Comments on: 13 Tips for Enjoying Poker

By: Joanne

Joanne — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:05:37 +0000

Jared,

At the casino where I used to play a $3/6 limit game, the usual tip was $1 a hand from the winner, $2 if it was a kill pot. The limits doubled if the same person won two hands in a row for the third hand, so the tip doubled. People played fairly fast, so the dealer usually wound up with $15 or so for his 30-minute shift.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:39:12 +0000

I would also add: Learn to shuffle. Nothing worse than having one of the players fumbling around whilst shuffling (I know. I am one of those guys)

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:32:10 +0000

I’m a big fan of modest buy-in poker nights with friends. In college, since we were all broke, we would play $3-buy in cash games (i.e. not tournament) with chips at 5, 10 and 25 cents and unlimited rebuys. Just enough money to keep people honest, but not enough that we couldn’t afford it. You’d be amazed how tense it can get battling it out over a $5 pot. Then again, it was probably the bragging rights. On a good night, you won $10-15 and treated the guys to pizza. On a bad night, you walked home $10 poorer. Either way, it was definitely a good time. Now that I’ve graduated and have a real job, I can afford to play “serious” poker (3-6 casino and the like), but still prefer $5-10 games with friends. The trick is to make sure that you have some money on the line; it doesn’t matter how much. Competitive nature will do the rest.

By: Vince

Vince — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:31:28 +0000

Mixed games is a bad idea because it messes with the strategy. Also, never play a game for less then $5. I’ve known guys who wanted to play $1 poker, and I was like “What are we, five years old?”

By: Jared

Jared — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:22:41 +0000

And, for crying out loud, tip the dealer. For all the sh!+ he gets from the players, you can tell he doesn’t do it for fun. If you play at a club, in some states it is illegal to pay the dealer an hourly wage. If that’s the case, he certainly isn’t doing it for the pleasure of your company. And, if you win a tournament, and other players have been a bunch of cheap-asses, take care of the dealer. As the winner, you have a little money to throw around. And, if you lose, tip the dealer. Again, he just spent his time doing something valuable for you. You don’t owe him a $20, but it wouldn’t kill you to drop a 5 spot on him.

By: Eric Granata

Eric Granata — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 00:03:28 +0000

Great post! We usually play a couple of Hold ‘Em tournaments with $10 buy ins. A low barrier to entry but enough to make you want to win. While I love playing games like that I also enjoy playing dealer’s choice with my uncles. We play for change. They know a good variety of poker variations (whiskey poker being one of my favorites).

By: Joanne

Joanne — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:06:30 +0000

I also prefer mixed games to straight Hold ‘Em. My usual game is HORSE for no money on line, but I really like razz, which is a game of bluffing and patience. It’s easy to know when you are beaten in razz. I’d like to try 2-7 lowball for no money, but haven’t found a website where it is spread.

When you are playing for no money on line, I’m always amused by the number of people who get mad at the “sitters”, the people who buy in and never play a hand. IF you’re patient, they will be blinded out. It’s surprising how often a sitter “cashes”.

By: Joanne

Joanne — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:00:35 +0000

Consider running your own tournament or playing in a tournament with a modest buy-in. One of the benefits of tournament play is that you get to play against a variety of styles in a single night. I play in a couple of tournaments where the buy-in is $20-25 with a $10-20 rebuy for half the starting amount of chips ($10) with unlimited rebuys up to a certain time, usually two hours into the tournament or the full amount of chips ($20) with limited rebuys. 100% of the buy-ins and rebuys are returned to the players, with the top 3 finishers getting paid.
If you have a casino nearby, they probably run poker tournaments at midweek. Here you might pay $20 plus a $3 entry fee.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:41:33 +0000

Thanks Jason.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:23:18 +0000

“Drop the Hammer”

When someone raises early (usually pre-flop if playing Holdem) just to push other players around, and you just can’t take that smug grin on his face, you re-raise a ridiculous amount and “drop the hammer.” This most often occurs during a Testosterone Fight, and the object is to make the other player put his testosterone hose away and fold. Since it is pre-flop, this has nothing to do with the cards you have, just plain good ol’ fashioned balls.