My Introduction to Poker...

Welcome to my humble Poker blog!

I hope to be able to share my experiences and information on Poker here on my blog, as well as to entertain my readers!
So if you're keen to learn more about Poker, do pop by for updates!

Well let's start from the very beginning... My introduction to Poker started some time back in the late 1980s and 1990s.

At that time, many Hong Kong movies were very popular amongst my friends, starring actors like Chow Yun-Fatt, Andy Lau, Stephen Chow, just to name a few.

Being Asian, of course there were some on gambling! LOL!
The version of Poker they played was five-card stud, with only 1 hidden card, and the rest of the 4 cards dealt face up. (see God of Gamblers 1 & 2, Casino Raiders etc)















As a young boy, these movies were very entertaining, but seriously, there was no way for me to explore playing Poker in that way! Firstly, I didn't have any like-minded friends who knew the game enough for us to play it together. Secondly, I wouldn't have the capital required to play it! (In my naive mind, I assumed you needed millions to play!)

Hence Poker remained a memory, something I watched from the movies.

As I grew older, the only gambling activity I learned and picked up was Mahjong (yes, the favourite pasttime of Singaporeans!). And I only learnt it at age 27 from 2 of my best friends. I later learnt to finetune my skills through paying school fees (losing to other friends!).
I gradually got better at it, and consistently won more than I lost (to the point that no one wanted to play MJ with me!).

So, when I was introduced to Texas Hold'Em Poker, I felt it was an easy game to play, nothing that much different from Mahjong! Oh boy, was I going to be so very wrong!

I just started playing the game earlier this year on Feb 2011 during the Chinese New Year, when some friends invited me to their game.

That was when I got hooked.....

Why was I so deeply drawn into Poker? No Limit Hold'Em (NLHE) to be exact...
The main reason is the continual challenge it brings to me!

I personally love challenges. I get easily bored if I am not constantly challenged...
NLHE, with its wide range of play, and sick sick comeback hands, really enthralled me!

LOL! It is always funny how NLHE shows a person's character so easily! Just deal them a bad beat and watch them react! You are instantly able to distinguish a gentleman from a rogue. :)

Anyway, being an experienced Mahjong player, I underestimated the game of NLHE. It took me many a pot to finally understand that a flush was better than a straight. (Couldn't understand that the flush need not be in order, just the same suit would do!)

Another issue I had: playing too many hands! Sounds like a typical beginner's problem eh? I was almost playing every hand I had, putting money in the pot, and subsequently going broke very quickly! I couldn't understand that there were only a select few hands that you would be playing, and I didn't know how to play them either.

I was also easily trapped by check-raises and didn't know what to do next. I didn't recognise the need to observe players, tells they give away, their betting patterns, etc to gain an edge.

Well, that's my sharing for now. If you have any queries on the terminology used so far, please do leave me a comment and I will reply!

I will tell you more about my budding Poker journey in my next post! :)