Part 27

_=TABLE STAKES.=_ This is one of several variations in arranging the stakes and the betting limit. In some localities it is the custom to allow each player to purchase as many counters as he pleases; in others it is the rule to compel each to buy an equal number at the start, usually two hundred times the amount of the blind. In table stakes the betting limit is always the amount that the player has in front of him; but no player is allowed either to increase or diminish that amount while he has any cards in front of him. Before the cards are dealt for any pool he may announce that he wishes to buy counters, or that he has some to sell to any other player wishing to purchase; but for either transaction the consent of all the other players must be obtained. No player is allowed under any circumstances to borrow from another, nor to be “shy” in any pot; that is, to say, “I owe so many.” If he has any counters in front of him, his betting is limited to what he has; if he has none, he is out of the game, for that hand at least. As a player cannot increase the amount he has in front of him during the play of a hand, it is best to keep on the table at all times as much as one is likely to want to bet on any one hand.

It is the usual custom, and an excellent one, to fix upon a definite hour for closing a game of table stakes, and to allow no player to retire from the game before that hour unless he is _=decavé=_, (has lost all his capital). Should he insist on retiring, whatever counters he has must be divided among the other players, and if there are any odd ones after the division, they must be put into the current pool.

In table stakes, any player may _=call a sight=_ for what money or counters he has in front of him, even should another player have bet a much larger amount. For instance: A has bet three dollars, and B has only two dollars in front of him, but wishes to call A. B calls for a sight by putting his two dollars in the pool, and A must then withdraw his third dollar from the pool, but leave it on the table to be called or raised by any other player. Should C wish to call A, or even to raise him, A and C may continue the betting independently of B’s part of the pool. Should C have even less money than B, say one dollar, he may still further reduce the original pool, leaving the two dollars aside for settlement between A and B, and A’s third dollar still aside from that again for the decision of any other player.

Let us suppose that A and C continue the betting until one calls. When the hands are shown, if either A’s or C’s is better than B’s, B loses his interest; but if B’s hand is better than either A’s hand or C’s hand, he takes the part of the pool for which he called a sight, while A and C decide the remainder between them. For instance: A calls C, and C shows three tens. Neither A nor B can beat it, and C takes everything. But if B had three Jacks, and A only three fives, B would take the part of the pool for which he called a sight, and C would take the remainder.

Should C have raised and bluffed A out, or have bet so much that A finally refused to call, A would have no interest in either pool, and C would take all the money outside the pool for which B called a sight. Should it then transpire, on the show of hands between B and C, that A had laid down a better hand than either of them, that would not entitle A to claim the sight pool from B, because in laying down his hand he has practically acknowledged that C’s hand is better, and has retired from the game. If B’s hand is better than C’s, B takes the sight pool.

_=FREEZE OUT.=_ This might be called a variety of table stakes. At the start, each player is supplied with an equal number of counters; but no one is allowed to replenish his stock, or to withdraw or loan any part of it. As soon as any player has lost his capital he is decavé, or _=frozen out=_, and must permanently retire from the game. The other players continue until only one remains, who must of course win everything on the table. This is not a popular form of Poker, because it is sometimes a long time before a player who is frozen out can get into a game again.

_=SHOW-DOWN POKER.=_ This is a variety of draw poker, in which each player takes the five cards dealt to him and turns them face up so that all the other players can see them. Each player discards and draws in turn, eldest hand first. As soon as a hand is beaten it is thrown into the deadwood, all the cards drawn being dealt face up.

_=FLAT POKER.=_ In this variety of the game, before the cards are dealt, the age puts up, for a blind, any amount he pleases within the limit. Those who are willing to bet a similar amount on the possibilities of their hands put up a similar amount. Those who decline are not given any cards. There are no straddles, raises, or antes. Immediately after the deal each player who is in the pool draws cards, the age first. There are then two ways to play: The hands are shown and the best wins; or, beginning with the age, each player may say if he will back his hand against the field; _i.e._, all the others in the pool. If he will, he must put up as much as their combined stakes. He cannot be raised; but if any one player or combination of players call him, and one of them can beat his hand, the field divide the pool. For instance: Age makes it a blue, and three others stay with him. After the draw C puts up three blues against the field. D and A call it, and all show hands. If any of the three, A, B or D can beat C they divide the pool, B getting his third, although he did not contribute to the call. This game is a pure gamble; except that a bold player may occasionally bluff the field off.

_=METHODS OF CHEATING.=_ Poker and its congeners have received more attention from the greeks than any other family of card games. In fact it is generally believed that the term greek, as applied to a card sharper, had its origin in the Adam of the poker family, which was a gambling game introduced by the Greeks in Italy.

