “outs” is to find out how many cards make your hand. If the number of “outs” is five or less, multiply the number of outs by 2.2, then multiply this number by the number of cards you have to draw. Thus, if you have five outs on the flop, the percentage chance that you have to make your draw on the turn or river is 5 x 2.2 x 2 = 22% (it is actually 21.21%). If the number of “outs” is between six and eleven, we suggest multiplying by 2 instead of 2.2. (For example, eleven “outs” is actually 43.33% with two cards to come.) This math becomes somewhat distorted with twelve or more “outs,” so we suggest “goosing down” the percentages by 10% of the base percentage obtained by straight multiplication using a 2 multiple. Thus, 15 outs with two cards to come should be 15 x 2 x 2 – (10% of 60%) = 54%. (The actual percentage is 56.6%.) Note that with thirteen or more outs, you are a coin-flip or better to make your draw with two cards to come. The foregoing calculation of outs can be used to get a general idea of odds for most poker situations. However, there are a few recurring scenarios, particularly in tournaments, where two players are all-in preflop. Learn the following odds for common match-ups. (Note that the following percentages are approximate. You should check a poker calculator commonly found on many Websites for precise percentages.) For unpaired hands where one hand has two cards higher than the other (such as Ace-King versus Queen-Jack), the percentage chance that the Ace-King hand will win ranges from approximately 63% to 66%, depending on the suit of the hands. (Generally, two starting cards that share the same suit are stronger because of the increased chance of making a flush. In addition, a higher hand that shares suits with the lower hand will fare better because the overlap removes the possibility that the weaker hand will make a flush that can beat the higher hand.) For unpaired hands where one hand has only one higher card (such as Ace-Jack versus King-Queen), the Ace-Jack will win approximately 58% to 61% of the time, depending on suit. For “interweaved” hands such as Ace-Queen versus King-jack, the Ace-Queen will win between 61% to 64% of the time, depending on suit. Hands that “dominate” another hand have a very strong chance of winning. The first way a hand can “dominate” another is if both hands are unpaired but share a card of the same rank. For example, Ace-King versus King-Queen will win between 67% to 71.5% of the time, depending on suit. A paired hand can also dominate another paired hand, such as Ace-Ace versus 7-7. In this case, the Aces will win approximately 81% of the time, depending on suit. A paired hand can also dominate an unpaired hand, such as Ace-Ace versus King-Queen. In this case, the Aces will win between 83% to almost 88% of the time, depending on whether the King-Queen is suited and whether the two hands share cards having the same suit. Finally, a paired hand can partially dominate an unpaired hand, such as King-King versus Ace-King. In this match-up, the Kings will win approximately 66% to 70% of the time, depending on suit. Odds are important in deciding whether to call a bet. Generally, if the money you stand to gain in proportion to the bet is better than your odds of making your hand, you should call. As a simple example, if you have a 33% chance of making your draw, you are a 1:2 underdog. If the pot is $15 and there is an all-in bet for $7 more, the pot is offering you 15:7, or better than 2:1, so you should call. We mentioned that knowing odds is important, but that judgment is more so. The reason is because most beginners fail to consider the hands their opponents might have that negate their outs or provide redraws. To take an example from Barry Greenstein’s Ace on the River, assume you hold 9 spades-7 hearts pre-flop. The flop comes Jack spades-Ten spades-Ten clubs. If you correctly believe your opponent does not hold paired hole cards, you have eight outs, correct? Yes, technically. But it does not mean you should assume that you have a 32% to win the pot. If you think your opponent has overcards with two spades—such as Ace-Queen—and thus a possible gutshot draw as well, your actual chances of winning the pot is below 20%. This is because you can sometimes make your draw while your opponent completes a better draw. (This percentage, incidentally, is actually worse than some draws with only two outs.) It is therefore important not to overly focus on math in poker. You should always be thinking what your opponent has based on his actions and general character. At a minimum, you should be asking yourself: •      Are your opponents disciplined with their starting hand requirements? If they are not varying        their starting hand requirements based on their position (for example, they are playing an        equal number of hands under the gun as they are on the button), then you know something        about the quality of their play. •      What cards do your opponents generally call or raise with and in what position. Do they        tend to smooth-call when strong? Do they only bet when weak? Or are the opposite        tendencies true? •      Do they vary their bets based on the strength of their hands? What does a big bet mean?        What does a medium bet mean? A small bet? •      If an opponent was the last aggressor pre-flop, how often will he bet on the flop? (Usually, if        you have unpaired cards in the hole, you will miss pairing your hand two-thirds of the time        on the flop.) •      Do your opponents slow-play big hands? Under what circumstances? Do they know when        to stop slow-playing, such as when a dangerous cards that may support several draws        flop. (We suggest very rarely doing slow-playing hands.) •      How often do they bluff? Under what circumstances? •      Do they bet or check their draws? •      In live games, you would ask whether they have physical mannerisms they exhibit based        on the strength of their hand. Online on Third Bullet, you can search for tells based on how        quickly your opponents act. Do they choose the “automatic fold” button when they are        weak? Do they select the “Raise Any” option when they are strong? In other words, do your        opponents act weak when strong? As mentioned in the beginning of this article, poker is a game of character. Unless you are constantly asking these questions and composing a psychological profile of your opponents, you are merely playing cards, not poker. You will only win if you get lucky, and even then you may still lose. Many of these concepts apply to Omaha. Many believe that because each player receives four hole cards in Omaha, the game is similar to Texas Hold’em but with six different starting hands (because there are six two-card combinations with four cards). This is a myth, but instructive