FAQ
The World Series of Poker
GameCube
The Return of Raken
Version 1.00
[email protected]
PROOFREAD

Table of Contents

I: Copyright Information.

II: Introduction.

III: Version History.

IV: Controls.

V: Menus.

VI: Tips and Tricks.
VI-1: General Tips
VI-2: Texas Hold 'Em
VI-3: Omaha Hold 'Em
VI-4: Omaha Hi-Low Split
VI-5: Seven Card Stud
VI-6: Seven Card Hi-Low Split
VI-7: Razz (Seven Card Lowball)

VII: Career Mode.

VIII: Collector Chips.

IX: Questions You Might Ask.

X: List of People.

XI: Challenges.

XII: Credits.

XIII: Conclusion.

---

I: Copyright Information.

This guide is (c) 2005-2006. No part of this guide may be reproduced or
reformatted without prior written permission from the author, myself.
It may not be used for profitable purposes, such as magazines, books,
etc.. It may only be used on www.gamefaqs.com. All rights reserved.

---

II: Introduction.

Hey, there, and welcome to my guide for the World Series of Poker video
game. Not only will this game guide you through the menus and paths of
this game, including Career Mode, but I will also give you some tips on
the game of poker in general, specifically on Texas Hold 'Em, the most
popular kind.

This guide will be for the GameCube version of this game; the only
place that matters is the controls, but, still. This is a great game
for people who want to get into poker, and also learn different kinds
of poker. It's very exciting, and you feel very nervous playing,
especially when there's a lot on the line. I hope you enjoy the guide!

---

III: Version History.

1.00: The initial release of this guide. I'm pretty sure it has
everything I'll be needing to put in it, but I may be wrong.

---

IV: Controls.

MENU CONTROLS

A Button: Confirm a selection/go forward a screen.
B Button: Cancel a selection/go backward a screen.
C-Stick: Scroll the cursor.
Control Pad: Scroll the cursor.
Control Stick: Scroll the cursor.
L Button: Rotate your Career Player.
R Button: Rotate your Career Player.
Start/Pause: Unpause from the menu.
X Button: Switch to uppercase or lowercase letters when entering your
name.
Y Button: Delete a letter when entering your name.
Z Button: Not used.

GAME CONTROLS

A Button: Confirm a selection. Fast Forward so you don't have to watch
every little detail of the hand. You can only fast forward when it's
not your turn.
B Button: Not used.
C-Stick: Choose what to do.
Down: Fold
Left: Call/Check
Up: All In
Right: Raise
Control Pad: Choose what to do (directional controls are the same as
the C-Stick).
Control Stick: Choose what to do (again, same as the Control Pad and
the C-Stick).
L Button: Hold down and you can see the Game Status. What that displays
will be covered in the Menus Section.
R Button: Hold down and you can see the value of poker hands.
Start/Pause: Pause the game.
X Button: Not used.
Y Button: Not used.
Z Button: Not used.

---

V: Menus.

When you first load up the game, you'll be taken through a few cut-
scene type things showing Activision, Left Field Productions, The World
Series of Poker, and then an exciting cut-scene. After that, it loads,
and you're at the Main Menu. Here, you have five choices.

Quickplay: Get going in a poker game quickly.
Career: Start a career and see how many WSOP bracelets you can win in
10 years.
Load: Load a specific player's data.
Save: Save the currently loaded data.
Options: Adjust some stuff.

QUICKPLAY

Here, you'll have three to five options.

Quickplay Texas Hold 'Em: This immediately launches you into a game of
No Limit Texas Hold 'Em.
Custom Game: Set up your own game with whatever kind of poker you want,
and a lot of other options too.
Custom Tournament: Set up your own tournament with whatever kind of
poker you want, and a lot of other options too.
Continue Custom Game: Continue a custom game that you couldn't quite
finish.
Continue Custom Tournament: Continue a custom tournament that you
couldn't quite finish.

CUSTOM GAME

Here's the menu for that.

