Difficulty Settings

[Ishtarru]

No offense, but there needs to be a lower difficulty setting than "Normal" for people like me. I used to be doing all right, but ever since a glitch caused me to have to start over from scratch I just haven't been able to win.

It's not that I get bad hands too often; I'm mature enough to understand that Poker is at its core a game of chance & sometimes you're just not lucky. What's really made things miserable for me is the betting system. Characters (especially Max & Strong Bad) are always raising the stakes to insane levels (sometimes before the flop is even dealt!) when I'm not yet sure of the strength of my own hand.

As a result I'm left with 2 choices: either call a bet I don't feel safe calling because there's a slight chance the risk may pay off, or fold & feel like a coward when the flop turns out where I'd have won big if I had the guts to stay in the game. The patch has just made matters worse since now whenever someone raises on a bet, the new stakes are guaranteed to be at least double the previous amount.

I'm not the sort who likes to make big wagers when I don't know if I can win. Again, I'm not asking for an increase in my chances of winning so much as for a way to get the other players to ease up a bit on the wagers, at least until I get my groove back.

[furrykef]

Originally Posted by Ishtarru

I'm not the sort who likes to make big wagers when I don't know if I can win.

Then no-limit poker's not your game, my friend. It's generally good practice in no-limit hold'em games to bet the size of the pot. That's always going to be larger than the minimum that the game (incorrectly) enforces on later betting rounds. The reason is this: if your opponent has an inferior hand, betting small will give your opponent good pot odds to draw for a better card. If you don't want to bet big, you're better off checking or folding (or calling, if you have odds) rather than putting a small amount of money into the pot, which is pointless.

[Katana]

It's pretty much the one thing anyone can do in the game, though. Discounting the blinds, raising often at the right time is how you win. (and we will discount the blinds, because for a while, they're tiny)

[furrykef]

Originally Posted by Katana

(and we will discount the blinds, because for a while, they're tiny)

Blinds (and/or antes) are the reason why poker is played, though. Without them, there'd be no money in the pot to go after, and the only hand worth playing would be the very best starting hand, AA.

[Katana]

I'm only saying that the blinds are not an enormous amount to win. If you're big blind, and everyone folds to you, you don't get much. And if you played through each hand without anyone betting (and just using the blinds, and people's buy-in, as the pot) then things still wouldn't be very interesting; the amounts would stay relatively small.

[Ishtarru]

Originally Posted by furrykef

The reason is this: if your opponent has an inferior hand, betting small will give your opponent good pot odds to draw for a better card.

I'm sorry, I do not understand. Are you saying that how much I'm willing to wager has an effect on the odds of my opponents getting good cards? I don't really have any prior experience with poker before this game, so I would appreciate it if you could explain.

[furrykef]

Sorry, I really should have explained better.

"Pot odds" is how much money your opponent is getting in relation to the pot size. For example, if you are betting $100 into a $500 pot (thus making the pot $600), then your opponent is getting odds of 6:1 to call (he calls $100 to win the $600 that is in the pot at that point -- so he can win six times as much as he puts in). The odds of hitting a flush or a straight are 4:1 against, so if he's drawing to a flush or straight, you want to make sure the odds he's getting are lower than 4:1. Often, you just have a pair and can easily lose to hands like two pair or three-of-a-kind as well... so, basically, the idea is to make the opponent pay if he's going to draw a card to beat you.

On the other hand, if you think he will lose even if he makes his straight or flush (e.g. you have a full house), by all means let him try to hit it if you don't think he'd pay you off otherwise. Poker's all about making sure your opponent is on the wrong side of the odds.

[crfh]

"As a result I'm left with 2 choices: either call a bet I don't feel safe calling because there's a slight chance the risk may pay off, or fold & feel like a coward when the flop turns out where I'd have won big if I had the guts to stay in the game."

There's no reason to feel like a coward. Playing tight, or conservatively, is a good idea at least in the first rounds. No matter how much they taunt you, playing bad cards is just being a bad poker player.

It's like they say: you gotta know when to hold them, and you gotta know when to fold 'em.

[Katana]

I think it's generally a good idea not to look at your cards after you've folded. Chances are, it was a good decision based on the knowledge you had. Yes, your 2 - 3 will sometimes turn out as a full house, but not quite often enough.

[furrykef]

Originally Posted by crfh

There's no reason to feel like a coward. Playing tight, or conservatively, is a good idea at least in the first rounds. No matter how much they taunt you, playing bad cards is just being a bad poker player.

That's correct, but when you do come in, you should tend to play your hand strong. The best players are usually tight (meaning they fold a lot) but also aggressive (meaning they tend to bet or raise rather than check or call) -- though selectively so. But betting a small amount, like 1/3 or 1/4 the pot, is usually pointless... either you should fold, or you should be betting more. In fact, when I play poker, I virtually always bet the size of the pot. I only bet less when I think my opponent is too likely to fold, and I want to make some money off them -- or if I have a weak hand and want to trick my opponent into thinking I'm making that play.

[Katana]

I actually make small bets when I think the opponents don't have great hands (whereas I do) and I want to slowly goad them into spending too much.

[Kyronea]

Originally Posted by Katana

I actually make small bets when I think the opponents don't have great hands (whereas I do) and I want to slowly goad them into spending too much.

I've been finding this is a good idea early on, at least, because they'll call the small ones whereas they'll immediately fold if you bet over a certain point if there are so many people left or the blinds are still down on one hundred and two hundred.

Once it gets to three hundred, six hundred, or only two or three left, then you can start betting larger.

Most of the time anyway...sometimes they'll be all like "ALLS UP IN!" on the first round. Had that happen once with everybody. A straight was dealt on the cards on the table, and I won because one of my hole cards made my version of the straight one higher than everyone elses since their hole cards weren't a part of the straight. Twas funny.