Do You Know How To

Play Poker?

Are you sure?

There is an old poker story of a gambler traveling to a strange town, only to find himself in a high stakes poker games. The gambler was doing quite well. As the night rolled own there was a huge pot for which only he and one other player were competing. The gambler held a Royal Flush and raised. The other player had a five, seven, nine, three and deuce of varied suits with which he re-raised. The two went on this way until each player had raised the raise four times. Then came the showdown. The gambler proudly laid down his Royal Flush only to hear the other player say “You Lose, I have a lapsolazza”. When the gambler protested saying that he had never heard of a lapsolazza, the other players in the game explained to him that he did actually, lose. A lapsolazza was the best hand anyone could have. As luck would have it the gambler received a lapsolazza the very next hand and again proceeded to raise and raise. This time when he laid down his hand showing the lapsolazza he heard….”Sorry, you lose again, I have a pair of two’s”. You see nobody told the gambler that there were only one lapsolazza allowed during the nights play.

The lesson of this story is that if you don’t know the local rules or customs, you don’t have a chance to win. Saying things like “That’s not how we play back home” or “That’s not according to Hoyle” mean nothing. The pot goes to the player who can site agreed upon rules. If a group of players attempt to play under no formal rules of poker there WILL be problems.

Even with rules everything doesn’t always go smooth. But at least having something written down will stop players from feeling cheated.

This book, House Rules, was written so that people could study this book one night and win at poker the next night. None of these rules are complicated and they are all there for a reason. If you find a rule you don’t like, and everyone agrees , get rid of it. If you find that your group of players needs a rule not listed here, add it if all agree.

Technorati Tags: home poker games, learn poker, poker lessons, poker odds, poker review