Taking a lesson: Howard Lederer (left) offers tips to AARP The Magazine's Editor Steve Slon (right) and his son Shawn.
Photo by Jessica Day
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Web Exclusive…
The Poker Basics (And Some Expert Tips Too)
By Steve Slon, July & August 2005
An interview with poker pro Howard “The Professor” Lederer
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Howard Lederer is willing to argue that poker is a more complex
game than chess, if only because of the luck factor. In chess,
the better player will always beat the lesser player. In poker,
the lesser player can get a lucky break. Bad beats and long-shot
wins would drive chess players to distraction—there are no
surprises on a chessboard—but a poker player needs to learn
to take that all in stride. Poker is not simply about luck, of
course. The game also requires tons of patience, psychological
insight, and fairly complex math skills. “Mastering it is a
lifetime endeavor that you never accomplish,” says the
owner of two World Series of Poker bracelets (2000 and 2001).
Below, he offers some principles for casual and advanced players.
The more you can stay in the moment, the better you can
do. Everything is about right now. The past disappears;
the future disappears. When I find myself in the moment,
I’m almost overcome with relaxation.
Maintain a beginner’s mind. This is a Zen
concept. The beginner’s mind is open to anything. As you
get more advanced, you need to continue to be just as open.
Don’t overthink your moves. I try to allow
my many years of experience to come together right now, in the
present, without thinking about the past.
Don’t let your emotions rule you. If you
were to take my pulse when I’ve made a bluff, it would
probably be about 60 to 65. If you worry, that anxiety is taking
away processing power you could be using in the game.
You should be playing to win.
Sometimes you have to lay down a good hand.
It’s a purely mathematical decision. If the odds dictate
that you fold, you fold. The decision to lay down a hand is
essentially made for you.
Remember, you’re playing poker even when
you’re not in the hand. Pay attention. If
I’m at a table with people I’ve never played with
before, it takes me only 15 to 20 minutes to get a read on their
skills.
Learn from your mistakes. There’s always a
lesson. One lesson is to forgive yourself for making the mistake.
The number one thing is to love the game.
Advanced Poker Concepts
Beginners may not follow all the tips below, most of which assume
some knowledge of the game. We’ve included a rudimentary
explanation of some of the terms in brackets.
If you’re going to enter a pot, enter
raising. Simply calling is a passive act, and poker is
an aggressive game. There are exceptions, of course. If several
other players call the bet, and you’re one of the last to
act, it is sometimes correct simply to call.
Don’t fight the structure. If the blinds
[forced bets] are low, you can wait for great starting cards.
Once the blinds get high, you have to gamble. You’re happy
to go all in with A4 or K9.
In the early stages of a tournament, you’re simply
looking to survive. You need to give yourself a chance
to get lucky. At a recent tournament, I watched [poker pro] Gus
Hansen call an all-in bet preflop, holding AK. Even though this
is an exceptionally good hand and he had to call, he wasn’t
happy to see J10 in his opponent’s hand. He had a 33
percent chance of losing—and then he’d have been out
of the tournament. Had this been a cash game, he would have
jumped at those odds.
Sometimes it’s correct to make a “bad
call.” Let’s say you have J10 and you bet $15. Your opponent
raises to $30. Now there’s $45 in the pot. You must call his
raise if you think you have better than a one-in-four chance of
winning. Remember, you’re betting $15 against a possible
return of $60.
In a “sit and go” [small tournament, usually
with 10 players], you always start out by aiming for third
place. That’s where most of the money is. Usually
the payout is 50 percent to first place, 30 percent to second
place, 20 percent to third, and zero to fourth. Once three people
are left, each one “owns” 20 percent of the pot.
That’s a total of 60 percent. From there, it’s an
all-out battle for first place, since second place is only an
additional 10 percent of the pot and first place is a good deal
more. In effect, this means you need to gamble like crazy,
because the downside risk isn’t bad, but the upside reward
is large.
Anyone serious about the game should read:
Howard Lederer’s website is howardlederer.com.
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