Simple Poker III

14 August 2021

By John Marchel

In 1872, Robert C. Schenck, who loved to play cards, was serving as the U.S. minister to Britain. Ambassador Schenck was attending a reception hosted by Queen Victoria; when he was persuaded to write down his rules for poker by a duchess. She privately printed the rules for her court. Although several American books had previously discussed the game, this was the first book to deal solely with draw poker published on either side of the Atlantic.

The game quickly became popular in England, where it was universally known as “Schenck’s poker.” His treatise, which is the earliest rulebook devoted to draw poker, notes “it is a great object to mystify your adversaries.” It lists the main elements of the game as “(1) good luck; (2) good cards; (3) plenty of cheek; (4) and good temper.”

• When it comes to poker you want to make better decisions than the other players.

• In games in which a joker is used, five aces are the highest-ranking hand.

• In most poker rooms, you can find almost any betting level.

• Don’t fall in love with A-K, A-Q especially when there are lots of players in the pot.

• When first starting to play poker in a live card room begin playing at low-limit games like 2-4 or 3-6, until you gain some hands-on experience.

• Tight players are easier to bluff than loose players.

• A tight player will bluff, but only once in a great while.

• In poker, sometimes it’s important to play the player, and not the cards.

• Once commented to a hand, play it strong.

• Talking at the table will not make you a better player.

• Success at poker comes not from holding a good hand but from playing a poor one well.

• Who opens or bets first is important during any poker round.

• The dealer’s job is to deal the cards, not to help or hurt you.

• Vary your play so skilled players do not spot you as an easy target.

• Guessing at poker is not a good playing strategy.

• After a round, win or lose, it’s to your advantage not to show your cards.

• It’s good poker strategy to wait until the last round to raise.

• Good experienced players have learned to keep a logbook.

• It’s your total responsibility to protect your hand. If it seen, fouled or accidentally mucked by a dealer, it’s your fault, no one else’s.

• When “table stakes” are used, you can’t go into your wallet for new money during a hand.

• The dictionary defines a “Buff “as: “an act to deceive an opponent in cards by a bold bet on an inferior hand with the result that the opponent folds a winning hand.”

• A Tell: “to make known, disclose, divulge, reveal; move that works, his movements, or gestures.”

• Tilt: to play wildly or recklessly. A player is on “tilt” when playing and betting emotionally instead of skillfully.


BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW

• There was a poker game in 1946 in which Winston Churchill, who was preparing to give his Iron Curtain speech at Westminster College in, Missouri, sat with President Truman and a few others. Churchill, was an accomplished rummy player, however, Truman was a long-time poker participant. Truman diplomatically suggested they go easy on the prime minister. Nevertheless, the Americans made sure they took Churchill for a modest $250 so that he couldn’t boast that he had bested the Yanks at their national game.

• Secure, relatively high-yielding stocks came to be called “blue chips,” a term taken from the game of poker, where blue chips are more valuable than white or red chips.

• The term “flush” comes from the Italian card game Primers, which dates back to the sixteenth century. In Primers, four cards of the same suit were called “flux” which leads to the term flush, which is used in poker to donate a hand of the same suit.

• Early poker became extremely popular with the aristocrats of England. Even Queen Victoria is known to have played the game as a diversion after the death of her husband Prince Albert.