Posts by George Epstein
‘Trouble’ and ‘Danger’ words to avoid
There are all sorts of poker hands. Recently, I had the misfortune to learn the hard way about “trouble hands” and “danger hands” (I believe I coined those expressions). It was unexpected, and it was a costly lesson. And I have since given a lot of thought to them. Listen carefully to what I tell […]
Poker candidate for Strangest Hand of the Year award
There is the Poker Player of the Year (PPY) award; so why not one for the Strangest Hand of the Year? (aka: SHY) According to the “Texas Hold’em Poker Textbook” (tomgreen@pokertextbook.com), with seven cards to make the best five-card hand, the most common is one pair (probability 44%), followed by two-pair (23%). The most rare […]
Poker math makes you a winner not luck
It requires skill to use the mathematics of poker to be a winner. Otherwise, you are mostly depending on luck, over which you have no control. That’s what losers do. Our two previous columns discussed ways to facilitate the use of Poker Math while playing Texas Hold’em: • Preflop, circumvent the need to use poker […]
Know how to use your pairs in poker
Playing Texas hold’em, in the long run, you will be dealt a pair in the hole (a pocket pair) one out of 17 hands. Let’s put this statistical fact into perspective, and discuss the ramifications. With 30-35 hands dealt per hour, you can expect to be dealt a pair – any two cards of the […]
Poker is about winning the most chips, not most hands
In order to “win better,” our primary goal is to win more money – rather than just more hands. What’s your thought on playing suited hole cards? There are poker players – foolish souls – who just love suited cards in the hole. They are so beautiful to behold! Give these foolhardy players two suited […]
Aggressive vs. assertive in poker
In poker, it is generally accepted that aggressive play is the opposite of passive play. The passive player rarely raises; whereas, the “aggressive” player often raises and even re-raises when he feels it appropriate. The player may be raising to build the size of the pot or to encourage opponents to fold their hands – […]
