The Toolbox: Check-Raising

As the name suggests, the move involves checking in front of an opponent or opponents in the hope that one (or more) of them makes a bet. When the action gets back to you, you raise. It's generally a good idea to be holding a very strong hand when you do, as many players like to call down check-raisers "just to see," and the increased money in the pot sometimes create situations where it becomes correct for your opponents to call with all kinds of crazy draws.

The Toolbox: Semibluffing

A semibluff is a bet or a raise made with a hand that, while not currently the best, has a chance of getting there. If your opponents fold, fantastic; if they don't you still have a decent shot of drawing to a winning hand. Semibluffing is most often used to get a "free card" on a more expensive street.

Looking at your Hole-cards

You shouldn't have to Look at your cards more than once. When it's your turn to act, look at your two holes cards, and remember what they are. Cap 'em, and leave 'em there for the rest of the hand; unless of course, you wish to give your opponent additional tells. The most common occurrence I see is when two of the same suit comes down on the flop, and someone wants to know if they have a third card of that suit. Because of course, they expect to suckout a flush on the river, which only happens, what, less than 1% of the time? In a game of limited information, I simply don't understand why other players are willing to give more information to me.

Finley Peter Dunne = Trust

Trust everybody, but cut the cards.

-Finley Peter Dunne

The Toolbox: Bluffing

Your bluffs don't have to work every time to have a positive expectation-one success can more than make up for three or four failures. It's also not a bad idea to get caught bluffing every once in a while, as your opponents will be more likely to give you action the next time you actually hold a legitimate hand.

The Toolbox: Bluffing

When you do bluff, you'd prefer to be doing it against as few opponents as possible-one is best-minimizing the chances that someone has a hand that they just have to call you with. it's pretty pointless to bluff against maniacs or morons, so limit the play to your opponents who show weakness, or at least some sign of paying attention to the way you conduct yourself at the table.

The Toolbox: Bluffing

Limit poker-especially the lower limits-is a showdown game, meaning you very often have to show the best hand to win a pot. Lots of players see flops, and many of them won't be savvy enough to recognize when you have them dominated, let alone when you are pretending to have them dominated. Bluffing in a typical low-limit poker game is generally a complete waste of time-and money.

The Toolbox: Bluffing

In order for a bluff to work, you have to be using it against an opponent who is scared enough or, more important, smart enough to fold. This is the "Paradox of the Bluff": It's a terrible play to make against terrible opponents.

The Toolbox: Bluffing

To the uninitiated, poker is all about bluffing. Consider this your initiation-they are wrong! While bluffing is certainly an important part of the game, it's not as effective a play as you may have been led to believe.

George Augustus Sala

A gambler with a system must be, to a greater or lesser extent, insane.

- George Augustus Sala -

The Toolbox: Checking and Calling...

Checking and calling on the river can be a good way to induce a bluff from your opponent. A good rule of thumb: If the only way your opponent can call your bet is if he or she has got you beat, then it's usually better to check and call.

The Toolbox: Checking and Calling

It's occasionally correct to just check and call against superaggressive opponents who like to push their mediocre holdings or flat-out bluff. This is especially true on the river, when, if you think there's any chance of your hand being the best hand, it's almost always worth calling a bet. (Think about it in terms of pot odds: You generally only have to be "right" a small percentage of the time for this to be a profitable play.)

The Toolbox: Checking and Calling

If you are on the come, drawing to a better hand (with the correct pot odds, of course) against opponents who are unlikely to fold to your bet or raise, calling is usually the proper course of action.

The Toolbox: Checking and Calling

This tool does have its uses. Let's say the flop hits you, but weakly-maybe you have top pair with a weak kicker. Or the board looks like it could have made a flush or a straight for someone other than you. If there are several players to act behind you, discretion should be your watchword. Wait and see what everyone else does before committing any money to the pot.

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The Toolbox: Checking and Calling

This is the weakest tool in your kit. There are all kinds of nicknames for players who check and call too much, including ATM, fish, and pigeon. Almost every poker book you read will have something negative to say about calling. "Raise or fold" is a mantra for many winning players.

The Cards / Review Basics

Hold'em poker is played with a standard 52 card deck. What makes Hold'em stand out from many other card games is the use of five community cards-cards dealt face up on the table that all players share. Each player also receives two face-down cards each-hole or pocket cards. These two cards make up your starting hand.

A round of poker starts with every player being dealt their two hole cards. The winner is the player that at the end, after several betting rounds, can use his hole cards together with the five community cards and make the best ranked five card poker hand.

Mark Twain - A dollar picked up in the road

A dollar picked up in the road is more satisfaction to us than the ninety-nine which we had to work for, and the money won at Faro or in the stock market snuggles into our hearts in the same way.

-Mark Twain

The Cards

Plastic cards, which are used in many casinos, are a lot more durable than paper, a little bit easier to shuffle, and they can even be washed with soap and water. They're also about five times more expensive than paper cards, but the companies that makes them (Kem and Royal, to name two) promise that they'll last long enough to pay for themselves many times over.

The Cards

The first choice is one that you've probably had to make before: paper or plastic. Paper cards are relatively inexpensive, but they start to deteriorate after a few sessions. Bee and bicycle are the most common brands used by casinos and cardrooms, but if you do some digging, you'll discover all kinds of interesting alternatives, like Mohawks, Steamboats, and Torpedoes.

The Cards

While you can play with any fifty-two-card deck, a stickler for details will tell you that standard poker cards are three and a half by two and a half inches. Fortunately, unless you grew up in a house with a bridge parlor, poker cards are what you have always considered to be a normal deck. (The deck used for bridge, a game where you have to hold a lot of cards at once, is a little narrower.)

The Toolbox: Folding

Betting or raising is almost always superior to just calling. When you call, you have only one way to win: Your hand has to be the best hand. Bet or raise, however, and there are suddenly two ways to come out on top: Your opponent may fold (sometimes, on your better days, with a hand that's got you beat); and even if he doesn't, you may wind up with the best hand. This is the tool you use when the situation requires aggression, a mind-set that poker has a funny way of rewarding.

The Toolbox: Betting and Raising

At the risk of stretching the metaphor thin, these are your power tools. If your hand is good enough to call a bet, you should strongly consider betting yourself. If you were thinking about betting, and someone's beat you to it, give serious thought to raising.

The Toolbox: Folding / 2

Many of opponents will perceive folding as a sign of weakness, or of your being an all-around tight-ass. They're wrong (about the weakness, anyway)-folding is probably the most powerful tool at your disposal. You're looking not just to maximize the amount that you win, but to minimize what you lose. Nothing accomplishes that better than folding your hand and waiting for a better spot to play. Find the love of folding, and you'll discover its rewards will be plentiful.

The Toolbox: Folding

This is the flathead screwdriver in your box, the tool you'll use most often. At a full table, you'll probably be folding at least two out of every three hands before the flop, and a significant percentage of your hands once you see (and fail to connect with) those first three cards.

The Toolbox

Every carpenter uses a hammer and nails. No plumber is without a selection of wrenches. Poker players have their own set of tools. Some are certainly more powerful than other, but there's a time to use each of them.