Mark “The Red” Harlan is an avid poker player and co-creator of the first company to offer legal online poker in the United States. Along with his hours at the poker table, Mark has also spent time as a software developer for leading Silicon Valley companies.

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Everything’s Bigger In Texas: Welcome to Texas Hold’em! 5

Chapter 1: A Bird’s-Eye View of Texas Hold’em 7

Considering Why You Want to Play 8

Working with Game Dynamics 9

The importance of position 9

Playing move by move 10

Moving Up a Notch 13

Gleaning your opponents 13

Playing the roles 14

Figuring in math 15

Places You Can Play 16

Home games 16

Casinos and poker rooms 16

Online 17

Chapter 2: Ranking and Reading a Hand 19

Hand Rankings 19

High card only — no pairs 21

One pair 21

Two pair 21

Three-of-a-kind 21

Straight 22

Flush 22

Full house 22

Four-of-a-kind 22

Straight flush 23

Royal flush 23

Reading a Hand 23

Straightforward hands 23

Subtle hands 24

Counterfeiting 26

Paying a Hand 29

The winner 29

Tie hands 30

Chapter 3: Just Tell Me How to Play: Texas Hold’em Basics 31

The Order of Play 31

The Dealer Button 32

Dealing the Cards 33

The hole cards 33

The flop 35

The turn 35

The river 35

The showdown 36

Posting Blinds 38

Betting 40

Spread-Limit Hold’em 41

Limit Hold’em 41

Pot-Limit Hold’em 42

No-Limit Hold’em 43

The Importance of Your Bankroll 44

Recommended bankroll sizes 44

Moving up and moving down in limits 46

Poker Etiquette 48

Handling your cards 48

Handling your chips 50

Playing in turn 51

Tipping the dealer 51

Keeping an eye on the game 51

Watching your manners 53

Part 2: Texas Hold’em: Play By Play 55

Chapter 4: Beginning with Two 57

The Importance of Position 58

Early position 58

Middle position 59

Late position 60

The hands you should play, by relative position at a table 61

Considering the Players in a Hand 64

Keeping track of the number of players 64

Watching the types of players 65

Hands You Should and Shouldn’t Play 67

Probable winners 67

Quite possible losers 67

Borderline hands 69

Using “Fold or Raise” to Make a Call 69

Chapter 5: Flopping ’Til You’re Dropping 71

Fitting or Folding 71

Great flops 72

Good flops 72

Very borderline flops 73

Downright dangerous flops 74

Just plain bad flops 74

Betting the Flop 75

Sizing up the table for a bet 76

Making the bet 77

Calling a Bet 78

Raising the Dough 80

Check-Raising 81

Getting a Free Card 84

The free card setup 84

Defending against a free card 85

Chapter 6: Taking Your Turn 87

Watching a Hand Fill Out 87

To check-raise or bet: That is the question 88

Made flushes: The notable exception 89

Watching for “hidden” improvements 91

Keeping Track of the Action 92

Determining a hit 93

Comprehending the miss 94

Chapter 7: Dipping in the River 97

Plotting Your Course During Final Betting 97

All checking, no dancing 98

Walking through the firestorm 99

Betting in moderation 100

Deciding if you’re being bluffed 101

Showing a Hand or Not? 102

Watching for Mistakes 105

Part 3: Movin’ On To Higher Stakes: Advanced Strategies Of Hold’em 109

Chapter 8: Playing the Players 111

Classifying Players 112

Aggressive versus passive players 112

Tight as an oyster or loose as a goose? 113

Combining your evaluations 114

Looking for Tells 117

Watching the right place at the right time 117

Who’s acting and who isn’t? 118

Watching other people’s hands 118

Listening to what people say 120

Involuntary reactions 122

Failing all else 122

Zeroing In on Specifics 124

Figuring out the table in order 124

Looking at individuals 125

Chapter 9: Bluffing: When Everything Isn’t What It Appears to Be 127

The Basics of Bluffing 128

Your turn not to tell 128

Don’t bluff people worse than you 129

Making your bluff count 130

When to Bluff 131

Bluffing based on your image of “predictability” 131

Looking at your hand from the outside 133

Bluffing in the right game 134

Who to Bluff 136

Preying on weak personalities 136

Taking advantage of other situations 138

The Semi-Bluff 139

When to semi-bluff 139

Why semi-bluff? 140

You’re Caught — Now What? 141

Chapter 10: Maximizing Your Win: Check-Raising and Trapping 143

Mastering the Art of Check-Raising 143

Bluffing on a check-raise 143

Playing a good hand on a check-raise  144

Considering a check-raise 145

Check-raising round by round 146

Trapping through Slow Play 147

Timing a slow-play 147

Understanding the Theory of Two 148

Executing the slow-play 149

Maximizing Your Returns 150

Deciding when to sit back 150

