Part 25
First cut is:-- 🂥 🃘 🃋 🂷 🃞 🃈 Second cut is:-- 🂴 🃒 ]
The 5 and 7 have the first and second choice of seats; the 2 and 4 the third and fourth choice.
_=PLAYERS’ POSITIONS.=_ There are only three distinctive positions at the poker table: the _=dealer=_; the _=pone=_; and the _=age=_. The pone is the player on the dealer’s right, and the age is the one on his left.
_=STAKES.=_ Before play begins, or a card is dealt, the value of the counters must be decided, and a _=limit=_ must be agreed upon. There are four limitations in Draw Poker, and they govern or fix the maximum of the four principal stakes: the blind; the straddle; the ante; and the bet or raise.
The _=blind=_ is the amount put up by the age before he sees anything, and should be limited to one white counter, as the blind is the smallest stake in the game. In some places it is permissible for the age to make the blind any amount he pleases within half the betting limit; but such a practice is a direct violation of the principles of the game, which require that the amount of the blind shall bear a fixed proportion to the limit of the betting.
The _=straddle=_ is a double blind, sometimes put up by the player to the left of the age, and like the blind, without seeing anything. This allows the player on the left of the straddler to double again, or put up four times the amount of the original blind. This straddling process is usually limited to one-fourth of the betting limit; that is, if the betting limit is fifty counters, the doubling of the blind must cease when a player puts up sixteen, for another double would carry it to thirty-two, which would be more than half the limit for a bet or raise.
The _=ante=_ is the amount put up by each player after he has seen his cards, but before he draws to improve his hand. The terms “ante” and “blind” are often confused. The blind is a compulsory stake, and must be put up before the player has seen anything. He does not even know whether or not he will be dealt a foul hand, or whether it will be a misdeal. He has not even seen the cards cut. The ante, on the other hand, is a voluntary bet, and is a sort of entrance fee, which is paid before the hand is complete, but after the first part of it has been seen. The ante is always twice the amount of the blind, whatever that may be. If the blind has been increased by the process of straddling, the ante must be twice the amount of the last straddle, but must not exceed the betting limit. This is why the straddles are limited.
The largest _=bet=_, or _=raise=_, which a player is allowed to make is generally known as _=the limit=_. This limit is not the greatest amount that may be bet on one hand, but is the maximum amount by which one player may increase his bet over that of another player. For instance: If no one has bet, A may bet the limit on his hand; B may then put up a similar amount, which is called _=seeing=_ him, and may then _=raise=_ him any further sum within the limit fixed for betting. If B raises the limit, it is obvious that he has placed in the pool twice the amount of the betting limit; but his _=raise=_ over A’s bet is within the betting limit. If another player should raise B again, he would be putting up three times the limit; A’s bet, B’s raise, and his own raise.
In the absence of any definite arrangement, it is usual to make the betting limit fifty times the amount of the blind. That is, if the value of the blind, or one white counter, is five cents, the limit of a bet or raise will be two dollars and a half, or two blue counters. This fixes the ante at two white counters, or ten cents, in the absence of straddles, and limits the straddling to the fourth player from the age, or sixteen white counters. This proportion makes a very fair game, and gives a player some opportunity to vary his betting according to his estimate of the value of his hand. Where the blind is five cents, the ante ten, and the limit twenty-five, the game ceases to be Poker, and becomes a species of _=show-down=_. It is universally admitted by good judges that a player can lose more money at twenty-five cent show-down than he will at two-and-a-half Poker.
There are several other variations in the manner of arranging the stakes and the betting limits, but they will be better understood after the game itself has been described.
_=DEALING.=_ The age having put up the amount of the blind, and the cards having been shuffled by any player who chooses to avail himself of the privilege, the dealer last, they are presented to the pone to be cut. The pone may either cut them, or signify that he does not wish to do so by tapping the pack with his knuckles. Should the pone decline to cut, no other player can insist on his so doing, nor do it for him. Beginning on his left, the dealer distributes the cards face down one at a time in rotation until each player has received five cards. The deal passes to the left, and each player deals in turn.
_=IRREGULARITIES IN THE DEAL.=_ The following rules regarding the deal should be strictly observed:--
If any card is found faced in the pack the dealer must deal again. Should the dealer, or the wind, turn over any card, the player to whom it is dealt must take it; but the same player cannot be compelled to take two exposed cards. Should such a combination occur, there must be a fresh deal by the same dealer. If the player exposes his cards himself, he has no remedy.
Should any player receive more or less than his correct number of cards, and discover the error before he looks at any card in his hand, or lifts it from the table, he may demand a fresh deal if no bet has been made; or he may ask the dealer to give him another from the pack if he has too few; or to draw a card if he has too many. Cards so drawn must not be exposed, but should be placed on the bottom of the pack.
