Page 9 - April 2005 • Southern California Gaming Guide

TV-Educated Poker Players
by Bill Burton
The popularity of poker has been exploding all around the country, due in part to all the TV broadcasts of major poker tournaments. Many viewers decide to try live poker in casino card rooms after watching it played on TV, only to nd out what they think they learned from TV is not really what they need to
Skill Comes with Education
Poker is one of the games where a player can have an advantage based on their skill level. It takes studying and practicing to learn and improve that skill. It takes work and is not something you can learn completely by watching others play on television. If you want to be a winning player you have to get your education from other sources as well. ere are plenty of books, magazine and website articles available to anyone who wants to take the time to study the game correctly. If you read just one book about the game you will be ahead of about
know to win in a live game.
TV-Educated Poker Players (TVEPPs) who have gained all their poker knowledge by watching broadcasts of the World Poker TourTM or other televised tournaments are not going to be very successful if they do not get some additional education from other sources. ese can include reading books, magazines, and articles on the Internet about poker strategy.
Watching a television broadcast of a poker tournament is akin to watching the highlight lms of a championship boxing event. You get to see the knockout, but you fail to see the grueling sparing that led up to the nal blow. e TV tournaments have been edited down to the most entertaining and exciting hands. You will see the hands where a player blu s another
player out of a big pot or one where an all-in player catches a miracle card on the river to knock out his opponent after shoving all their chips into the pot. ese types of spectacular plays are great entertainment, but can lead to the impression that winning a poker tournament is all about blu ng and getting lucky. e types of plays you see on TV at the nal table when the game is short-handed are not the plays that got most of these players to the nal table.
No Limit Strategy in a Limit Game
Many viewers who watch TV tournaments decide to give live poker a try. ey head to the casino card room and sit in at a low-limit game. ey then try to play the TV
no-limit strategy in a limit game and meet with disastrous results. Limit Texas Hold’em has structured betting rounds. For example in a $2/$4 game (which is popular in many poker rooms) the rst two betting rounds are two dollars and the betting on the
April 2005
Page 9
“...spectacular [poker] plays are great entertainment, but can lead to the impression that winning a poker tournament is all about
bluffing and getting lucky.”
last two rounds is four dollars. You must bet and raise in these increments. ere is no going all in unless you
happen to be out of chips and can’t a ord the two or four dollar bet.
Blu ng in a low-limit game is an exercise in futility at best.
You are not going to be able to blu many players out of the pot. ere will usually be someone at
the table who will try to“keep you honest” or call out of curiosity to see what you have.
e TVEPPs also try playing any two cards from any position because they have seen it done on TV. Playing any two starting cards is a quick way to go broke especially from an early position.
You have to learn to be selective if you want to be a winner.
80 percent of the other players at the table. Spending the money for a good poker book is a lot cheaper than trying to get your education at the tables in a live game.
Until next time, remember: “Luck comes and goes...Knowledge Stays Forever.”
Bill Burton is the Casino Gambling Guide and columnist for the Internet portal About.com. He also writes for several national gambling publications. He is the author of Get the Edge at Low Limit Texas Hold’em available for $15 postage paid. Send checks to Bill Burton, PO Box 310299, Newington, CT 06131-0299 or online at www.billburton.com. Bill Burton’s website is located at: http://casinogambling.about.com.
Join Bill Burton at the Gambler’s Jamboree on May 21 and May 22 at Casino Windsor in Ontario, Canada (minutes from Detroit!) For more information call 1-800-944-0406 or online at www.gamblersjamboree.com.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
Column: About Gambling with Bill Burton