Rafting the river: Check or bet? 150

Chapter 11: Camouflaging Your Play and Dodging Traps 153

Setting Expectations throughout a Game 153

Setting a style 154

Changing your style 156

Avoiding Pitfalls 157

When aggressive players merely call 157

Raising and reraising after rounds of checking in Limit 159

Judging when you’re dominated 159

Chapter 12: Considering Mathematics 161

Differentiating Fact from Fiction in Math and Poker 162

Knowing that close enough is good enough 162

Understanding players is better than understanding numbers 163

Taking a Shortcut with Math 165

Counting your “outs” 165

Calculating your pot odds 167

Combining outs and pot odds 168

Using quick math tricks 168

Considering implied odds 169

Flipping a coin 170

Using Math to Your Advantage 174

Memorizing a little goes a long way 174

Calculating deeper 175

Chapter 13: Advancing Your Knowledge 179

Playing with Game Theory 180

Grasping the meaning of game theory 180

Understanding how to use it 180

Cashing In on Equity Theory 183

Cross-breeding the animal of psychology with the beast of mathematics 183

Going back to square one 190

Part 4: Casinos, Card Rooms, and the Internet: Places to Play Hold’em 191

Chapter 14: There’s No Place Like Home: Playing in Private Games 193

Determining the Level and Type of Play 194

Identifying stakes and games 194

Playing with friends 196

Meeting strangers 197

What You Should Give 197

Skimming the pot 198

Bringing on the refreshments 199

What You Can Get 199

Enjoying the situation 200

Watching the action 200

Looking for the unusual 201

Chapter 15: Opting for the Internet: Online Games 205

Choosing a Site 206

Narrowing down your options 206

Transferring money 208

Exploring the bonuses 208

Watching Your Back 211

Being wary of the robot revolution 211

Spotting collusion 212

Chapter 16: Harrah’s, Here I Come: Playing in Card Rooms 215

Playing in a Professional Card Room 215

Introducing the staff 216

Getting started 218

Exploring your possibilities 219

Avoiding Common Mistakes 222

Betting properly 223

Playing in turn 223

Raising properly 223

Minding your own money 224

Playing only your hand 224

Trying to Score a Jackpot 225

High-hand jackpots 225

Specific-hand jackpots 225

Bad-beat jackpots 226

Qualifying for jackpots 227

Chapter 17: Competing in Tournaments 229

Coming to Grips with the Differences 230

Tourney basics 230

Rebuying and adding on 234

Prize structures 238

Understanding Your Chip Position 239

Your position at your table 240

Your position in the tourney as a whole 240

Playing Your Way Through 241

Shifting tables 241

Maneuvering relative to the herd 241

Seating adjustments 245

Bursting the bubble 245

Adjusting Your Play for Prizes 246

Keeping your eyes on the prize 246

Splitting the prize money 248

Part 5: The Part of Tens 251

Chapter 18: Ten Differences between Online and Real-World Play 253

Not Telling in Live Action 254

Adjusting to the Speed 254

Understanding Position 255

Taking Up Space 255

Getting at Your Cash 256

Becoming “Serious” in the Real World 256

Adding Up Online Mathematics 257

Tipping the Dealer 257

Changing Your Venue 258

Keeping Track of Your Online Cash 258

Chapter 19: (Almost) Ten Common Mistakes 259

Playing Too Many Starting Hands 259

Playing Tired 260

Playing Too Low or Too High a Limit 260

Coin-Flipping Too Often in Tournaments 261

Ignoring What You Know about Players at Your Table 261

Becoming Impatient 262

Staying Too Long in a Tough Game 263

Letting Your Emotions Get the Best of You 263

Treating Your Internet Money Like It’s Fake 264

Chapter 20: Ten Ways to Improve Your Home Game 265

Upgrading Your Deck 266

Chipping Up 266

Chowing Down 267

Lighting Up 267

Venting It All 267

Trashing the Place 268

Wiping Out the Badness 268

Standardizing Chairs 268

Getting Tabled 269

Renting Your Game 269

Chapter 21: Ten Bad Beats 271

Red versus Spudnut 271

Woman Beaten by Madness 272

Hellmuth Yanks His Hair Out 272

Nuts about Flushes 273

Moneymaker 273

Moneymaker, Part Deux 274

When Wheels Go Flat 274

No-Limit Means No-Money 275

Mr Aggressive versus Johnny Conservative 275

Not All Beats Are Bad 276

Chapter 22: Ten Things You Can Do to Improve Your Hold’em Game 277

Studying Your Way Up 277

Showing Off Your Game 278

Keeping Track of Your Bankroll 279

Exercising 279

Digging into the Math 280

Reading Poker Websites 280

Scoring a Free Magazine 281

Throwing in the Towel 281

Meditating 282

Playing Other Games 282

Glossary 283

Index 291

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