THE WORLD'S #1 POKER MANUAL - Card Games

Poker Book, Club Poker
dressed, which gave the entire crowd a tacky appearance. Everyone seemed to homogenize into a
blend of middle-aged and elderly men and women. A few looked younger, but most looked pallid
and wan . . . some looked cadaverous. About 25 percent of the players were women--some seemed
slack and bored, others were tense and desperate. John observed more closely. Contrary to his
first impression, many faces reflected an intelligence and a strength ... or at least a faded
intelligence and perhaps a surrendered strength, especially in the older people. He estimated that
70 percent of the players were addicted smokers ... John Finn knew he could extract money from
this crowd.
After watching from the rail for thirty minutes and reading through a house-rule booklet obtained
in the lobby, John Finn went to the large chalkboard that listed the poker games in progress and
the waiting list for each game. The lowest-stake game was $1-$2 high draw, jacks or better to
open. John gave the boardman the false initials "J.R." to be listed for that low-stake game. In ten
minutes, "J.R." was announced over the speaker system. Moments later, John was sitting in his
first public poker game. ...His opening ploy was to rapidly cross himself several times in view of
everyone.
After an hour, John was still winless and had forfeited two pots because of technical errors: On his
first forfeited pot, he had turned up his pair of queens to show openers after no one called his final
bet. When he tossed his other three cards face-down on the discards, a collective shout from the
other players informed John that his hand was dead. (According to Gardena house rules, all five
cards--not just openers--of the opening hand must be spread face-up before any of those cards
touch the discards.) John forfeited the pot. Several hands later, he held three kings. His only
opponent held two pair and stayed pat. John was the dealer. He drew one card, but forgot to burn
a card (deal a card into the discards) before drawing. Again a collective shout informed John that
his hand was dead. The player with two pair promptly spread his cards face-up, grinned, and
yanked the pot into his pile of chips.
John decided he had learned enough from that game and wanted to establish a stronger
psychological position in a higher-stake game. Looking at the game board, he noticed that a $3-$6
draw game had no waiting list. John played one more hand. He opened with three tens. Everyone
folded. He promptly spread his hand face-up and pulled in the 40-cent ante--his first pot in public
poker. As he stood up to leave, a wizened old woman sitting across from him looked up, stretched
her skinny neck, and cackled. "Hey, buster, don't tell 'em where ya won all that money."
As he moved to the $3-$6 game, John already knew his strategy. He would nullify the
disadvantages of his inexperience by rattling his opponents into yielding advantages to him.
After silently slipping into the empty seat, he put his chips on the table, anted for the next pot,
touched his fingertips together in a praying position, bowed his head, and waited for the cards to
be dealt. Someone asked him a question. John did not look up or even acknowledge the question.
He looked at no one, said nothing, and moved with squared, mechanical-like motions. Between
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