THE WORLD'S #1 POKER MANUAL - Card Games

Poker Book, Club Poker
them in the game for longer-term money extraction Thus, the newcomer can learn public poker more
comfortably in the higher-stake games, but he will pay more for his lessons because he will be up
against superior competition.
After twenty to forty hours of Gardena poker, the good player begins integrating the unique
characteristics of club poker into his own poker experience and skills. The good player will then start to
detect patterns among different games and players. As he continues to play club poker, those patterns
will become increasingly familiar. After a dozen or so games, the good player will start to recognize a
sameness for each kind of club game (e.g., low-stake, high-stake, highball, lowball) and for each class of
player (e.g., losers, winners, sporadic players, regular amateurs, regular professionals). Because of the
rigid customs and rules in club poker, the playing and betting actions of club players fall into more
predictable patterns than do similar actions by private-game players. Once familiar with club poker and
its patrons, the good player can enter any club and after a few hands be able to read and predict most
actions of both amateur and professional players with good accuracy.
The good player can reduce or even eliminate the cost of learning Gardena poker by rattling his
opponents by switching the pressures and intimidation from him to them. The good player's normal
technique for rattling and intimidating opponents requires a confidently bold and aggressive style. But,
for the newcomer, such a style would be unconvincing and ineffective because of his weak, defensive
position during his first few ventures into public poker.
Ironically, that temporary weakness places the good player in an ideal position to use unorthodox
behavior or bizarre actions to confuse and frighten his opponents. By such actions, he can often nullify
the disadvantage of his own initial confusion by throwing his opponents into even greater confusion.
Being a stranger, he can effectively induce bewilderment and fear in others through the unknown. For
example, feigning insanity can induce paralyzing fear in others. Who would not fear a deranged
stranger? Few players would dare to pressure or intimidate a psychotic at their table. Indeed, most
players would be rattled into making errors. Feigning a physical disorder such as a severe tic or emitting
strange guttural sounds will also rattle opponents into errors. Feigning deafness, muteness, or severe
handicaps usually eliminates harassment and provides peace.
John Finn first experienced public poker in the Gardena, California, card clubs. He promptly
canceled the disadvantages of being a newcomer by rattling his opponents into errors. He learned
public poker at their expense.
After arriving in Gardena, John Finn parked his rented car in the self-park area behind the
Eldorado Card Club. He entered the club through the automatic glass doors. He walked past the
darkened lobby partly illuminated by a large gas-fed fireplace and abruptly stopped and stared
into the brightly lit pitlike playing area filled with rising layers of white smoke. A low rumble of
voices came from the cloudy pit. For an instant, John felt he was witnessing several hundred
vagabonds huddling around tables in a cavernous Salvation Army hall. He moved to the
observation rail that partly circled the poker pit and studied the scene. Some people were poorly
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