|
Article:
Three Key Skills of Playing Poker by Black Jack by: Black Jack Why play poker? It seems like a simple question, but the answer is both complex and personal. There are many different reasons to play or not play poker, and often these reasons will dictate what type of player a person is and what limits he or she should play. Poker pros are commonly described as tight and aggressive. A good player is nothing like that; in general he masters at least three critical elements of poker. Math skills Good poker players know general percentages. They know that you have about 1 in 8 chance of hitting a set when holding a pocket pair, and that you have about a 1 in 3 chance of completing a flush draw at the flop. They know the importance of 'outs.' Outs are simply the number of cards that will improve your hand. Count your outs, multiply them by two, and add two, and that's roughly the percentage shot you have at hitting. They can figure out the 'pot odds.' Knowing outs is meaningless unless it's translated into rational, calculated betting. Knowing you have a 20% chance of hitting, what do you do then? Well, simply once you figure out your chance of hitting/winning, you divide the size of the pot at the river (i.e. the current pot plus the amount of money that you think will be added through future bets) by the amount you have to put in. If you have a 20% chance of hitting and the bet to you is '50
|
