Learning Poker...

Beginning to learn poker, it was quite amusing...
We couldn't decide on buy-in amounts, where the button started, how much to contribute to the host, etc...
But thankfully we had a few more experienced players who guided the newbies along...

It was also pretty interesting to meet up with different people and go through a poker session together.

I realised one thing a long time ago while playing MJ and visiting casinos. A person who loses money at the table, shows his true character and colours. The same can be said for poker players in general.

Show me someone who can smile even when they lose a big pot. Either he's nuts, or he doesn't care about the money! A gentleman would always stay that way, a true gentleman...

During the first few sessions of poker, I kept losing. I couldn't understand the meaning of hole cards selection, and was always a non-believer whenever people re-raised my raise.

As a result, a lot of weird and wonderful things happened. I either pulled off monster bluffs, hit some super sick runner runners, or I busted out. Guess which one happened the most often?

Yes you're right! I busto-ed! Very frequently in fact...

But the weird thing was, sometimes my luckbox power would show up for the night, and I could end up hitting whatever card I wanted. Even drawing gutshot straights and I would make my straight on the river! That helped to lessen most of my losses, thankfully! And I do believe in beginners' luck! =D

However, there were other more experienced players on the table too, and I would piss one or two of them off with my "lucky" escapes. What puzzled me was why they didn't share and teach him why it was not wise to pull off some of the stunts I tried. Guess they wanted to keep this cash cow around huh?

Anyway we had a regular group which met up almost thrice a week to play, even months after CNY ended...
However, certain behaviours and attitudes from a player caused one player to decide to stop playing. Another player was either overseas or busy, and so the group dwindled.

Finding it hard to get a regular game going, one of my poker kakis found some games on Poker Kaki Forum (http://www.pokerkaki.com/) and asked along the more "addicted" players along.

I joined in the fun, just to gain some exposure in playing with other people.

That was the first time I also was dealt 72 and flopped a full house. Only problem was, no one called my raise! LOL!

I continued to donk my money off whilst playing in these home games. Mainly because I didn't learn much, didn't review my hands, was not observing other pleyers during the game, etc. There was so much to learn! But all I wanted was an outlet to enjoy myself after a hard day's work...


Soon after, I was sick and tired of losing. I then decided I was going to do something about it.
I began to watch more poker videos of high stakes cash games, observing how the pros play when they are holding a certain hand, and began to read up on poker more (books and websites). Of course I wasn't as good as them, so I didn't do that well all the time, but I could feel my game improving, making proper decisions. One particular line stood out for me "In poker, you try to win the maximum, and lose the minimum."

It was a major paradigm shift for me. Recognising you would definitely be losing some hands, and trying to minimise your losses in such hands, while when you receive good hands, and try to milk/obtain the best possible returns, that was like a whole new school of thought for me. It comforted me to know that the pros do lose as well, and they merely try to lessen that impact...

My game was getting better... I was trying to figure out the opponent's cards, their habits, the way they bet etc. I needed practice though, as they say practise makes perfect. I was certainly trying my best.

However, try as I might, I found it extremely difficult to sit on a chair and wait for good hands. I would always try out some funny moves and pull off some bluffs as well. It did however cost me my buy-in more than once.

Finally I recognised my "problems", patience, skill and tells.

What did I do to address these problems? Well, I will share more the next update! :)

Stay tuned!

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! :)