[cross-posted from the main page....TheEngineer]
Congrats again to Lefty for his May �06 POM for his excellent post on WSOP CE. While his post is very helpful to folks with advanced enough poker skills to have a positive EV in the WSOP, what about the rest of us? Many blackjack APs have told me they see the potential in poker, but they don�t know how to play and don�t know where to start. Upon hearing this, I thought I�d put together a short guide for what you�ll need to do to learn limit hold�em (which you�ll need to know solidly before moving on to no-limit cash games and tournaments) well enough to make money. After all, I just learned this game over the past twelve months, so why not share my experiences? I think of this as a something of a prequel to Lefty�s post. Hopefully many of us will have positive EV in the WSOP event in the next couple of years.
First off, why should we play poker at all? It�s hard to learn and one can�t make real money at the local $2-$4 limit hold�em game no matter how skilled they are, so why bother? Can one get decent enough EV to justify playing? The answer is simple - with study and practice, one can have a good EV from the game (even higher than their blackjack EV in some cases). This guide will show you how.
Second, why should I write a guide? Many have written guides on how to get started at limit hold�em. Well, I�m not interested in having you get good enough to merely beat the Mirage $3-$6 game for $5/hr (after tips and rake). Rather, I want you to make a six-figure income with part-time play! This isn�t a guide on merely learning to play. Rather, it�s a guide on learning to WIN. It�s tailored to the dedicated, disciplined, intelligent blackjack AP who expects return on investment. I�ve not seen such a guide in the past, so that�s why I authored it.
As a disclaimer, I don�t claim to be a great poker player. I do claim to be a winning one though, which is our goal. I also claim an EV that exceeds my blackjack EV with the same bankroll. After observing so many ploppies at the blackjack tables, it seemed there had to be good opportunities in playing them directly. So, I embarked on a long mission � learning limit poker well enough to have a high enough EV to justify playing. After a few months of breaking even, I started coming out ahead. After a few more months, I was turning a regular profit playing online. As of today, I multi-table $30/$60 and higher six-player online limit hold�em tables. At 1.5 BB/100, this translates to $180/hr for two tables and $270/hr for three, plus rakeback and bonuses (and no travel costs, travel time, backoffs, artificially short sessions, etc). It took some work but it was quite rewarding. I also play live around the same limit (nothing higher is available locally, unfortunately). And, I�m not done. I intend to continue moving up in limits. I don�t say that to brag about my accomplishments; rather, I post it to show that we can all do this.
Many blackjack APs seem to think poker is completely different from blackjack. This isn�t true at all. Both require a good understanding of probability and statistics. While many of the �old time� players understood these innately, the newer successful players understand the math involved. This is our strength, so we should be able to do this too, right? Well, here�s how to do it:
First, buy some books. I�d start with �Winning Low Limit Hold�em� by Lee Jones. It�s a good beginner-level book that will introduce you to the general concepts of winning poker. His style is a bit weak-tight, which is fine for a beginner. When starting out, it�s good to get used to folding weak hands in loose, multiway pots. Next, read and reread �Small Stakes Hold�em� by Sklansky, Miller, and Malmuth. This is considered by many to be the gold standard in hold�em literature. Next, read �Weighing the Odds in Hold�em Poker� by our own King Yao. It�s a good read overall, but it�s most helpful in its treatment of shorthanded play. Also, read the forums on our poker page as well as those at www.twoplustwo.com for good discussions (it seems we recommend their site for poker and they recommend this site for blackjack � seems fair).
Concurrent to all that reading, start playing very low stakes online games (limits in the pennies). You�ll need to play a little bit while reading to really internalize the concepts in the books. Start off with sites that offer monthly bonuses, like Interpoker and PokerPlex (a complete list is at www.bonuswhores.com). The bonuses will keep you above water during the early learning phase. Also, you can hustle bonuses for extra return during this phase. Prior to signing up at any poker site, make sure you go through a rakeback site. Rakeback isn�t much early on, but it can contribute a substantial amount to your overall win amount later on. Once your playing at levels where the $/�3 rake is frequently capped ($5/$10 or above), part-time (the high end of �part-time�) multitable shorthanded play can bring in $4,000 or more in a month in rakeback alone. You�d hate to leave that on the table! Following completion of at least the Jones book and a couple thousand online hands, try out your local B&M casino. It�s a nice break when the BJ is done (but don�t waste AP trip time on poker at this stage � the EV at a low-stakes game is low, and the tips and rake kill most of that � it�s for practice only).