If the number of the hands dealt does not agree with the number of players, there must be a new deal.
If two or more cards are dealt at a time, the dealer may take back the card or cards improperly dealt if he discovers the error before dealing to the next player; otherwise there must be a new deal.
A misdeal does not lose the deal. The misdealer must deal again.
Should a player take up his hand, or look at any card in it, he is not entitled to any remedy. If he has more or less than the proper number of cards, his hand is foul, and must be abandoned, the player forfeiting any interest he may have in that deal, and any stake he may have put up on that hand. In all gambling houses, the invariable rule is to call a short hand foul; although there should be no objection to playing against a man with only four cards, which cannot be increased to five, even by the draw.
_=STRADDLING.=_ During the deal, or at any time before he looks at any card in his hand, the player to the left of the age may _=straddle the blind=_ by putting up double the amount put up by the age. The only privilege this secures to the straddler is that of having the last _=say=_ as to whether or nor he will make good his ante and draw cards. Should he refuse to straddle, no other player can do so; but if he straddles, the player on his left can straddle him again by doubling the amount he puts up, which will be four times the amount of the blind. This will open the privilege to the next player on the left again, and so on until the limit of straddling is reached; but if one player refuses to straddle, no other following him can do so. Good players seldom or never straddle, as the only effect of it is to increase the amount of the ante.
_=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The cards dealt, the players take up and examine their hands. The careful poker player always “spreads” his cards before taking them up, to be sure that he has neither more nor less than five, and he lifts them in such a way that the palm and fingers of his right hand conceal the face of the first card, while the thumb of the left hand separates the others just sufficiently to allow him to read the index or “squeezer” marks on the edges.
The object of this examination is to ascertain the value of the hand dealt to him, and to see whether or not it is worth while trying to improve it by discarding certain cards and drawing others in their place. The player should not only be thoroughly familiar with the relative value of the various combinations which may be held at Poker, but should have some idea of the chances for and against better combinations being held by other players, and should also know the odds against improving any given combination by drawing to it.
The value of this technical knowledge will be obvious when it is remembered that a player may have a hand dealt to him which he knows is comparatively worthless as it is, and the chances for improving which are only one in twelve, but which he must bet on at odds of one in three, or abandon it. Such a proceeding would evidently be a losing game, for if the experiment were tried twelve times the player would win once only, and would lose eleven times. This would be paying eleven dollars to win three; yet poker players are continually doing this.
_=RANK OF THE HANDS.=_ The various combinations at Poker outrank one another in the following order, beginning with the lowest. Cards with a star over them add nothing to the value of the hand, and may be discarded. The figures on the right are the odds against such a hand being dealt to any individual player.
Five cards of various suits; not in sequence, and without a pair. [Illustration: 🂡* 🃘* 🂶* 🂴* 🂢*] Even
_=One Pair.=_ Two cards of one kind and three useless cards. [Illustration: 🂨 🃘 🃞* 🂭* 🂴*] 34 to 25
_=Two Pairs.=_ Two of one kind; two of another kind; and one useless card. [Illustration: 🂫 🃋 🂣 🃓 🂹*] 20 to 1
_=Threes.=_ Three of one kind, and two useless cards. [Illustration: 🃉 🂹 🃙 🂭* 🂢*] 46 to 1
_=Straight.=_ All five cards in sequence, but of various suits. [Illustration: 🃉 🂸 🃗 🃆 🂥] 254 to 1
_=Flush.=_ All five cards of one suit, but not in sequence. [Illustration: 🂡 🂮 🂨 🂥 🂣] 508 to 1
_=Full Hand.=_ Three of one kind, and two of another kind; no useless cards. [Illustration: 🃅 🂥 🃕 🂽 🂭] 693 to 1
_=Fours.=_ Four cards of one kind, and one useless card. [Illustration: 🃆 🂦 🃖 🂶 🂾*] 4164 to 1
_=Straight flush.=_ Five cards of the same suit, in sequence with one another. [Illustration: 🃈 🃇 🃆 🃅 🃄] 72192 to 1
_=Royal Flush.=_ A straight flush which is ace high. [Illustration: 🃑 🃞 🃝 🃛 🃚] 649739 to 1
When hands are of the same rank, their relative value is determined by the denomination of the cards they contain. For instance: A hand without a pair, sequence, or flush is called by its highest card; “ace high,” or “Jack high,” as the case may be. As between two such hands, the one containing the highest card would be the better, but either would be outclassed by a hand with a pair in it, however small. A hand with a pair of nines in it would outrank one with a pair of sevens, even though the cards accompanying the nines were only a deuce, three and four, while those with the sevens were an ace, King and Queen. But should the pairs be alike in both hands; such as tens, the highest card outside the pair would decide the rank of the hands, and if those were also alike, the next card, or perhaps the fifth would have to be considered. Should the three odd cards in each hand be identical, the hands would be a tie, and would divide any pool to which each had a claim. Two flushes would decide their rank in the same manner. If both were ace and Jack high, the third card in one being a nine, and in the other an eight, the nine would win. In full hands the rank of the triplets decides the value of the hand. Three Queens and a pair of deuces will beat three Jacks and a pair of aces. In straights, the highest card of the sequence wins; not necessarily the highest card in the hand, for a player may have a sequence of A 2 3 4 5, which is only five high, and would be beaten by a sequence of 2 3 4 5 6. The ace must either begin or end a sequence, for a player is not allowed to call such a combination as Q K A 2 3 a straight.
