POKER TIP OF THE DAY Always remember to use the classic “Rule of Four Points” if you are drawing to a straight in seven card stud. There’s no point in looking or hoping for cards that simply aren’t available to you. Let’s say you have 10-J-Q. A quick intel of the table will tell you if any of your primary cards are already exposed and therefore not up for grabs. Primary cards that are exposed count for two points each in the “Four Point” system and in this case they would be a nine or a king. An ace or an eight in this case would be secondary cards and valued at one point each. By means of this point-value-system a king and an ace exposed would therefore amount to three points in total, whereas two kings and a nine exposed would tot up to five points and your hand would not be worth continuing. Four points or less is playable (hence the “Rule of Four Points”). More than four points means the hand is not viable. Time to fold.
BACK TRACKING For a very small sum of money you can download software called Poker Tracker which is the hi-tech equivalent of having your very own digital Yoda as a side-kick. The tracker will record and remember every hand you’ve ever played and more important, evaluate it for your future play. The tracker records rakes, flop details and will build a data base of your online opponents’ play. This enables you to construct strategies against regular opponents. You are allowed to test the software for free on one thousand hands just so that the Poker Tracker can strut its stuff and allow you to decide its value to your game. The main advantages are the ability to replay complete tournaments, track sharks or fish, monitor your previously successful plays and sift through multiple screen names across an array of sites.
SIMPLE BUT USEFUL It’s amazing how many new players we watch online who always appear to give the same value to hands featuring kings or aces whether or not they’re in a short-handed game or at a full table. It’s simple and obvious but do remember the value of aces and kings goes up in a short-handed game. It stands to reason if there are only five guys at the table instead of ten the chances of them having aces or kings as well as you are smaller. Hence the card values increase. You need to reflect this fact in your betting in order to play more effective poker.
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ALL THE ACES poker column: Friday, March 24, 2006: Poker Tips, Hand Tracking and How to Play Aces and Kings
