Plus, protecting your cards from the dealer, uncommon poker terms and a poker joker....
ZEN AND THE POKER PLAYER What’s the sound of one hand flopping? Is that lone scream in cyberspace really heard by anyone beyond the confines of your PC room? More seriously, the idea of Zen is to shake you out of normal logical thought in the hope of a breakthrough to a deeper level of the mind. This is usually done by attempting to throw the “every day thinking” brain into chaos. Good poker playing requires you to do exactly this to the lump between your opponent’s ears. One way to attempt that particular trick is to be illogical. Making a large bet on a hand that is useless is illogical. It’s called a bluff and done well with a tail wind, it can work! Other ways to do it may include playing very cautiously for several games in a row to establish a pattern and then raising without looking at your hole cards. This kind of behaviour messes with the heads of your assembled opponents as they are really not sure what you will do next. Ultimately poker is a mind game.
DON’T MUCK ABOUT It’s not uncommon for a dealer in a live casino to assume your cards have been mucked if you are not protecting them. It’s no defence to claim that your cards are your side of the betting line or that you were distracted by a chip count being requested. None of that matters. All house rules always state that you must protect your cards at all times. This error usually occurs when several people in a hand fold in swift succession. If your physical hands aren’t over your hole cards the dealer is perfectly entitled to consider you have mucked them along with everyone else. It isn’t a dealer’s job to figure out the status of your cards based on their positioning on the table. They are yours until you let go of them or place something on top of them like a mobile phone or a chip.
LESS COMMON POKER TERMS Q: What does the poker term “fold equity” mean? A: This is the extra value you get out of a hand by forcing your opponent to fold? Obviously if you aren’t required to see a showdown your hand holds more value than if you do have to.
Q: What does it mean to “put on”? A: When you make a mental assessment of what “you think” an opponent may be holding you are said to “put them on” a hand.
POKER JOKER A regular poker player returns home well passed midnight to find his angry wife packing her bags. “Where are you going, luv?” asks the husband sheepishly. “Apparently there are women in Las Vegas who earn $500 a night for doing what I do for you for free!” Immediately the husband starts packing. “What on earth are you doing?” screams the wife. “I’m coming to Las Vegas too! I can’t wait to see how you’re going to live on $1,000 a year!”