It was evidently the intention of those who invented Poker that the hands most difficult to obtain should be the best, and should outrank hands that occurred more frequently. A glance at the table of odds will show that this principle has been carried out as far as the various denominations of hands go; but when we come to the members of the groups the principle is violated. In hands not containing a pair, for instance, ace high will beat Jack high, but it is much more common to hold ace high than Jack high. The exact proportion is 503 to 127. A hand of five cards only seven high but not containing a pair, is rarer than a flush; the proportion being 408 to 510. When we come to two pairs, we find the same inversion of probability and value. A player will hold “aces up,” that is, a pair of aces and another pair inferior to aces, twelve times as often as he will hold “threes up.” In the opinion of the author, in all hands that do not contain a pair, “seven high” should be the best instead of the lowest, and ace high should be the lowest. In hands containing two pairs, “threes up” should be the highest, and “aces up” the lowest.
_=ECCENTRIC HANDS.=_ In addition to the regular poker hands, which are those already given, there are a few combinations which are played in some parts of the country, especially in the South, either as matter of local custom or by agreement. When any of these are played, it would be well for the person who is not accustomed to them to have a distinct understanding in advance, just what combinations shall be allowed and what hands they will beat. There are four of these eccentric hands, and the figures on the right are the odds against their being dealt to any individual player:
_=Blaze.=_ Five picture cards. Beat two pairs; but lose to three of a kind. [Illustration: 🂻 🃝 🃍 🃎 🂮] 3008 to 1
_=Tiger.=_ Must be seven high and deuce low; without a pair, sequence or flush. It beats a straight; but loses to a flush. [Illustration: 🃇 🂦 🂥 🂳 🃒] 636 to 1
_=Skip, or Dutch Straight.=_ Any sequence of alternate cards, of various suits. Beats two pairs and a blaze. [Illustration: 🂭 🂺 🃘 🃆 🃔] 423 to 1
_=Round-the-Corner.=_ Any straight in which the ace connects the top and bottom. Beats threes; but any regular straight will beat it. [Illustration: 🂾 🂱 🃂 🃃 🃔] 848 to 1
The rank of these extra hands has evidently been assigned by guess-work. The absurdity of their appraised value will be evident if we look at the first of them, the blaze, which is usually played to beat two pairs. As it is impossible to have a blaze which does not contain two pairs of court cards, all that they beat is aces up or kings up. If it were ranked, like other poker hands, by the difficulty of getting it, a blaze should beat a full hand.
All these hands are improperly placed in the scale of poker values, as will be seen by comparing the odds against them. In any games to which these eccentric hands are admitted, the rank of all the combinations would be as follows, if poker principles were followed throughout:--
DENOMINATION. ODDS AGAINST.
One pair 1¼ to 1 Two pairs 20 to 1 Three of a kind 46 to 1 Sequence or straight 254 to 1 Skip or Dutch straight 423 to 1 Flush 508 to 1 Tiger [Big or Little Dog] 636 to 1 Full hand 693 to 1 Round-the-corner straight 848 to 1 Blaze 3008 to 1 Four of a kind 4164 to 1 Straight flush 72192 to 1 Royal Flush [Ace high] 649739 to 1
When the true rank of these eccentric hands is not allowed, local custom must decide what they will beat.
_=JOKER POKER=_, or _=MISTIGRIS=_. It is not uncommon to leave the joker, or blank card, in the pack. The player to whom this card is dealt may call it anything he pleases. If he has a pair of aces, and the joker, he may call them three aces. If he has four clubs, and the joker, he may call it a flush; or he may make the joker fill out a straight. If he has four of a kind, and the joker, he can beat a royal flush by calling his hand five of a kind. In case of ties, the hand with the mistigris wins; that is to say, an ace and the joker will beat two aces.
A player holding the joker may even call it a duplicate of a card already in his hand. For instance; he might hold the A J 8 5 of hearts and the joker against the A K Q 7 3 of clubs. If he calls the joker the king of hearts, the club flush still beats him as it is queen next. He must call it the ace, which makes his flush ace-ace high.
