Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players - Free

352 Pages·2005·6.37 MB·English

Hold’em Poker For Advanced Players
By David Skalinsky and Mason Malmuth

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Table of Contents
Foreword by Ray Zee .............................. v
About David Sklansky .............................v ii
About Mason Malmuth ............................ ix
Introduction ......................................1
Using This Book ................................... 5
Why Play Texas Hold 'em? ..........................7
A Note on the English ..............................9
Part One: The First Two Cards ..................... 11
Introduction .................................. 12
HandRankings ................................1 4
The First Two Cards: Early Position ............... 18
The First Two Cards: Middle Position .............. 27
The First Two Cards: Late Position ................ 32
The First Two Cards: Live Blinds ................. 40
The First Two Cards: Late-Position Blind . . . . . . . . . . . 4 8
Afterthought .................................. 49
Part Two: Strategic Concepts ....................... 51
Introduction .................................. 52
Semi-Bluffing ................................. 53
The Free Card ................................. 62
Slowplaying .................................. 73
Check-Raising ................................ 76
Odds and Implied Odds ......................... 80
ii Table of Contents
Bluffing .....................................8 4
Inducing Bluffs ................................8 7
Folding When the Pot is Big .....................9 0
Heads-Up Versus Multiway ......................9 2
Raising ......................................9 5
Heads-Up on Fifth Street .......................1 01
Afterthought .................................1 08
Part Three: Miscellaneous Topics .................. 109
Introduction ................................. 110
Being Beat on the River ........................1 11
More on the Semi-Bluff .......................... 114
Getting a Free Card ........................... 116
Staying With a Draw .......................... 117
Playing When There Is No Raise Before the Flop .... 119
Playing When Two Suited Cards Flop ............. 121
Playing When a Pair Flops ...................... 123
Playing Pairs in the Hole ....................... 125
Playing Trash Hands .......................... 128
Playing Against a Maniac ...................... 130
Playing Good Hands When It Is Three Bets Before the
Flop .................................... 133
Playing When the Flop Is All the Same Suit ........ 136
Important Fourth Street Concepts ................ 139
Other Fourth Street Concepts .................... 144
Desperation Bets .............................. 146
Waiting to Raise ..............................1 47
Afterthought ................................. 149
Part Four: Playing in Loose Games ................. 151
Introduction .................................1 52
An Important Point ............................ 153
An Important Concept (Borrowed from Razz) ...... 157
Returning to Hold 'em ......................... 159
Two Examples ............................... 161
Looking at Some Odds ......................... 165
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Foreword
by Ray Zee
Texas hold 'em is hard. There is probably no other form of
poker as difficult. Yet, the game appears deceptively simple.
Many players, even after much experience at the poker tables, still
play as though any two cards can win. Of course, those who play
in this fashion quickly lose their money.
The book you are holding, written by David Sklansky and
Mason Malmuth, has had far-reaching effects on the poker world.
Simply put, since the original edition of this book, hold 'em has
become, on average, a much tougher game to beat.
If you have aspirations of being a serious player you will
have to study the strategies and techniques in this text or you will
be left behind. If you are new to the game, but are willing to put
in the requisite time and effort, you soon will be more proficient
at this form of poker than many of today's professional players.
However, don't expect to become an expert overnight.
In Hold 'em Poker For Advanced Players, the authors
provide not only numerous sophisticated concepts, but lots of
examples as well. Many of these advanced strategies never
appeared correctly in print until the first edition was originally
released in 1988. With the twenty-first century edition, they have
done it again. Much ofthe material that follows will be brand new
to even successful pr~fessionalp layers. Put another way, I stated
in 1988 that "Numerous concepts contained in this book are well-
understood only by a very small group of players extremely
-
successful players, I might add." Again, this statement is true
today.
This brings up another point. This is one of the very few
poker books actually written by winning players, and the authors
thoroughly explain the techniques that have made them so
successful at the tables. In addition, I know both authors quite
well, and I know that no winning information was held back.
vi Foreword by Ray Zee
I have mixed feelings about seeing this book published, as I
did when the original edition came out. As a professional poker
player I'm not in favor of anything that will make the poker
games tougher to beat. On the other hand, this new and expanded
version of Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players should help to
spread this extremely interesting game just as the original edition
did, and to make it even more popular. Thus there will be more
games to choose from and there will still be plenty ofgood games.
Consequently, I guess it is for the best that this twenty-first
century edition is now available.
Finally, let me repeat that the techniques and ideas offered in
this text should make any disciplined and studious player a
significant winner. However, as already stated, it won't happen
overnight. Most players will have to reread the book and study the
concepts many times. In fact, I suspect that some of you will
literally wear the covers off your copies of Hold 'em Poker for
Advanced Players. But I know that those of you who do will be
very happy with your results.
Special note: The authors would like to thank world class poker
player Ray Zee for sharing many of his concepts and ideas with
us. Because of Ray, this text is a better work.
About David Sklansky
David Sklansky is generally considered the number one
authority on gambling in the world today. Besides his nine books
on the subject, David also has produced two videos and numerous
writings for various gaming publications. His occasional poker
seminars always receive an enthusiastic reception including those
given at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and the World Series of
Poker in Las Vegas.
More recently David has been doing consulting work for
casinos, Internet gaming sites, and gaming device companies. He
has recently invented a new game called Poker Challenge, soon
to appear in casinos.
David attributes his standing in the gambling community to
three things:
1. The fact that he presents his ideas as simply as possible
(sometimes with Mason Malmuth) even though these ideas
frequently involve concepts that are deep, subtle, and not to
be found elsewhere.
2. The fact that the things he says and writes can be counted on
to be accurate.
3. The fact that to this day a large portion of his income is still
derived from gambling (usually poker but occasionally
blackjack, sports betting, horses, video games, casino
promotions, or casino tournaments).
Thus, those who depend on David's advice know that he still
depends on it himself.
Other Books by David Sklansky
Hold 'em Poker
The Theory of Poker
Getting The Best of It
vii