nevertheless. Unlike Texas Hold’em, you must use precisely two-cards in Omaha. Accordingly, the two games cannot be compared in precisely this fashion. Nevertheless, the number of hole cards in Omaha means that Omaha is more of a drawing game than in Hold’em. Omaha is played on the flop—and because there are so many hole cards to work with—it is a game of the nuts (having the best possible hand or a draw to the best possible hand). This means that unless you have the nuts, or a draw to the nuts, you probably have no business being involved in the hand. Indeed, sometimes it is correct to fold the nuts in Omaha High/Low if there is a chance you may be “quartered” (or split your half of the High or Low pot). By way of example, if you receive two Aces in the hole in Texas Hold’Em, you have the best starting hand, and you should generally be aggressive raising pre-flop. What happens if you get four Aces in the hole in Omaha? We suggest you fold. Although you have two Aces, because you can only use two of them, there is no chance you will improve to three of a kind. For Omaha High-Low, it also means that there is no chance that you will compete for the Low hand. After the flop in Texas Hold'em, a made hand is usually the favorite against a drawing hand because 5/7 of the cards are shared with your opponents. This is not true in Omaha. Thus, connected starting hands that can make straights or flushes are strong hands. For example, assume you are dealt Ace hearts-King spades-3spades-2 hearts in Omaha High/Low. This is a strong starting hand because you can make the nut flush if three hearts come on the board. (We do not suggest you fall in love with the spade draw.) You are guaranteed the Low hand if a qualifying low board has no more than one of an Ace, 2 or 3. Assume that the flop comes 8 spades-5-hearts-4 hearts. You are guaranteed to win or at least split the Low hand. Moreover, even if someone has 6-7 for the made straight, you have a flush draw. If nobody has the 6-7, you have a gutshot straight draw for the wheel in addition to your flush draw, and a decent chance to scoop the entire pot. At Third Bullet, you can learn poker the way the best players did. We know many pros who became great players by competing in underground card rooms. Third Bullet is a great way to gain this experience without the dangers involved in frequenting these dens. We stress that to improve your poker game, you must constantly analyze your own play. Third Bullet also offers a sophisticated tool to allow you to do so. Click on "Menu" in any game room. Choose "Statistics" to verify how often you check, check-raise, call, bet, raise, re-raise and/or fold. You can also track what percentage of the time you see the flop and how often you win after seeing the flop. This is a great way understand your playing habits and improve your skills. As you practice on Third Bullet, study tactical play from books and articles found in poker magazines. As you progress, expose yourself to different poker theoreticians. Winning poker is not one style. Otherwise, everyone would play the same way. Rather, like most things in life, you should try to develop a style that best suits your personality. Find teachers of the game that personify that type of play. The following is a recommended reading list to start. •      Lou Krieger, Hold ‘Em Excellence and More Hold ‘Em Excellence. These beginner books        have invaluable “starting charts” that summarize which starting hands are playable in each        position, primarily for limit games. •      David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth, Hold ‘Em Poker for Advanced Players. Good exposition        of traditional, tight play. Compare their “hand groupings” with those in Krieger’s books. •      Doyle Brunson, et al., Super/System 2. Particularly recommended for beginners is        Jennifer Harman’s section on limit play. We also like Bobby Baldwin’s and Lyle Berman’s        advice on Omaha and Omaha High/Low. This book is famous, however, for Doyle Brunson’s        section on no-limit. Mr. Brunson’s advice is commonly referenced and universally known. It is        also often misunderstood. We believe the primary strength of Mr. Brunson’s counsel—        emphasizing the importance of implied odds—is often overvalued by beginning players.        It should therefore be studied by those who already have a good amount of experience        with no-limit poker. •      T.J. Cloutier, Championship No-Limit & Pot-Limit Hold’em. Good recommendations for        tournament play. If you are a beginner, you should play this style. •      David Sklansky, Tournament Poker for Advanced Players. •      Dan Harrington, Harrington on Hold’em Vols. I and II. Invaluable advice on how to adjust play        based on the relative size of your stack with the blinds and against your opponents. •      Erick Lindgren, Making the Final Table. If anything, this book serves as a contrast to        Harrington and Sklansky’s works for tournament play. •      David Sklansky, The Theory of Poker. Solid general advice. •      Matt Lessinger, The Book of Bluffs. Since poker is about betting—and the possibility winning        with the worse hand with an elegant bluff—we recommend studying The Book of Bluffs        for players who have achieved intermediate or advanced skill levels. If you are ranked as a        “Grinder” or above at Third Bullet, you should digest this book. •      Barry Greenstein, Ace on the River. •      John Feeney, Inside the Poker Mind. Excellent insight in the psychology of poker players. •      Phil Hellmuth, Jr., Play Poker Like the Pros. Somewhat outdated, we include it here so that        Phil does not scream at us. The book also offers excellent guidance on Omaha and        Seven Card Stud. Its primary strength is in explaining the concept of betting to define your        hand, particularly in limit games. As a word of warning—and no disrespect to Mr. Hellmuth—        many have criticized Mr. Hellmuth’s overvaluation of medium pairs, such as 7-7,        in Texas Hold’Em. That hand ranks among Mr. Hellmuth’s top ten hands but is considered        marginal by other pros. •      David Sklansky and Ed Miller, No Limit Hold’em: Theory and Practice. One of the best books        on No-Limit cash games. •      Matt Flynn, et al., Professional No-Limit Hold’em: Volume I. Very solid no-limit        cash game primer. We are gratified that you have chosen Third Bullet as your online home in becoming a winning poker player. We wish you our kind of success—a deep, fulfilling understanding of the game, an enjoyment of its many subtleties and stratagems, and a larger bankroll. —The Third Bullet Team © 2008 Third Bullet Limited. All rights reserved. Before playing in our real-money games, please check the legality of on-line poker in your local jurisdiction.