So numerous and so varied are the methods of cheating at Poker that it is an axiom among gamblers that if a pigeon will not stand one thing he will another. The best informed make it a rule never to play Poker with strangers, because they realize that it is impossible for any but a professional gambler to know half the tricks employed by the poker sharp. It is a notorious fact that even the shrewdest gamblers are continually being taken in by others more expert than themselves. What chance then has the honest card player?

There are black sheep in all flocks, and it may be well to give a few hints to those who are in the habit of playing in mixed companies.

Never play with a man who looks attentively at the faces of the cards as he gathers them for his deal; or who stands the pack on edge, with the faces of the cards towards him, and evens up the bunch by picking out certain cards, apparently because they are sticking up. Any pack can be straightened by pushing the cards down with the hand. The man who lifts them up is more than probably a cheat.

Never play with a man who looks intently at the pack and shuffles the cards slowly. If he is not locating the cards for the ensuing deal he is wasting time, and should be hurried a little.

Never play with a person who leaves the cut portion of the pack on the table, and deals off the other part. In small parties this is a very common way of working what is known as _=the top stock=_. If such a dealer is carefully watched it will usually be found that he seizes the first opportunity to place the part cut off on the top of the part dealt from. The top stock is then ready for the draw, and the judicious player should at once cash his chips and retire from the game.

Never play with a man who continually holds his cards very close to his body, or who completely conceals his hand before the draw, or who takes great care to put his discard among previous discards, so that the exact number of cards put out cannot be counted. He is probably working a vest or sleeve hold-out. Some clumsy or audacious sharpers will go so far as to hold out cards in their lap, or stick them in a “bug” under the table. One of the most successful poker sharps ever known, “Eat-um-up Jake” Blackburn, who had a hand like a ham, could hold out five cards in his palm while he carried on all the operations of shuffling, dealing, and playing his hand. Such men require great dexterity and nerve to get rid of their “deadwood,” or surplus cards, without detection. _=Holding out=_ is regarded by the professional as a most dangerous experiment, but it is very common.

Never play with a man who keeps his eyes rivetted on the cards as he deals, and who deals comparatively slowly. He is probably using marked cards, or has marked the important ones himself during the play. Poker sharps who mark cards by scratching them with a sharp point concealed in a ring are obliged to hold the cards at a certain angle to the light in order to see the scratches. Those who dig points in the cards with the thumb nail depend on touch instead of sight. If you find such points on the cards, either dig other points on other cards, or retire from the game.

Against the hold-out or marked cards there is no protection, because the dealer does not care how much the cards in the pack are shuffled or cut; but every method of running up hands, or stocking cards, can be made ineffective if the pone will not only cut the cards, but carefully reunite the packets. If the two parts are straightened after the cut, it will be impossible for the dealer to shift the cut, and bring the cards back to their original position. The dealer will sometimes bend the top or bottom card so as to form a _=bridge=_, which will enable him to find the place where the cards were cut. This can only be overcome by shuffling the cards instead of cutting them, which every player has the right to do. If you insist on shuffling, the greek will do the same in his turn, and will run up hands to be dealt to himself. It is perfectly useless to endeavour to protect yourself against a poker sharp; the only remedy is to leave the game.

Many persons have a strong prejudice against playing with a man who shuffles his chips. The mere fact of his being an expert at chip shuffling has nothing to do with the game of poker, the accomplishment usually being the result of long experience at the faro table. The reason for the prejudice is that a chip shuffler is usually cold blooded, courageous, and seldom a loser at any game that requires nerve.

_=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ Volumes might be written for the guidance of the poker player without improving his game a particle, unless he possesses at least one of four qualifications: Control over his features and actions; judgment of human nature; courage; and patience. The man whose face or manner betrays the nature of his hand, or the effect of an opponent’s bet or raise, will find everyone to beat his weak hands, and no one to call his strong ones. Unless he is a fair judge of human nature he will never be able to estimate the strength or peculiarities of the players to whom he is opposed, and will fail to distinguish a bluff from an ambuscade. Without courage he cannot reap the full benefit of his good hands; and without patience he cannot save his money in the time of adversity.

Of one thing every player may rest assured, and that is that Poker cannot be played by mathematical formulas. Beyond the most elementary calculations of the chances in favour of certain events the theory of probabilities is of no assistance. It is not necessary to call in a mathematician to prove that a player who habitually discards a pair of aces to draw to three cards of a suit will lose by the operation in the long run. Nor will any amount of calculation convince some players that they are wasting their money to stay in a jack pot in order to draw to a pair of tens, although such is the fact.