TYPE OF POKER: Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha Hold 'Em, Omaha Hi-Low, Seven Card
Stud, Seven Card Hi-Low, Razz
LIMIT: Limit, Pot Limit, No Limit
CHIPS: The chips everybody starts with; lots of amounts that go as high
as $25,000 and as low as $100
ANTE: The amount everybody must put in before the hand starts; should
be low, can be $0
BLINDS: Only for Hold 'Em games, this incurs a certain amount of money
from two specific players (explained more in the Tips and Tricks
section) that must be put in before the hand starts; should be somewhat
higher then Ante, but not very high
LIMITS: For a limit game, what is the maximum raise that a player can
make; should be fairly low if you want a tight game, medium if you want
a medium game, high if you want a loose game
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2-9
PLAYERS: All Pros, No Pros, Random

Then you just select where you're playing.

That might not be in the correct order, but I'm pretty sure it's got
all the information.

CUSTOM TOURNAMENT

Here's the menu for that.

TYPE OF POKER: Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha Hold 'Em, Omaha Hi-Low, Seven Card
Stud, Seven Card Hi-Low, Razz
LIMIT: Limit, Pot Limit, No Limit
CHIPS: The chips everybody starts with; lots of amounts that go as high
as $25,000 and as low as $100
ANTE: The amount everybody must put in before the hand starts; should
be low, can be $0
BLINDS: Only for Hold 'Em games, this incurs a certain amount of money
from two specific players (explained more in the Tips and Tricks
section) that must be put in before the hand starts; should be somewhat
higher then Ante, but not very high
LIMITS: For a limit game, what is the maximum raise that a player can
make; should be fairly low if you want a tight game, medium if you want
a medium game, high if you want a loose game
NUMBER OF TABLES: This goes pretty high
PLAYERS: All Pros, No Pros, Random

Then you just select where you're playing.

When continuing a game or tournament, it just puts you right where you
left off. When you're done doing things, you can save your data, and
then a friend, sibling, or whatever, can create a new file and start
games and tournaments without disrupting yours at all!

How about Career Mode? When you start your Career...remember, this is
the Menus section. There are six options.

WSOP Events: The World Series of Poker events; win one of these, and
not only will you gain some money, but you'll win a bracelet.

Invitational Events: All pros, although knocking one out in this
doesn't give you their Collector Chip; you have to do that in WSOP
events. These unlock new areas for you to play, and Collector Chips of
their own.

Awards & Stats: Check all your bracelets, your collector chips, and
your specific statistics (say that five times FAST; don't stumble over
statistics, cheaters) for your career and for the current year.

Custom Player: Edit your player's appearance, clothing, even voice!
This is the thing you should first go into when starting a new Career.
You can change your name to something besides The Rookie, choose from a
variety of appearances, outfits, and if you've unlocked any pro
players, you can play as them! Also, if you've won a WSOP bracelet, you
can choose to wear it.

Career Options: In here, you can advance to the next year (yes, you can
do this at any time), restart your career without losing any of your
Collector Chips, or start a new career if you want to completely start
over. If you start a new career, you lose all your Collector Chips.
But, again, restarting restarts everything but those Collector Chips.

Save: Save your data.

And...the Pause Menu. The Gameplay Menu is pretty easy to figure out.
You know, down for fold, left for call/check, up for all in, right for
raise, raise higher by pushing up. Go back to the "menu" where you can
choose what to do again by pushing the opposite direction of what you
just pushed.

Let me clarify that. If you just went down to Fold, that means you
would push up to get back to the "menu" where you can choose any of the
options. If you went to Raise, you would push left...you get the idea.
Anyway, here's the Pause Menu.

Continue: Unpause and get back to the game.

Table Stats: Everybody on the table's name, amount of money,
flops/hands/%, Hands Won, Showdowns/Won, All-Ins.

Tournament Leaders/Chip Count: Tournament Leaders for WSOP Events, Chip
Count for Invitational Events. This just shows you who's got how much
and who's leading and who's behind.

