The Making of a Poker Player

Author: Matt Matros
Publisher: High Stakes
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8 THE MAKING OF A POKER PLAYER

in to the $l-$3 Stud game for forty bucks. I didn't have much strategy going in, or rather, the strategy I had was dreadful. In Seven-Card Stud, players are dealt two cards facedown and one card faceup. There is a round of betting and then a second up-card is dealt. In all, four cards are dealt faceup, with a round of betting after each. The seventh and final card is dealt facedown, followed by the final round of betting and then a showdown. In $l-$3 Stud, players can bet anywhere be tween $1 and $3 at any time. I never folded after the third card (you've only seen three cards, how could you fold?), and never folded if I still had the potential to make the best hand, no matter how much of a long-shot it might have been. Any poker player reading this should have a good idea how the session turned out. As I explained earlier, you just can't play everything that gets dealt to you.

On my first hand I had some rag as my up-card-maybe a deuce or a trey. "One dollar to you, sir," the dealer said.

"What?" I said.

"That's a forced bet, sir," the dealer said. I threw in a dollar, won dering if I had just been suckered. At home, the highest card showing always had the action, and no one was ever forced to bet. I learned after watching a couple of hands that it doesn't work this way in casi nos. On third street (after the first three cards have been dealt) the low est card showing is forced to bet some minimum amount. On all the other rounds, the highest hand showing has the action and can bet or check.

Early in the session I had a seven, eight, ten, and jack in my hand, and was facing a $3 bet on sixth street (that is, with one card to come). Using my strategy of never folding when I had potential to win, I called. I peered down at my final card-nine! It had hit me right in the gut. I don't even think I raised on the final betting round, that's how bad I was playing. (Remember, it's important to win the maximum with your good hands.) Even as I raked in the pot, I shook my head, mumbling something about how lucky I had been. "Yeah, but you have to have the balls to stay in," said the guy next to me. I still shook my head. The casino was starting to teach me lessons I hadn't learned in dozens of home games. Balls have their place in poker, but only when used in conjunction with the brain.

I won't pretend I learned this lesson in real time, because I didn't