The various positions occupied by the player at the poker table may be briefly examined, and some general suggestions offered for his guidance in each of them. In the first place he should look out for his counters. It is always best for each player to place the amount of his ante or his bet immediately in front of him, so that there need be no dispute as to who is up, or who is shy. Above all it should be insisted that any player who has once put counters in the pool, and taken his hand from them, should not again take them down.

_=The Age=_ is the most valuable position at the table, but it is seldom fully taken advantage of. The age should never look at his hand until it is his turn to make good his blind. He may pick up his cards, but he should use his eyes in following the manner and facial expression of the other players as they sort their cards. One of the greatest errors made by the age is in thinking that he must save his blind. The player who draws to nothing because he can do so cheaply, will usually have nothing to draw at the end of the game. The age can usually afford to draw to four-card flushes, and to straights open at both ends, but should not do so when there are less than three who have paid to draw cards, or when the ante has been raised.

If the age holds Kings or better before the draw, he should invariably raise the ante unless there are five players in the pool besides himself, or unless some other player has already raised. If he holds two pairs, he should do all his betting before the draw. If any other player has raised, or his own raise is re-raised, the age must use his judgment of the player and the circumstances. It is useless for the age to disguise his hand by such manœuvres as holding up an odd card to a pair, unless he raises the blind at the same time. If he draws one or two cards only, and has not raised the blind, every one will credit him for a small pair and an ace, or for a bobtail, and will inevitably call any bluff he may make. The age is the poorest position at the table for a bluff, but it is decidedly the best in which to win large pots with moderate hands.

_=The Dealer=_ has the next best position to the age, and in large parties there is very little difference in the way in which the two positions should be played.

The _=first bettor=_ has the worst position at the table and he should seldom come in on less than Queens. He should seldom raise the ante, even with two pairs, as he will only drive others out. In this position very little can be made out of good hands, because every one expects to find them there; but it offers many excellent opportunities for successful bluffing. A player in this position should never straddle. Many players endeavour to force their luck in this way, but it is a losing game, and the best players seldom or never straddle. Having to make the first bet after the draw, it is usual for the player in this position, if he has an average hand, to _=chip along=_, by simply betting a single counter, and waiting for developments. With a strong hand, it is best to bet its full value at once, on the chance that the bet may be taken for a bluff, and called.

_=Other Positions.=_ As the positions go round the table from the first bettor to the age, they become more desirable, and little need be said of them beyond the consideration of the average strength necessary for a player to _=go in=_ on.

_=GOING IN.=_ There is a great difference of opinion as to the minimum value of a hand which should justify a player in drawing cards if he can do so for the usual ante. In close games many players make it a rule not to go in on less than tens, while in more liberal circles the players will draw to any pair. In determining which course to follow, the individual must be guided by his observation and judgment. Suppose five play, and A observes that B and C constantly draw to small pairs, while D and E never come in on less than tens. If A has the age, B, D, and E having anted, A may be sure that there are at least two good hands against him, and will guide himself accordingly. But if B and C are the only players in, A may safely draw to a small pair. It can be mathematically demonstrated that what is called an _=average go-in hand=_ should be at least a pair of tens; but a player who waits for tens in a liberal game, in which others are drawing to ace high, will ante himself away if there are many jack pots, and will get no calls when he gets a hand.

_=BETTING.=_ Good players are guided by the general character of the game in which they take part. Some parties play a very liberal game, and the players bet high on medium hands, and give every one a good fight. It is best to have liberal or lucky players on your right; because if they sit behind you, they will continually raise you, and you will be forced either to overbid your hand on the same liberal scale that they adopt, or lose what you have already put up. If a liberal player sits on your right you will often be able to make large winnings on moderate hands. In a close game, when the players bet in a niggardly manner, the liberal player is at a great disadvantage; for he can win little or nothing on his good hands, but will lose large amounts when he runs up the betting on a good hand which is opposed to one that is better. When a liberal player finds a close player following him freely, he may be sure there is a very strong hand against him.

_=VARIETY.=_ Above all things a player should avoid regularity in his play, because observant adversaries will soon learn his methods. The best players usually play two pairs pat, without drawing, about half the time. This gives them the reputation of betting on pat hands which are not genuine, and when they get one that is real, they will often succeed in getting a good bet, or even a raise, from those holding triplets or two large pairs, who have noticed them play two pairs pat. In the same way it is advisable to hold up an odd card occasionally, without raising the ante; so that when you do hold triplets, and draw two cards, you will not frighten every one at the table. The chances of improving a pair by drawing three cards, are one in three; and by drawing two cards only, one in four. The difference is worth the moral effect of the variation in the play.