Game Status: You can just hold down L during gameplay to view this,
which shows you:
Game Name: What the name of this game is.
Game Type: What kind of poker you're playing.
Limit Type: No Limit, Limit, Pot Limit.
Starting Chips: The amount everybody started with.
Minimum Place to Win Prize Money: You must finish this or better to win
some money.
Hands Dealt: The number of hands that have been played.
Next Blind Increase: The next time the blinds will be raised is on this
hand.
                          Original         |          Current
Number of Players
Ante
Blinds
Limits

Game Options: Some settings for the game, like:
4 Color Deck: Every suit has a different color, to help you see
flushes. It doesn't change the game at all, it's just a little option
thrown in for those that would like it.
Game Speed: Normal, Medium, or Fast. I prefer Normal, and then I just
Fast Forward when I'm disinterested (except on Omaha; more on that
later).
Ticker Display: On/Off. The ticker thing at the bottom that shows chip
standings, blind raises, etc.. It doesn't hurt anything, and it
provides some nice information.
Max Raises (Limit Games): How many raises can be made in one round of
betting in a limit game? I like 3.
Seat Position: This doesn't matter at all; it's where you sit. I just
leave it at Random.

Sound Options: Some settings for the sound, like:
Sound Volume: Adjust how loud the sound effects are.
Music Volume: Adjust how loud the music is.
Ambient Volume: Adjust how loud the background noise is.
Speech Volume: Adjust how loud people talk.

Exit Game: Quit the game. You'll then be given the option to quit
without saving, not quit, and quit and save.

---

VI: Tips and Tricks.

This section will show you how to play poker. If you don't understand
some (or all) of the varieties, I'll introduce them, and then provide
some strategy.

VI-1: General Tips

The objective of Poker (what all these variations are called in
general) is to compose the best five-card hand. In the kinds of poker
included in The World Series of Poker, you'll always have more then
five cards to choose from (if you stay in till the end).

You play with the 52-card deck. Four each of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace. There are four suits: Clubs, Diamonds,
Hearts, Spades. This means that every card is different: 2 of Clubs, 2
of Diamonds, 2 of Hearts are all different cards, even though they're
all 2's. 4 of Spades, 5 of Spades, 6 of Spades are all different cards,
even though they're all spades.

When referring to cards, I'll abbreviate them. The 3 of Hearts is 3H;
the Queen of Diamonds is QD.

For an example of Poker in general, we'll go with Straight Poker,
because it's easier to understand then any of the varieties in this
game. You with me so far? I've only covered the bare basics so far, so
stay with me.

We've got five players, labeled as Adam, Bill, Chris, Dave, and Eddie.
They each get five cards. Now, how do you compose the best hand? What
hand is better then the other? Here are the rankings; Royal Flush is
the best, High Card is the worst. So, the lower it is, the worse it is.

ROYAL FLUSH: 10-J-Q-K-A, all of the same suit. This hand is the best
you can possibly have.
STRAIGHT FLUSH: Any five cards in a row, all of the same suit. 5D-6D-
7D-8D-9D is a straight flush, but 3C-4C-5H-6C-7C isn't, because the 5
isn't a club.
FOUR OF A KIND: Four cards of the same rank. 7H-7C-7D-7S-3C is four of
a kind. 4S-7S-9S-JS-AH is not four of a kind because they're the same
suit; it has to be the same RANK.
FULL HOUSE: Three cards of the same rank and two other cards of a
different rank. AH-AD-AC-4S-4H is a full house, but AH-AD-AC-4S-9S is
not, because there isn't any pair besides the three aces.
FLUSH: Five cards all of the same suit that aren't in a row. AC-10C-6C-
4C-2C is a flush, but AC-KC-QC-3C-7H is not, because the 7 is not a
club.
STRAIGHT: Five cards in a row that aren't all the same suit. 5H-6C-7S-
8H-9S is a straight, but 2C-3C-4C-5C-6C is not, because they're all the
same suit (therefore, it's a straight flush). Aces can be used low in a
straight, so 5-4-3-2-A is a straight, as well as 10-J-Q-K-A. However,
you can't go around the corner, meaning jumping from low to high. 3-2-
A-K-Q is not a straight.
THREE OF A KIND: Three cards of the same rank with two other cards. In
the FULL HOUSE wrong example, that's three of a kind, because there's
three aces, and two other cards that don't help each other or the aces.
TWO PAIR: Two cards of the same rank, two cards of a different rank,
another card of a different rank. AC-AH-KC-KH-QC is two pair, but AC-
AH-KC-QC-JC is not, because there's no second pair.
PAIR: Two cards of the same rank, and three other cards. In the TWO
PAIR wrong example, that's a pair, because there's two aces, and three
other cards that don't help each other or the aces.
HIGH CARD: Five unrelated cards. AC-7H-2S-9S-10C, 5C-6C-7S-2H-JS, AD-
KD-QD-JD-9H; some hand like that.

