THE WORLD'S #1 POKER MANUAL - Card Games

Poker Book, Games
became a permanent player, he began taking control of the game. Five years later, he had taken
$90,000 from the game, but was just as popular. John Finn never gave anyone a reason to dislike
him.
In public games (casino or club poker) or in other one-shot games, especially those with strangers, the
good player will press for immediate and maximum advantages over his opponents. Many of his tactics
are opposite to those he would use in regular games: His behavior in one-time games may be almost
unbearably tough, unfriendly, and aggressive. He concentrates on extracting money at a maximum rate
from the weakest players. He is not concerned about being a nice fellow if his opponents have no future
value to him.
3. Quitting a Game (97)
The good player quits a game that is not financially worthwhile or that conflicts with a more profitable
game. He normally quits under the best possible circumstances and retains good relationships with its
players. Even after quitting, he may occasionally play in the game to renew his contacts and to recruit
players for bigger games.
John Finn quit the Thursday night game because it was not profitable enough to consume another
weekday night on poker. He quit under congenial circumstances and occasionally returns to play
and recruit new players for the bigger games. In the past two years, he has recruited four players
from that game for the higher-stake Monday and Friday night games. He won an estimated
$10,000 from those four players in one year.
4. Breaking up a Game (98)
The good player sometimes breaks up a game to free its players for more profitable games. If he controls
the game by keeping it organized, he can usually destroy the game simply by not organizing it. He can
then feed its players to other games.
Besides the Monday night game, John Finn regularly plays in a Friday night game and
occasionally in Tuesday and Thursday night games. The low-stake Tuesday game has the least
profit potential, but one of its players would be a good addition to the high-stake Monday game.
John estimates that his entire income from the Tuesday game is less than the money he could win
from that one player if he were shifted to the Monday night game. So John breaks up the Tuesday
game by focusing his aggression on the two worst players, causing them to suffer consecutive,
morale-damaging losses. After three weeks, those two losers quit and the game collapses when
John makes no effort to reorganize the players.
By destroying that game, John gains a free night, along with a new player for the high-stake
Monday night game. Also, he can now feed the other players from the defunct Tuesday game into
the Friday and Thursday games.
http://www.neo-tech.com/poker/part5.html (4 of 12)9/17/2004 12:23:36 PM