Re: Chinese poker books
 

For instance, on Pokerroom, players tended to backload their hand, overloading the back and leaving the front very weak. So a correct adjustment would be sometimes to weaken your front hand a little bit if the weaker hand is still likely to beat whatever your opponents might have up front. Smolen doesn't address this sort of stuff.

Were they playing with royalties on Pokerroom?

Re: Chinese poker books
 

I got good at poker by playing in a game at the University of Pennsylvania against seven super players. Four of them found reknown in gambling related fields. Donald Smolen was one of them. nuf said.

Re: Chinese poker books
 

5 is actually a very good number. One player (in rotation) sits out each deal and deals the next hand, using a 2nd deck. This eliminates the delay between hands. After dealing, that player can use the remaining time to get drinks, etc. For true degenerates, there's no reason the sitting-out player can't bet on one of the other players, paying and collecting as if he also had that hand.

Re: Chinese poker books
 

Don,

If it wasn't clear in my original post on this thread, I found your book and software to be very well done, and it made me good money after a very brief (one day) learning curve.

Thank you. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Ed

Re: Chinese poker books
 

Most poker players I know won't even play Chinese poker with me. It's a skill game and involves a lot less luck than other variations of poker. The only time I can play Chinese Poker is in Hong Kong where the game is played for high stakes.

Anyways, I did not know such a book existed, but am intrigued enough now and will order it.

Re: Chinese poker books
 

man, this book is going to be on the NY Times bestseller list because of this thread.

Re: Chinese poker books
 

In Houston in the 90's, I saw a game that was 6-7 handed. They had shuffled two decks together. I wish I had made some notes on how the payout structure worked--it was easily the most time-consuming part of the game, with arguments in mutually unintelligible languages. I remember thinking that the scoring was a cross between Boston whist and hearts, with the loser paying everybody who beat him. Pretty high stakes, too.

Re: Chinese poker books
 

Ed,

Thanks for the kind words. In fairness, let me mention that a friend made me aware of this thread by sending me a link to your earlier post. He referred to you as "the author of the best book on Hold'em I've ever read".

What exactly do you mean when you say "small stakes"?

Don

Re: Chinese poker books
 

What exactly do you mean when you say "small stakes"?

The book concentrates on tactics for loose games. Specifically, we focus on games where your opponents play far too many hands preflop and play them poorly after the flop.

These games are ubiquitous at small limits: Essentially every game $4-$8 and below fits this description. But often games at higher limits also fit quite well... many $10-$20 to $20-$40 games in Las Vegas, those limits (and sometimes even higher) in California, and (I'm told, though I have never played it) the Party $15-$30 game.

The book focuses on exploiting the mistakes of a specific class of player. The tactics are extremely effective against that player type, but they can leave you vulnerable if you try to apply them against strong players.

For instance, we emphasize betting mediocre hands, such as (perhaps) ace-eight on a K842T board, for value. These bets show solid profit against loose and passive players who will often be at the river with a pair smaller than your eights, and who will tend not to raise you with a better pair or small two pair.

But betting in all these situations tends to turn you into what some strong players refer to as a "betting station," and it will get you into trouble against those players. That is, it is a not a game-theoretically optimal strategy, and so it can be exploited by a counter strategy.

But the ideas in the book are very powerful for getting the most out of acutal limit hold 'em games as they are played today at small limits and also often well up through the mid-limits.

My suggestion
 

Just play double hand instead. The action moves alot quicker and you don't have to worry about being the live one.