Now, aces rank high, so a pair of aces beats a pair of kings. Let's go
back to our poker game. Let's take a look at the players' hands.

Adam
KC-KH-5S-3S-2D

Bill
10C-6C-5C-4S-3H

Chris
4D-4C-4H-AD-10D

Dave
5D-6S-7H-8H-9S

Eddie
7C-7D-JS-QH-10S

I'll ask you some questions.

1. Who has the best hand?
2. Who has the worst hand?
3. Whose hand ranks 2nd?
4. Whose hand ranks 4th?
5. Whose hand ranks 3rd?
6. If Eddie got another 7, where would his hand rank?
7. If Chris's fifth card was an Ace, what hand would he have?
8. If Eddie had two kings instead of two sevens, would he or Adam have
the better hand?
9. If Dave had all hearts, what hand would he have?
10. If Chris could take ONE card from any player, which card should he
choose?

Here are the answers.

1. With a straight, Dave has the best hand.
2. With 10-high, Bill has the worst hand.
3. With three fours, Chris has the 2nd best hand.
4. With a pair of sevens, Eddie has the 4th best hand.
5. With a pair of kings, Adam has the 3rd best hand.
6. If Eddie got another 7, his hand would rank 2nd. Three sevens is
better then three fours, but not a straight.
7. If Chris's fifth card was an Ace, he would have a Full House.
8. This is a tricky one. They would both have a pair of kings. However,
Eddie would have the better KICKER; the best companion to the best part
of the hand. Eddie's next best card would be a queen, while Adam's
would only be a 5, so Eddie's would be better.
9. Dave would have a straight flush, since his cards are all in a row.
10. Chris should choose Bill's 4, since that would give him four of a
kind.

The most important questions are 8 and 10. Kickers are important,
because, yes, aces are better then kings, so a pair of aces beats a
pair of kings. But, as you saw, what if they both have a pair of kings?
The one with the next best card wins. So a hand's value rarely, but
sometimes does, go beyond the value of, say, the pair of kings. Just
make sure you understand that.

Question 10 is important because--especially in these varieties of
poker--you need to know what cards you need to make your hand better,
and what the approximate chances are of you getting those cards. It's
not hard to understand, but it is VERY IMPORTANT.

Okay. Now the players are going to bet. The point of poker is to have
one champion, and in order to find that champion, you all bet, and some
player wins the hand. You continue until one player has all the money,
which is represented by chips. So, as I said, the players are going to
bet.

Adam is first. Now, Adam has three options.

Check: In order to attempt to take the pot (where you bet your chips
and what the winner wins), you have to match any other amount put in by
any other player. At this point, no amount has been put in by any
player, so he has the option to check; he stays in contention for the
pot, but doesn't put anything in.
Bet: Put money into the pot. The amount can probably be of his choice,
although in some games, there are rules that say he can only put a
certain amount in.
Fold: Discard his hand, believing it isn't good enough to win the pot.

Adam decides to check. Bill has the same options, and bets $20. Now
there is money in the pot, so Chris has these options:

Call: Since there is money in the pot, Chris has to match it to stay
in. This is called calling or seeing.
Raise: Call Bill's bet and then put even more money in.
Fold: Discard his hand.

You always have the option to fold, except for when you can check,
because it doesn't cost anything to check, so you might as well.

So. If there's no money you have to put in to match, you can check.
Initiating a bet at this point is called a bet, and from then on, more
money is called a raise until the betting interval is ended.

Chris calls. Dave raises to $40. Eddie folds. Adam calls, and Bill
folds. So Adam, Chris, and Dave are still in the pot, and Bill and
Eddie have both folded. The remaining players then show each other
their hands, and Dave wins the pot with his straight. The pot is $140,
since three different players put in $40, and Bill put in $20.

