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The Paly Voice

The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice

The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice

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Can you say "Poker?"

Poker is featured in movies like Ocean’s Eleven and Rounders, books like Bringing Down the House, and television shows like Celebrity Poker. However, poker is not a game reserved for celebrities or even gamblers. Anyone can enjoy the fun of poker, high-stakes or no stakes at all.

I love playing poker with friends and family. Usually, I only play with chips, but occasionally we will bet a dollar or two just for fun. Winning the game takes more than just luck; it requires strategy and wit.

There are two parts to poker strategy: knowing the cards, and knowing your opponents. By knowing the cards, I mean understanding the probabilities of getting certain cards. Let’s say you are playing five-card draw. You are dealt five cards, then you can replace as many as four (depending on what your dealer decides) to get the best hand you can. Without any wildcards, the chance of being dealt a pair is almost one in two. Depending on how many people you play with, the average hand will go up or down. In a larger group, the average winning hand will be higher because more people means more chances to get good cards.

Knowing your opponents can be every bit as important as knowing your cards. You can try to figure out their giveaway signs, or "tells" to whether they have a good or bad hand. Its important to try to keep a poker face and try to hide your own tells from your opponent. People often try to bluff, or bet a lot to hide the fact that they have a poor hand. If the other people call you on it, you’re in trouble. Personally, I think that unless you believe you have a good enough hand to win, you should not try to bluff your opponents out. When I play, I only bluff when I have one opponent left in the game, and when I can see that my opponent seems reluctant to stay in.

There are many different types of poker and in each, different ways to play. Probably the most common is five-card draw. Also common are the games of blackjack, seven-card stud, five-card stud, and Texas hold’em. If you are not a poker buff and are confused about what I’m talking about, I would recommend looking in a card game book or online. One of my favorite games of poker is baseball, a spin on the traditional seven-card stud. Each person is dealt seven cards, two down and one up, three up dealt one at a time, and one more down. In baseball, 3’s and 9’s are wild, and 4’s get an extra down card. It makes it very difficult to calculate the probabilities, but it’s an intriguing game anyway. The odds of getting four-of-a-kind go way, way up. I like it.

Anyway, don’t go betting too big to start, and learn from people who are as good or worse than you, and you’re all set. Deal me in.

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