Yes it's ladies night!
Hi Guys!
My aunt has decided that it's time for the ladies to go on a bit of a trip (she's recently divorced and a tad delusional).Anyway,she's taking my mother,my sister and me to Las Vegas!We want to go to all the major casinos and to the clubs.Any suggestions?
I can't really play poker or anything.Can anybody give me some pointers as to how I should go about it so as I don't look like too much of an idiot
?
My aunt has decided that it's time for the ladies to go on a bit of a trip (she's recently divorced and a tad delusional).Anyway,she's taking my mother,my sister and me to Las Vegas!We want to go to all the major casinos and to the clubs.Any suggestions?
I can't really play poker or anything.Can anybody give me some pointers as to how I should go about it so as I don't look like too much of an idiot
?
Comments
Here is what I would tell my sister about how to play.
The least you need to know to play poker.
1. Play the lowest stakes no limit Texas Hold'em poker game you can find. This will probably be 1/2 NL
2. Buy in for the minimum amount This will probably be $40
3. Find out what position you are in. If you have the dealer button or are one to the right of the dealer you are in Late Position. If you are 2,3 or 4 to the left of the dealer you are in middle position. If you are 5+ to the left of the dealer you are in early position.
4. Early position. Keep folding unless you have good hand AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ or TT, If you have one of those good hands bet $10. If more than one person calls you next time bet more. If nobody calls you bet less next time.
5. Middle position Add AQ and 99
6. Late position Add KQ, A9+ 77+ (Yeah I know this is tight but I want to keep her out of trouble)
7. Don't look at the flop when it is dealt. Look at the other players when the flop is dealt. If there is only one player and if they didn't like the flop and you missed your hand on the flop push in all your chips anyways. Also push in all your chips if you hit the flop.
8. When you are out of a hand watch the other players and try to guess what they have in their hands. I keep a stack of chips that I use for when I correctly guess their hand.
9. The most important people to observe are the people 2 to your left and the person on your right. You'll play most often with them.
10. Don't worry too much about defending your blinds. For now just treat them like they were middle position hands. You'll make most of your money when people call you with worse hands.
11. When your stack size reaches $50 to $100 get up from the table and list yourself into a new game. Buy in again for the minimum.
12. Don't move up to a bigger game until you're ahead $2000
Comments?
Also, if you ladies have a bit of money to burn, go to the Ladies Tourney at Caesars Palace on Tuesday night. It'll cost $85 but there are not too many participants and good prizes. What you do is follow the advice in the post above and but because there are so many maniacs playing listening to their boyfriend's advice to just "keep going all in right away" sit back for about 45 minutes before you do ANYTHING and half the field is gone before you start. Good luck and have fun.
P.S. Binions is very friendly for Ladies. I like it there and the early bird fun tournies at Imperial Palace are cheap too as long as you have the patience to let the maniacs take themselves out the first three or four rounds without being tempted to jump right in there...LOL
I'm not an expert. This is just the basics.
It's a 2 step process.
1. Read the human
2. Read the board
1. Reading the human.
Most people watch the flop when it falls.
You are going to be watching your opponent's reaction to him watching the flop.
People at 1/2NL have a ton of tells. Experts will fake these tells but at 1/2NL you won't find many experts.
Person stares at flop. == He missed his hand, he's searching for something.
Person looks back at his cards when 2 or 3 of a suit falls == He's checking to see if he made a 3 or 4 flush.
Person looks down at his chips = He will bet , he hit his hand.
Person looks at your chips = He looks to see how he can get your stack, he really hit his hand.
Person leans forward and looks at you = He's wagging his tail, he hit his hand.
Person jiggle dances his feet under the table = He likes his hand. He's happy.
Person who always talks shuts up. == he's got a monster.
2. Reading the board.
For your first few time you don't have to bluff. Bluffing at low limits is quite likely to be called. But if people start to not call you when you have your monsters you can try to bluff pushing all in if the flop is dry and the opponent looks like he missed.
How to tell if the flop is dry.
Don't try to bluff these boards.
If it comes with an A it often hit someone.
If it comes with 2 cards T or better it likely his someone.
If it comes suited and connected and high card then it very likely hit someone. Eg. Jh Th 9h
Try bluff pushing all in on these dry boards.
If it comes unsuited with 3 widely spaced cards an a medium high card like
Jh 7s 2c then it probably didn't hit anybody.
If it comes with a low pair it probably didn't his anybody eg 9d 4c 4s
The above is very basic but it should get you started.
I'm sure the other form members can fill you in with more detail... just ask.
You make some good points.
It's true you can learn stuff on play money games but I don't advise it.
If you don't want to risk any money.
I'd move directly to pay sites but play freerolls.
I must admit I played with play money for months.
I think I wasted my time there.
I could have been making money.
And since it's freeroll. It's zero risk.
Plus the play on pretend money has *nothing to do with real money*
Play the freerolls in the .com sites.
That way you gain real money when you win and build yourself a bankroll.
As an experiment I tried making a bankroll out of nothing.
I'm bloging it on www.myspace.com/pokerpoker
First day.
freeroll tourney
Won .30 on pokerstars.
2nd day.
freeroll tourney
Won .30 on party.
3rd day.
freeroll tourney
Won $5 on stars.
4th day.
lost $2 on stars playing .01/.02 NL
Once you've learned the basics and are comfortable using the software, then you can move over the freerolls on the pay sites. I play them myself. But I still recommend the free sites to people who've never played poker before, just so they can learn the basics.
Just my 2 cents.
Sorry if I came across as rude. I'll edit my post to reflect that free sites are more friendly to beginners.
Most players are loose passive. You are playing super tight or maniac aggressive.
Play the tight strategy I posted above.
Except.
1. If there are just 2 players, Push all in every hand.
2. If there are 3 players and nobody has bet, Push all in with any pair any A, any K, Q5+, any 2 suited cards 8 or higher.
3. If there are 4 or more players left and you have less than 15 big blinds, and nobody has bet, Push all in with any hand you would bet with that I mentioned in my previous post. (77+, A9s+ AJ+, KQ+)
4. If there are 4 or more players and you have less than 5 big blinds, and nobody has bet, Push with Any Pair, Any A, Any K, Q5+ any 2 suited cards 8 or higher.
im glad someone put time and effort into explaining
In order to play well postflop you have to know how to read hands.
I told her to play a minimum buyin No limit because she can't read hands so she will suck at postflop play.
The system I suggested for no limit (NL) holdem avoids having to make any Postflop play so she doesn't have to learn how to read hands.
I guess I could try to give a summary of playing limit poker but it will be longer than my NL suggestion because the key to winning at limit is postflop play.
Plus the starting hands are a bit harder to summarize.
Go to see Hoover Dam and the Valley of fire!They're well cool!!!
Good Luck and let us know how you got on.