10 Commandments of Poker

What are they?

Here, are mine, off the top of my head.

1 - I am your bankroll. You shalt have no other sources of funds but me.

2 - Thou shalt honor thy bankroll and play at limits you can afford

3 - Thou shalt respect the teachings of they prophets and not challenge them with your own weak-ass theories

4 - AA does NOT always get busted

5 - Thou shalt punish all weaker players, for the meek may inherit the earth, but they aren't going to keep their chips

6 - Always pay attention

7 - Read your opponents, but remember that they know you are trying to read them

8 - Remember that the most costly mistakes occur postflop

9 - Each hand is an independent event. Never think otherwise

10 - Shuffle up and deal

[diebitter]

11 - If a raise if gonna make you wince, fold.

[DrSavage]

I would really rethink 1, 8 and 9 on your list.

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I would really rethink 1, 8 and 9 on your list.

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Go for it.

I think 1 is important because the biggest mistake you can make at the poker table is to sit down with money you can't afford to lose.

8 is based on What I read in SSHE (though correct me if I am wrong on my interpretation) - there are a lot of hands that are only marginal folding hands - so you don't make a HUGE mistake calling with a marginal hand, though if you do it a lot, it will cost you - after the flop, you can wind up making extremely costly mistakes, like folding a solid drawing hand in a large pot or calling bets with a sure loser.

9 is in reference to people who think that there are trends to how the cards come - that if you are "running hot", then you will continue to get good cards and if you are "on a downswing", it means you simply can't get a winning hand. Perhaps there is a better way to express this.

[DrSavage]

1. While you shouldn't be playing with money you can't afford to lose, there is nothing wrong with investing money you can afford to lose when conditions are right.
8. Preflop mistakes are usually the most expensive ones because people constantly repeat them over and over again (I'm talking about limit here). Postflop on later streets most mistakes are usually not as terrible as they tend to be neutralised by constantly growing pot odds.
9. Recent hands should most definitely affect your play. Stealing the blinds will be more successful if you've been folding for 2 orbits than if you've been raising every second hand. Hands you've taken to showdown recently and the image you think you are projecting on your opponents make a very strong impact on how you should be playing your cards.

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1. While you shouldn't be playing with money you can't afford to lose, there is nothing wrong with investing money you can afford to lose when conditions are right.



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Right - and that should be your bankroll. I think we are both saying the same thing - that you should only play poker with the money you know you can afford to lose - your bankroll
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8. Preflop mistakes are usually the most expensive ones because people constantly repeat them over and over again (I'm talking about limit here). Postflop on later streets most mistakes are usually not as terrible as they tend to be neutralised by constantly growing pot odds.


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See Commandment 3

j/k /images/graemlins/cool.gif

I was just interpreting what I read in SSHE

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9. Recent hands should most definitely affect your play. Stealing the blinds will be more successful if you've been folding for 2 orbits than if you've been raising every second hand. Hands you've taken to showdown recently and the image you think you are projecting on your opponents make a very strong impact on how you should be playing your cards.

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I agree with this - as I said, I was referring to a different concept entirely - how you play each hand is influenced by what has come before - but the actual hands themselves are independent events, so the cards you got in the last hand or the last 10 hands or the last 100 hands will not affect the hand you are being dealt now.

[varoadstter]

Interesting Idea! Here's my version:

1 - Thou must playeth within thy means.

2 - Remember to keep thyself humble. Great misfortune shalt befall thee if thou shalt forgetteth this commandment.

3 - Thou shalt never drawest without the proper odds. Thou can not through force of will causeth the cards to fall thy way.

4 - Thou shalt not comport thyself poorly at the tables.

5 - Thou shalt not lie to thyself about thy ability, nor shalt thou lie to others about thy results.

6 - Thou shalt not play when whenst thou art tilteth.

7 - Thou shalt not bet on the river when thou shalt only be called by better hands.

8 - Thou shalt not tappeth the glass.

9 - Thou shalt shutteth up abouteth bad beats.

10 - Thou shalt not covet thy neighboors chip stack but thou shalt outplayeth thy neighboor and taketh thy neighboor's chips.

[Wake up CALL]

Here is the Vulcan version;

1. Play well and prosper

[mockingbird]

LOL

I think I'll print this out and put it near my computer.

[KneeCo]

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5 - Thou shalt punish all weaker players, for the meek may inherit the earth, but they aren't going to keep their chips


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Heh, well put.

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9 - Each hand is an independent event. Never think otherwise


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Couldn't disagree more.

I would add:

11 - Expand thy knowledge everyday. A session where one has not learnt something new and thus become a better player should be considered a losing session.

[Big_Jim]

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11 - If a raise if gonna make you wince, fold.

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Horrible.