Let's go to another hand.

Adam
AS-JH-9D-7C-2D

Bill
KS-KH-QC-QD-8H

Chris
KC-JC-10C-4C-3C

Dave
AH-QH-JS-4S-3S

Eddie
7S-7D-7H-KD-5D

I'll ask you some more questions.

1. Who has the best hand?
2. Whose hand ranks 2nd?
3. Whose hand ranks 3rd?
4. Whose hand ranks 4th?
5. Whose hand ranks 5th?
6. Eddie can choose one card that any player has to add to his hand.
Which one should he choose?
7. How about Dave? What card should he choose?
8. How about Chris? What card should he choose?
9. What card should Bill add to his hand?
10. For the people that don't already have a flush, who is closest to
getting one, and what does he need?

1. With a king-high flush, Chris's hand ranks first.
2. Three sevens means Eddie gets second.
3. Two pair, kings over queens, gives Bill third.
4. With A-Q high, Dave gets fourth.
5. With A-J high, Bill gets last.
6. Eddie should choose Adam's 7, giving him four of a kind; a king
would only give him a full house.
7. The Ace of Spades, from Adam, giving him a pair of aces. Dave's hand
STINKS.
8. Chris already has a flush, but to make it even better, he could swap
the 3 of clubs with Bill's queen of clubs, changing a K-J-10-4-3 flush
to a K-Q-J-10-4 flush.
9. Bill should take either Chris's or Eddie's king. Kings full of
queens in a full house is better then queens full of kings.
10. Actually, Dave and Eddie are both two cards away from a flush. Dave
needs two spades, Eddie needs two diamonds.

Bill starts this 2nd hand, and decides to bet $30 with his strong two
pair. Chris, however, is very confident in his flush and raises to $55.
Dave has a terrible hand and folds. With three sevens, Eddie calls
Chris's raise. Adam folds his miserable hand. Bill puts the remaining
$25 that he owes into the pot, and Chris wins a $165 pot with a king-
high flush.

You think you understand the basics of poker? Well, good, because now
we're going to get into specific kinds of poker. Starting with my
favorite...

VI-2: Texas Hold 'Em

Believe it or not, in Texas Hold 'Em, you only get dealt two cards at
the start of the hand. These are called your pocket or hole cards.
There are a total of 169 possible starting hands. Now, since there's
only two cards, they're either going to be the same suit, or two
different suits. If they're the same suit, those cards are suited, and
you have a better chance for a flush as the hand progresses. If they're
two different suits, those cards are offsuit, and you'll have to hope
that nobody else gets a flush, for the most part.

After a betting interval, three cards are laid face up in the middle of
the table. These are called the flop, and are the beginning of the
community cards. Everyone still in the hand is entitled to use of the
community cards. Another betting interval brings us to the fourth
community card, called the turn. Again, everybody can use this card.
One more betting interval and we see the river, the fifth community
card. A final betting interval, and players use their five best cards
out of the seven available to make a hand.

Rarely, the community will make itself into something really good
(straight, flush, full house, etc.), and the players still in the pot
will simply use what's in the community, since it's the best hand they
can make, and those players then split the pot, since their hands are
the same. In order to have a winning hand, you'll definitely have to
use at least one of your pocket cards in your hand, and preferably two.

Now, in Texas and Omaha Hold 'Em, there are blinds. Blinds are specific
amounts that two players put in before the flop. There's also antes,
which are very small amounts that everybody puts in (not all games have
antes), but Hold 'Em games always have blinds. There's a small blind
and a big blind. The small blind, before the deal, puts in half the
money equal to the minimum bet, and the big blind puts in the money
equal to the minimum bet. With our example players, the blinds are
$10(SB)/$20(BB). The larger amount is always the Big Blind.

Good starting hands in Texas Hold 'Em are high cards. 2-7 offsuit is
the worst starting hand possible, and should be folded virtually every
time, unless the amount to call is miniscule or you can check to see
the flop. A-K offsuit, on the other hand, is a fantastic hand and
should be called with almost every time. Basically, the higher, the
better.