_=PROBABILITIES.=_ In estimating the value of his hand as compared to that of any other player, before the draw, the theory of probabilities is of little or no use, and the calculations will vary with the number of players engaged. For instance: If five are playing, some one should have two pairs every fourth deal, because in four deals twenty hands will be given out. If seven are playing, it is probable that five of them will hold a pair of some kind before the draw. Unfortunately, these calculations are not of the slightest practical use to a poker player, because although three of a kind may not be dealt to a player more than once in forty-five times on the average, it is quite a common occurrence for two players to have threes dealt to each of them at the same time. The considerations which must guide the player in judging the comparative value of his hand, both before and after the draw, must be left until we come to the suggestions for good play.
_=THE ANTE.=_ The player to the left of the age is the one who must make the first announcement of his opinion of his hand, unless he has straddled, in which case the player on the left of the last straddler has the first “_=say=_.” If he considers his hand good enough to draw to, let us say a pair of Kings, he must place in the pool, or toward the centre of the table, double the amount of the blind, or of the last straddle, if any. This is called the ante, because it is made before playing the hand, whereas the blind is made before seeing it. The player is not restricted to double the amount of the blind or straddle; he may bet as much more as he pleases within the limit fixed at the beginning of the game. For instance: If there has been only one straddle he must put up four white counters or pass out of the game for that deal. But if he puts up the four, he may put up as many more as he pleases within the limit, which is two blues, or fifty whites. This is called _=raising the ante=_. If he does not care to pay twice the amount of the blind or straddle for the privilege of drawing cards to improve his hand, he must throw his cards face downward on the table in front of the player whose turn it will be to deal next. Reasonable time must be allowed for a player to make his decision; but having made it, he must abide by it; a hand once thrown down cannot be taken up again, and counters once placed in the pool, and the hand removed from them, cannot be taken out again, even though placed in the pool by mistake.
The player who has the first say having made his decision, the player next him on the left must then decide. He must put into the pool an amount equal to that deposited by the first player, or abandon his hand. Suppose there has been no straddle, and that all conclude to _=stay=_, as it is called. They each in turn put up two white counters until it comes to the age. The one white counter he has already put up as a blind belongs to the pool, but by adding one to it he can make his ante good, and draw cards, always provided no player has raised the ante. If any player has put more counters into the pool than the amount of the ante, all the other players must put up a like amount, or throw down their hands. Suppose five play, and A has the age. B antes two counters, and C puts up seven, the ante and a raise of five. If D and E come in, they must put up seven counters also; and the age, A, must put up six to make his ante good. It now comes to B, who must either lose the two he has already put up, or add five more to them. Let us suppose that D puts up the seven, and that E, the dealer, puts up twelve. This will force the age to put up eleven; B to put up ten; and C to put up five more. This will make each player’s ante an equal amount, twelve counters, and they will then be ready to draw cards. No one can now raise the ante any further, because it is no one’s turn to “say.”
It will thus be seen that every player in his turn can do one of three things, which are sometimes called the _=a b c=_ of Poker: He can _=Abdicate=_; by throwing down his hand, and abandoning whatever money he has already placed in the pool. He can _=Better=_; by putting up more money than any player before him, which is sometimes called “going better.” Or, he can _=Call=_, by making his amount in the pool equal to the highest bet already made.
Should any player increase the ante to such an extent that none of the others care to call him, they must of course throw down their hands, and as there is no one to play against him, the one who made the last increase in the ante takes down all the counters in the pool. This is called _=taking the pot=_, and the cards are gathered, shuffled, and dealt again, the deal passing to the player who was the age.
_=DRAWING CARDS.=_ All those who have made the ante good have the privilege of discarding, face downward, as many cards as they please, in the place of which they may draw others. The age has the first draw, and can take any number of cards from one to five, or he may _=stand pat=_, refusing to draw any. A player cannot receive from the dealer more or less cards than he discards; so that if a person is allowed to play with a short hand, of four cards only, he will still have only four cards after the draw. If his hand was foul, it will remain so after the draw. In drawing, a player may keep or discard what cards he pleases. There is no rule to prevent his throwing away a pair of aces and keeping three clubs if he is so inclined; but the general practice is for the player to retain whatever pairs or triplets he may have, and to draw to them. Four cards of a straight or a flush may be drawn to in the same way, and some make a practice of drawing to one or two high cards, such as an ace and a king, when they have no other chance. Some hands offer opportunities to vary the draw. For instance: A player has dealt to him a small pair; but finds he has also four cards of a straight. He can discard three cards and draw to the pair; or one card, and draw to the straight; or two cards, keeping his ace in the hope of making two good pairs, aces up. The details of the best methods of drawing to various combinations will be discussed when we come to suggestions for good play.