Poker Player

So you’re a Poker Player

If you are not familiar with table-stakes five-card stud, you have a lot of company, for it is rarely played. Who can afford it? Let's review it briefly. In some respects five-card-stud table stakes is a simpler game than high-low seven-card stud at 25 cents, 50 cents and a dollar. I think it can be demonstrated that it's simpler insofar as card skill is concerned. The bluff, rather than card skill, is the key in table stakes. Consider this point. Which of the two cards game mentioned has more card variables? No question about this: seven-card high-low. You can record in a few lines what you should stay on for the first bet in five card-stud table stakes. It's not so in seven-card high-low. Why? More variables to consider; therefore more card skill. And some of the games described later have even more variables than seven-card high-low.

Table Stakes

In table stakes you may bet any amount you have on the table. You are not permitted to add to that amount or reduce that amount during the play of a hand. Money is the main instrument of play rather than cards. One important feature can be observed. The player with the larger bankroll has a great advantage over a player with a substantially lesser amount. Suppose you sit in a six-man game and have brought along the seventy bucks you stashed away for this occasion. Your spouse thinks you are out for an evening of penny Poker with the boys, but you're really playing 10, 25 and 50 cents poker. Each of the other five players has brought $1,000 and places it on the table. Are you concerned? Not at all. Seventy is ample for this game. A swing of $50 or $60 is big. Now consider table stakes with the same sums involved. You might as well drop 69 on the table and dash off to the local movie house. The show may give you a laugh. The poker game will give you a headache, and your $70 will be gone before you start.
As most draw table-stakes hands are two-man games after the first or second up card, let's consider a two-player hand. You are playing with a stranger. The cards are dealt. At this point you have $59 remaining. Opponent has $989. There. is $22 in the),pot as there was no bet. It is now your turn to call or fold. If you call and lose you are finished, and you can't even afford that movie.

Playing Techniques

Let's go back and study the hand again. On the first bet of $1, opponent called quickly. At the second bet he called slowly. Did he react in this way because you took your time? You were deciding how large a bet he would stand without folding after you drew that lovely Cowboy. You say you don't play slowly. Don't be an ass. Of course you do. Table-stakes poker is always played slowly. Do you remember the previous hand when you dropped out after a long huddle with a 6 in the hole and a 9 up? What were you thinking of then? No, the redhead at the switchboard is thirty-eight at least.
So why did he call slowly? Was he thinking of folding? Was he thinking of raising? Maybe he has seen "red" and has the same problem.
At the next bet he looked at the ceiling for a while, and then checked. He called your $5 bet. Did he buy aces? Is this consistent with his early play? Maybe there was a fly on the ceiling. His slow action here could have been an act, which is perfectly proper in poker. He may have been considering betting or deciding whether to trap with aces. After the last card your problem is in spades. Only an ace as Mr. O's closed card can beat you. If you lose you are finished for the night! So you groan awhile and finally decide. Does it matter? Not much. You11 have to win a few of these without losing a single one before you can hope to survive this night.