However, sometimes, you'll regret folding as soon as you see the flop,
because it would've helped out your hand really well. So, you may
develop a habit of calling before the flop a lot. Personally, I sway
back and forth between the two. A lot of it depends on the situation.

If there's a lot of players at the table, the chance that somebody has
a good hand is increased, so I fold more hands. However, if there's
just, say, three or four players at the table, the chance that somebody
has a good hand is decreased, so I play more hands. In heads-up (two
players), you should play almost every hand, just because folding
automatically gives your opponent the pot.

It also has to do with how many chips you have. When you have the most
chips at the table (chip leader), you can play more hands, because
you've got money to burn. However, when you're down, or even have the
least chips at the table (shortstack), you have to wait for a really
good hand before you can play, because you can't just start throwing
money in the pot and then folding when the flop doesn't work out.

Let's get an example hand going with our five trusty guys.

Adam
2D-7H

Bill
AC-KH

Chris(D)
8C-8H

Dave(SB)
9H-4D

Eddie(BB)
10C-JC

The (D) by Chris's hand means he is the dealer. He plays last.

So the betting, you assume, will start with Dave. Well, no. Dave
already put in a forced bet, and his turn is over. Eddie put in a
forced raise, and his turn is over. Adam is the first to act.

So there is already $30 in the pot from the blinds, but Adam must put
only $20 in to call, because $10 of that money is Dave's. Adam has 2-7
offsuit, though, and folds.

Bill has A-K offsuit, a great hand, and will raise it up to $30. Chris
calls with pocket 8's, Dave folds 9-4, and Eddie calls that $10 raise
with 10-J suited. Here are some questions at this point in the game.

1. Who has the best hand?
2. Who has the 2nd best hand?
3. Who has the 3rd best hand?
4. Who has the 2nd worst hand?
5. Who has the worst hand?
6. What would happen if the flop was QD-JH-10S; who would have the best
hand?
7. What about 8S-KD-AH?
8. What would be the best possible flop for Eddie?
9. Why is it impossible for Chris to get a winning flush?
10. Think about it; why is A-K (even offsuit) such a good hand?

And the answers.

1. With a pair of 8's, Chris has the best hand.
2. With A-K high, Bill has the 2nd best hand.
3. With J-10 high, Eddie has the 3rd best hand.
4. With 9-4 high, Dave has the 2nd worst hand.
5. With 7-2 high, Adam has the worst hand.
6. If the flop was QD-JH-10S, it would give Eddie two pair, but it
would give Bill an ace-high straight, so Bill would have the best hand.
7. Bill would have two pair, but Chris would have three 8's, thereby
giving him the best hand.
8. The best possible flop for Eddie would be QC-KC-AC, giving him a
royal flush.
9. Chris can't get a winning flush because Eddie has two higher clubs,
and Bill has a higher heart. If enough hearts or clubs come up for
Chris to have a flush, Eddie and Bill's cards are too high for the pot
to be split because the flush on the board is the best one. You see
what I mean? If Eddie had 3C-4C or something and Bill didn't have any,
and five clubs came out all higher then 8, everyone would split the pot
with the best flush.
10. A-K is such a good hand because you have two of the five cards
necessary for the best possible straight AND (inhale)...if one ace or
one king comes up, you've got either the best pair with the best kicker
or the second-best pair with the best kicker. The reason the king is
the best kicker to a pair of aces is because if there was another ace,
you'd have three aces. Also, if no pairs come up for anyone, you've
still got ace-high.

Here's the flop:

QC-2C-AH

Now that the blinds are behind us, we play from the dealer. Dave
folded, so Eddie is first to act. Eddie has a flush draw (if another
club comes, he has a flush), so he bets $20 to raise the total pot to
$110. Bill got a pair of aces and calls that bet, and Chris still has
two 8's, so he calls. The pot is now at $150, and here's the turn.

