THE WORLD'S #1 POKER MANUAL - Card Games

Poker Book, Techniques
hand. He has the last bet, and the other players respect his hand because of his first-round raise
followed by his single-card draw. John has an excellent chance of buying the $250 pot with a bluff.
If Sid and Scotty check and John bets $50, Sid will probably drop his winning hand because he
would have to contend with Scotty's one-card draw as well as John's one-card draw. If Sid folds,
Scotty will then fold his busted hand, leaving John the pot. John figures his chances of a successful
bluff under the circumstances are better than 1 to 2. The return for winning the pot would be
about 5 to 1. He estimates his investment odds at $250 x 0.3/$0 = 1.5 . . . those are good odds.
What if Sid bets his two pair? Does John fold his hand or does he still bluff by raising back? He
would probably fold for the following reasons:
● After already betting $0, Sid would probably call John's raise--out of pseudo pride if for no
other reason.
● Sid's bet would drive out Scotty, thus eliminating the key player needed to bluff Sid out.
John's chances of a successful bluff would decrease sharply.
● John would have to risk $100 for a $300 pot -- 3 to 1 return on his bluff play rather than the
5 to 1 return if Sid does not bet. His investment odds would fall to $450 x 0.1/100 = 0.45 . . .
a very unfavorable level.
What actually happens? Well, things turn out better than John hoped. Sid checks. Scotty hesitates
and then suddenly bets $50. This is his normal pattern when bluffing--hesitate and then bet fast.
Scotty's obvious bluff attempt makes John's bluff even easier. He casually raises to $100. Sid and
Scotty fold immediately.... John wins a $300 pot with a worthless hand plus a little thinking.
Incidentally, John Finn earns $42,000 per year by playing 400 hours in the Monday night game.
This equals $105 per hour, which is equivalent to a job yielding $200,000 per year.... A job paying
that much is worth a concentrated thinking effort.
IX
Control (18)
The result of good poker is control--control of self, opponents, and the game. When the good player
achieves self-control through discipline and understands his opponents through thinking, he can seize
control of his opponents and the game. When in control, he becomes the center of attention. His
opponents spend a major portion of their time and effort trying to figure out his moves and then
adjusting to them ... they play according to his moves and actions. From this controlling position he can--
● influence the betting, raising, and bluffing of his opponents
● force opponents into traps and wrong moves
● dilute opponents' attention toward one another so he can play them off against each other.
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