Subterfuge, Freezeouts, and Poker's Emergence From Persian As's
CHANGE THE SUBJECT If you play poker regularly online, you will have noticed that most exchanges over the chat boxes are to do with poker. An amazing observation and surprise I hear you say but here’s the point. It’s actually a much better idea to use the chat box for unrelated subjects. One way or another, discussing poker betrays a lot about you. A deluge of bad beat moans and groans pepper these boxes and give away an awful lot about those caught up in it. Maybe that’s YOU! Much better to ridicule celebrities, soccer players or share jokes. Whatever subjects you choose make sure the anecdotes tell the story of who you want your opponents to be up against and tactically that may NOT be the real You!
COLD PLAY-A HIT! Yep! Freezeouts are flavour of the month but there are a few pointers that may help you be Mr or Mrs Cool. For a beginner the main thing to grasp is the disparity between Freezout chip values and real cash values. The value of the chips infront of you during a tournament do not represent how much you may walk away with if you conquer the final table. It’s highly likely a WSOP Champion walking away with six or seven million dollars will in fact have finished the game with getting on for thirty million in chip value in front of him. The difference between the two amounts is shared out among the various runner ups at the final table. There are many situations where a player in third or fourth place at the final table may come away with many more dollars than the apparent worth of their chip stack at the finish of the game. A paradox indeed. Chips in Freezouts do represent power but the dynamics in play between big and short stack competitors is what it’s really all about. The size of your stack defines how you need to proceed at any given point. Railbirding a big tournament or two is one of the most valuable lessons a new player can invest in themselves.
SO WHEN DID IT START? I’m always being asked at what point in history poker evolved. The common reponse from pundits is the French game of Poquoe played with just twenty cards back in the Fourteenth century and it’s probably as good as any. However, having delved more deeply “real” poker was imported from its assumed birth place in France to New Orleans by French sailors playing a game they called “as”. The game known as “as” (forgiven the reflex need to “pair my “as’s”) was in fact directly descended from the Persian game of “as nas” which pre-dates any other historical account I’ve ever encountered. If you can shed factual light back further than thirteenth century Persia don’t hesitate to post your knowledge at dailystarpoker.com.