Next, get the tools for success. Prior to playing online for limits over $0.25/$0.50, get PokerTracker. PokerTracker is a software application that tracks the play of you and your opponents. It stores every hand you play and provides many useful statistics on you and your opponents. You�ll know their fold frequency, their raise frequency, their aggression factor, etc. You�ll know your own win rate as well as that of your opponent. It�s available online at www.pokertracker.com, and it�s only $20. Following this, download PokerAce from www.pokeracesoftware.com. PokerAce takes the PokerTracker stats and overlays them on the poker table, so each player has a bubble over his head with his stats. This is very helpful for making the right decisions. Of course, the stats aren�t a complete read. I like to research one or two opponents prior to each session. I open PokerTracker and actually replay their hands to find trends. I take written notes, so I have a better read on these opponents. This is also a good learning tool in terms of seeing how your opposition plays in general (i.e., you learn one player with high aggression raises his flush draws on the turn to drive out opponents. Next time you see a relatively unknown opponent with similar stats raise the turn when the second card of a suit appears, you�ll at least know a semi-bluff is a possibility). You�ll also want to learn to pay attention to the action and to take notes on anything of interest. This isn�t as valuable early on, but it�s essential at higher limit shorthanded games. Also, consider using practice software, such as Poker Academy.
Once you start winning, move up gradually in limits. Add an extra table or two as you get more comfortable with the game, but don�t fall into the trap of playing so many tables that you stop learning. After all, your goal is to play winning $30-$60 online hold�em within a year, not to multitable 10 $1-$2 tables to grind out bonuses and a few bucks an hour. Still, you�ll want to develop some skill at multi-tabling, so add a couple here and there. Stick with full-ring (9 - 10 players) during this stage. As you become a strong winning player at these games, continue to move up in limits. Each limit will present new challenges and learning opportunities.
Get used to looking for poor players, as poker players make money not on good cards, but on others� mistakes. This is where we APs get our edge. The best opponent is a �calling station�. He will rarely raise and will bet only occasionally. He plays just about every hand and calls all bets until he�s certain he couldn�t possibly win (the worst ones will play 72 off even if the betting is capped preflop and take it to the river unimproved before finally giving up hope). These players bleed off cash. They occasionally catch miracle cards when drawing with horrible odds. When this happens, don�t get mad. Rather, say, �nice hand�. After all, his odds were so bad it was comparable to you playing blackjack with a free ace coupon and losing the hand. Great EV isn�t the same as a certain win, but these players pay off the most over time.
Another common bad opponent is the lagfish (LAG = Loose AGgressive). This opponent loves to bet and raise with little, hoping everyone will fold to his aggression. They get paid off well when they have a legitimate hand, so these folks cause variance swings, but they pay off long-term if you know when to stay and when to fold.
The number of fish at the table is analogous to pen in blackjack. If you cannot identify a couple of players you're certain you can beat, I have bad news ... you're the fish. There's no shame in being the fish, but there is shame in playing anyway. If you don't have an advantage, walk away and find a better game.
Next, head to your local casino and play some higher limit hold�em. You�ll likely be amazed at the general fishiness of the local players when compared to your online opposition. It�s still too early to lose any blackjack time, but at least you�ll be playing with +EV.
Finally, play some shorthanded (six or fewer players) online hold�em. These games are more aggressive and you�ll have to play back with weaker hands as the blinds come too often to sit around and wait for the nuts. Many good full-ring players new to shorthanded think they can fire away with nothing and fold everyone out. They also think everyone is bluffing so they call down often with ace-high. Don�t fall for these traps. Shorthanded is the same as full-ring when the first four players fold. It�s still poker. Start one limit lower than your current full-ring limit and play only one table at a time. Learn who the frequent bluffers are and exploit them by calling down. Learn who folds anything less than the nuts and bet into them. Eventually, move up in limits and try to move up in number of tables played at once. Many very good players don't multitable shorthanded tables, so don't feel compelled to play eight tables at once if you're not comfortable with it.
Multitabling is best with a high-quality monitor. I prefer a very high-resolution monitor so I can see all tables at once (most sites use IE6 as the base architecture, so the windows can't be resized). You probably will, too.
It takes five minutes to learn the rules of limit hold�em, but a lifetime to learn the game. It will take a significant investment of time and effort to become a winning player. You�ll make less than minimum wage for several months (even with bonuses) and you�ll often curse the inventor of the game after a tough session. To become a winning player, you�ll have to earn it, but I believe any winning blackjack player can become a winning poker player. I hope this guide will provide the info you for your journey.
TheEngineer
