Texas Hold'em Versus Five-Card Draw Poker
I like five-card draw poker. Is Texas Hold'em the same game? Catherine B.
Though five-card poker, and several variations of it, is well established on any video poker machine, you will not find your favorite kitchen table game of 5-card draw spread in most casinos or poker rooms. A kissin¹ southern cousin, is Texas Hold'em, probably the most popular poker game played in casino poker rooms. It¹s the game that is used to determine the world champion at the World Series of Poker.
The contrast is that Texas Hold'em is a "community card" game, meaning that some cards are dealt face-up in the middle of the table and shared by all the players. Each player has two down cards that are the player¹s alone; and those are combined with the five community cards to make the best possible five-card hand. The best five-card poker hand - a canny combination of the player's two private cards and the five communal cards - is the winner.
If you want to give Hold'em a try, Catherine, I had better mention the "skill" factor. Though Texas Hold'em is deceptively simple to learn, playing the game at a proficient level does take some expertise. If you are innocent of such wayward skills, you can start your training head-to-head against a cyber video opponent who does not blow smoke in your face or tell off-color jokes. Then when you are good enough, go beat up on the smoke-an-joke set.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Blackjack Deck Penetration
Blackjack Deck Penetration
Dear Mark,
You mentioned the phrase "deck penetration." I believe I know what you mean by that, it being, how many cards have been dealt so far versus how many remain. I am writing to see if my suspicions are correct. Also, does penetration have any effect on my basic strategy play? Donnie B.
Correct, Donnie, deck penetration measures the quantity of cards that have been dealt before the dealer shuffles the cards. Penetration is usually expressed as the percentage of the deck already dealt, for example, "65%"or about 34 cards on a single deck. Penetration is extremely important to card counters, but not indispensable for basic strategy players like you. Unless the dealer is outright cheating, or indulging in preferential shuffling thinking that plenty of 10s remain in the deck, the cards should be in a random order after each shuffle. Bottom line: If the player is not counting down the deck and there's no preferential shuffling, there is no advantage to the basic strategy player if the dealer were to allow 20% penetration, then shuffle, or plunge on to the 90% penetration level
Dear Mark,
You mentioned the phrase "deck penetration." I believe I know what you mean by that, it being, how many cards have been dealt so far versus how many remain. I am writing to see if my suspicions are correct. Also, does penetration have any effect on my basic strategy play? Donnie B.
Correct, Donnie, deck penetration measures the quantity of cards that have been dealt before the dealer shuffles the cards. Penetration is usually expressed as the percentage of the deck already dealt, for example, "65%"or about 34 cards on a single deck. Penetration is extremely important to card counters, but not indispensable for basic strategy players like you. Unless the dealer is outright cheating, or indulging in preferential shuffling thinking that plenty of 10s remain in the deck, the cards should be in a random order after each shuffle. Bottom line: If the player is not counting down the deck and there's no preferential shuffling, there is no advantage to the basic strategy player if the dealer were to allow 20% penetration, then shuffle, or plunge on to the 90% penetration level
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
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