QC-2C-AH-8S

Oh, wow! Chris has three 8's! Eddie now has only one card left going
for a flush, so he checks. Bill bets $40 with his pair of aces; he has
top pair (the best pair on the board) and is confident in his hand.
He's not thinking about somebody having a pocket pair, though, and
Chris raises to $80. The pot is now at $270. With just a flush draw,
Eddie folds, and Bill calls, putting the pot at $310. And the river:

QC-2C-AH-8S-4C

WOW! Eddie would've had a flush! He folded, so Bill is first to act. He
still just has a pair of aces, and bets $30. Chris calls and wins the
$370 pot with three 8's. Now, let me ask you some questions.

1. In Bill's place, would you have felt confident that you had the best
hand after the turn?
2. Should Eddie have called and waited for the river?
3. With that 4 at the end, that would have given Dave a pair of 4's.
Would you have regretted folding?
4. Adam had a pair of deuces (what twos are often called) after the
flop. Would you have regretted folding?
5. With Chris's hand, why should you be nervous when you see the flop?

Some of these are more opinion questions then right and wrong, and
these kinds of questions will help you develop your style of play. Here
are my answers.

1. I think I would have. I had the best pair with the best kicker. What
I would not have taken into account was pocket pairs and two pairs (Q-
2, for example). The third club on the river would've made me a little
nervous; that also makes a straight if Chris had had 3-5, but 3-5 is a
hand that he probably won't stay in with until the river. But, with a
hand like that in a situation like that, more often then not, you'll
have the best hand.

2. I would not have. You're banking on a club. If a club doesn't come,
you're completely busted. There's high cards on the table. However,
what you may not have realized is that Eddie had a straight draw (one
specific card makes a straight). In this case, an inside straight draw,
meaning that if it comes, it'll be on the inside of the straight. Can
you get it? It's a king. If a king comes, Eddie has a straight. So he
actually needed a king or a club, but, still, the odds are not in your
favor. He would've ended up winning, but calling with four clubs and
stuff like that to see the river is called chasing the river, and it
usually doesn't work.

3. I would definitely not have regretted folding. In Dave's case, that
would've been chasing the river for nothing. If a 4 or a 9 comes, he
still probably won't win the hand because of all the high cards. He's
also got a lackluster kicker with the 9. No, you definitely cannot
regret folding that hand.

4. NO WAY. He had the worst pair on the board (and the worst pair of
all the pairs) with a terrible 7 kicker. Nothing else came on the turn
and river, and in the end, he had the worst hand out of everybody with
that pair. Very rarely will a pair of deuces win you the hand.

5. Q-A, two clubs, there's possibilities for better hands then yours.
If anybody else has a queen or an ace, they have a better hand. If
someone has two clubs, they've got a flush draw. If somebody's got K-J,
K-10, or J-10, they've got a straight draw. You can still call, maybe
hoping for another 8 or hoping against hope that nobody else has
anything. And, lucky for him, an 8 came on the turn.

Here's a quick review of terminology, with a few new terms also.

Draw - Needing one card to make a hand.
Inside Straight Draw - Needing one card to be either second or fourth
in a straight.
Ended Straight Draw - This is only possible when you have A-2-3-4 or A-
K-Q-J. There is one card you need for the straight, and it'll go on the
end.
Open-Ended Straight Draw - Needing one card to be either first or fifth
in a straight. 5-6-7-8, either a 4 or a 9 makes a straight.
Gutshot Straight Draw - Needing one card to be third in a straight. 8-
9-J-Q needs a 10 to be right in the middle.
Nuts - Having the best hand possible. Say you have AC-KC, and the flop
is 8C-3C-2C. You have a nut flush, because it's ace high. If the
community is 7C-7H-7D-3C-KH, and you have 7S-9C, you have the nuts with
four sevens.
Bluff - To act like you have a good hand when you actually have a bad
hand. You can bluff by going all in because of a certain card, or just
betting high amounts all throughout the hand. Bluffing is risky and
should not be used often, or people will get suspicious to the point
where they call instead of folding.
All-In - Since nobody ever did it in any example hand, you may have
forgotten what this simple term means; pushing all your chips into the
pot, usually in a raise, although it's sometimes a call. After you're
all in, if at least two other people with more money call you, they can
then bet between themselves, and whatever they bet between themselves
is won back by whoever has the best hand between those two, regardless
of what you have. You can only win the money you can support.