_=PROBABILITIES.=_ The endless poker statistics that have been published are of little or no value to the practical player, and there are only a few figures that are worth remembering. It is a general law in all games of chance that you should never do a thing which you would not be willing to repeat under the same circumstances a hundred times. The best example of the application of this law is in drawing to bobtails. If you have a four-card flush to draw to, the odds against getting it are about four to one; and unless you can obtain the privilege of drawing to it by paying not more than one-fifth of the amount in the pool, you will lose by it in the long run. The best players never draw to four-card flushes except when they have the age, and the ante has not been raised.

There are some players who pretend to be so guided by probabilities that they never go into a pool unless the chances in favour of their having a good hand after the draw are at least equal to the odds they have to bet by going into the pool. This is all nonsense; for no player knows when he goes into a pool how much it will cost him to get out, and the value of his individual hand is an unknown quantity at the best, because it cannot be compared to the others. One thing only is certain, and that is that in the long run the player who goes in with the strongest hand will still have the strongest hand after the draw. This is an important thing to remember in jack pots, in which the value of at least one hand is known. If you draw to a pair smaller than Jacks, you do so with the full knowledge that the pair itself is not strong enough to win. Now what are the odds against your winning the pool? Suppose you hold tens, and draw three cards. Your chance of improving your hand is a little better than one in five. The opener of the jack pot has exactly the same chance, and if both of you draw cards a hundred times under those circumstances, he will beat you in the long run, to say nothing of the other players who may come in and beat both of you. It is therefore evident that in backing tens against openers, it is four to one against your beating the openers to begin with, and if you do beat them the odds are still against your winning the pot. If there were five players, and the jack pots were all equal in amount, you would have to win one pot out of five to make your investment pay. Can you make this average when your original pair will not beat openers?

There are three principles with regard to the draw that should never be lost sight of:

(1) An average go-in hand is a hand which will win its proportion of the pools, according to the number playing, taking all improvements and opposition into account. This can be demonstrated to be a pair of tens.

(2) The draw is much more valuable to a weak hand than to a strong one, and weak hands will improve in much greater proportion than strong ones will. For instance: The chances for a player to improve by drawing to a pair of Queens are one in three and a half. He may make two pairs, or triplets, or a full hand, or four of a kind. The chances of improvement for a player drawing to two pairs, say Eights up, are only one in thirteen. This consideration leads players to adopt two lines of play: To bet all they intend to on two pairs before the draw, in order to prevent weaker hands drawing cards and improving; or, to discard the smaller pair in order to increase their chances of improvement.

(3) The smaller the number of players, the greater the value of the hands; and the larger the number of players, the greater the chance that any given hand will be beaten. When only two play, you can safely bet the limit on a pair of Eights; but in a party of eight players they are hardly worth drawing to. For this reason average hands should force the weaker out, and reduce the number of players _=before the draw=_.

For the benefit of those interested in such matters _=the probable improvement by the draw=_ may be briefly given.

It is 2½ to 1 against improving _=a pair=_ by drawing three cards; the chances against making triplets or two pairs being 8 to 1; against a full hand, 61 to 1; and against four of a kind, 364 to 1. It is 4 to 1 against improving a pair by drawing two cards; the chances against triplets being 12 to 1, and 8 to 1 against two pairs.

It is 12 to 1 against making a full hand by drawing to _=two pairs=_.

It is 8 to 1 against improving _=triplets=_ by drawing two cards; 14½ to 1 against a full hand, and 23 to 1 against four of a kind. It is 12 to 1 against improving if one card is drawn; 16 to 1 against the full, and 46 to 1 against four of a kind.

It is 11 to 1 against making a straight out of a sequence of four cards which is open in the middle, or at one end only. It is 5 to 1 against making a straight out of a sequence of four which is open at both ends.

It is 4½ to 1 against filling a four-card flush. It is 23 to 1 against filling a three-card flush. It is 95 to 1 against filling a two-card flush.

It is 3 to 1 against improving a four-card straight flush which is open at both ends. The chances against getting the straight or the flush have been given; the odds against getting the straight flush are 24 to 1. The chance for getting a pair exists; but the pair would probably be worthless.

It is 4 to 1 against improving a four-card straight flush open in the middle, or at one end only; the odds against getting the straight flush being 46 to 1.