THE WORLD'S #1 POKER MANUAL - Card Games

Poker Book, Strategies
The good player usually gets a desirable seat at the start of a game because his opponents seldom care
where they sit. If an opponent is conscious of position, he generally tries to sit behind (bet after) the
loosest or wildest player--the opposite position sought by the good player. A player can often pick a
good position by arriving after the players are seated and then squeezing into the best seat position. (But
continuous late arrival can hurt a game.) The good player can also use the excuse of "changing his luck"
to swap seats with a player in a better seat position. That ploy also gives his opponents the erroneous but
advantageous impression that he is superstitious.
The dealer has an advantage in hold'em, draw, or any form of closed-hand poker in which he bets last.
When the same person always deals (e.g., a house dealer), that advantage is evenly distributed by using a
marker, a button, or a buck that passes in turn to each player. Usually the player with the marker bets
first, and the player to the right of marker bets last, as would a dealer.
Most regular players get into a habit of sitting in the same position. In the Monday night game,
John quietly arranges the seating to his advantage, and then game after game the players sit
approximately in the same positions. He maintains this arrangement by preventing the players
from realizing that they keep sitting in positions favorable to him.
Ted Fehr's betting is wild, and impulsive. While John can usually read Ted's hands, he can seldom
predict his betting actions. By positioning himself so Ted bets first, John can adjust his strategy
according to Ted's play. Sid Bennett's betting is even wilder, but is predictable. By betting before
him, John can often check his strong hands and let Sid do the betting for him. It makes less
difference to John where Quintin (a sound player) or Scotty (a tight player) sit. The ideal seating
arrangement for John is illustrated below:
XI
Tailor-made Game (23)
The good player designs poker games to his maximum advantage by increasing the betting pace, the
betting stakes, and his edge odds. A major step in this direction is to complicate the game by orienting
the action around stud or hold'em variations of poker rather than draw poker. Stud variations offer the
following advantages to the good player:
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