VI-3: Omaha Hold 'Em

From here on, I'll be much less detailed. Texas Hold 'Em is the main
type of poker in this game, and you've got the basics now. In Omaha,
you get dealt four pocket cards. The community comes just like in Texas
Hold 'Em, and at the end, you HAVE TO USE two of your pocket cards and
three of the community cards. If you have A-K-Q-J in your hand and the
community is 10-9-7-6-5, you do not have a straight. The best possible
hand you could make would be A-K-10-9-7, because you HAVE TO USE two of
your pocket cards and three of the community cards.

Good starting cards in Omaha are somewhat like Texas. A pocket pair is
good (something like 9C-9S-AH-4D), but what's interesting is that a
pocket three of a kind (like 9C-9S-9H-4D) is actually worse, because,
again, you can only use two of the pocket cards. So you've got a pair
of 9's like before, but now you've taken one of the 9's and eliminated
its chance to appear in the community. There's only one 9 left, and
someone else might have it, and if not, it still probably won't come
up.

Also, there's one less possibility for making other pairs. If an ace
had come up with that first hand, you would've had a pair of aces.
There was also that four. Now, though, it's just the four. So, 9C-9S-
AH-4D is better then 9C-9S-9H-4D.

Here's an example hand.

Adam (SB)
7D-5C-3D-2H

Bill (BB)
JD-10D-5H-2C

Chris
QH-9H-8H-3H

Dave
AD-AH-AC-AS

Eddie (D)
KH-KD-JS-6C

Some questions.

1. Who has the best hand?
2. Who has the 2nd best hand?
3. Who has the 3rd best hand?
4. Who has the 2nd worst hand?
5. Who has the worst hand?
6. What would be the best flop for Dave?
7. Who's doing better on their flush; Bill or Chris?
8. What would be the best flop for Adam?
9. If all the kings are gone, what would be the best flop for Eddie?
10. Mainly, which two players wish they could transfer two of their
cards to the community?

Some answers.

1. With a pair of aces, Dave has the best hand.
2. With a pair of kings, Eddie has the 2nd best hand.
3. With queen high, Chris has the 3rd best hand.
4. With jack high, Bill has the 2nd worst hand.
5. With 7 high, Adam has the worst hand.
6. Uhh...K-K-K. Kings full of aces. If you're thinking about the turn,
K-Q-J all of the same suit (in any suit) gives him a royal flush draw,
and so does K-Q-10, K-J-10, and Q-J-10. But, by itself, K-K-K is the
best flop for Dave.
7. Bill. Though his high card isn't as high, he doesn't take up two of
his own suit in his own hand; he has a better chance to see diamonds
then Chris does to see hearts.
8. 4-5-6 of diamonds gives Adam a straight flush. 7-7-7, 7-7-5, 7-7-3,
5-5-3, 2-2-2, 3-3-3, 5-5-5, 7-7-2, 7-2-2, etc....those are all good
too.
9. J-J-J, as a stand-alone, giving him four jacks. J-J-J is the best
flop for Eddie.
10. Dave and Chris. Two hearts would give Chris a flush draw, and two
aces would give Dave four aces, a nearly unbeatable hand.

Let's go back to our hand. Adam puts in $40 as the small blind (this is
higher stakes poker) and Bill puts in $80 for the big blind. Chris
doesn't like having four hearts all stocked in his community and folds.
Dave still has a pair of aces, and raises to $120, putting the pot at
$240. Eddie calls with pocket kings, Adam folds, Bill calls with two
relatively high cards and two diamonds. The pot is now at $480. Here's
the flop.

KD-5D-2S

Wow! Three of a kind for Eddie, and a flush draw for Bill! Bill is
first since Adam folded, and bets $120 to put the pot at an even $600.
Dave calls ($720), Eddie raises to $300 ($1020). Bill makes the $180
call, and Dave folds. The pot is at exactly $1200 heading to the turn.

KD-5D-2S-2D

WHO HAS THE BEST HAND?

You are viewing proxied material from gopher.endangeredsoft.org. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.