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Understanding Where Poker Came From
According to Justin Bonomo, writer for Bluff Magazine, poker is an ever-evolving game that poker players are still discovering, learning, and teaching with every hand that is played. He suggests players like Doyle Brunson have evolved more than other players and share what they have learned with the world.
Bonomo claims poker has been through four significant shifts since the 1940s, when the first rounders increased their skill while roaming around Texas, supporting themselves by playing poker. This era was the first shift. The second shift came about in the disco days, the 1970s. At this time in the United States, tournaments were becoming popular, and the World Series of Poker was established. This era also saw Brunson’s Super System, which also added to this poker shift.
Later, in the late eighties and early nineties, another shift came about as other strategy books came out, such as the Theory of Poker and Hold ‘em Poker for Advanced Players. These books were published by 2+2, one of the first big poker book publishers. Bonomo sees the 4th and most recent shift arising in the early years of the 21st century, more specifically, 2003 and 2004. He attributes this shift to the Internet, which led to satellite tournaments that could bring any player to a live event. In addition, televised events became trendy and fun to watch, as players’ hole cards could be shown to viewers watching at home. Television, along with the Internet, which allowed for a lot more means of online communication and educational instruction, not to mention the instant availability for anyone to play, there was a great increase in the skill of players, on the whole.
Bonomo states that even from 2004 to 2006, the game of poker has become tougher. This is not to say that the game of every player has improved, or that every pro is flawless. In fact, even the pros make mistakes constantly, and some even blog their mistakes (Daniel Negreanu, Brian Townsend, and Patrik Antonius). So, Bonomo has made some predictions that he is confident will come true. He believes that poker will become tougher over the next four years, as it has been steadily doing in recent past years. Another presumption he makes is that it will be necessary for good players to learn and play in different styles. They will not be able to play the same every game.
Also, he predicts that the trend of aggressive play that has developed online will become apparent in live play, as well. He states that in live high stakes cash games, players tend to play very passively, which the opposite is true online. As more online players start playing on live tables, the knowledge that has amassed online for poker players will come with them. Finally, Bonomo suggests that players will become more reliant on math and computer software programs. These types of assistances will eventually become more widely used and accepted and become “more necessary, rather than simply being beneficial.” An interesting example presented is that if the top ten poker players in the world dropped out of the poker realm for five years then returned to the game, they would be the underdogs, facing much more advanced players than themselves.
What Bonomo is saying, as a poker player, is that the game of poker will undoubtedly see even more shifts in the level of play by its players, who may not ever conquer the infinite complexity of the game.
RESOURCES:
Bonomo, Justin. “The Evolution of Poker.” Bluff Magazine March 2008March 2008 20 Jun 2008 <http://www.bluffmagazine.com/magazine/The%2DEvolution%2Dof%2DPoker%2DJustin%2DBonomo-1252.htm>.
Have you ever heard the saying, “Any Two Cards Can Win”? The saying refers to poker, and if you’re lucky, it’s true!
Yes, the outcome of any poker hand, ultimately comes down to luck, but an educated and experienced player can certainly use the odds to his advantage. The theory is similar to that of the stock market. The results of a day’s ups and downs can make or break anyone’s bag of luck; however, there are traders who can and do continuously profit off of the stock market because they know how to play the game.
In poker, you can really take the “odds” with a grain of salt. There’s always a chance, and any two cards can win. But, there is a skill called Hand Selection that allows a player to know what hands have positive expected value. Here’s an example of positive and negative expected hand value to help explain this concept, which isn’t as complicated as it seems:
For the sake of this example, let’s say that you are dealt 100 hands and every time, it is a A-A vs. 7-2 off-suit showdown. Let’s say each player bets $5 per hand, resulting in a $10 pot. After playing 100 hands, you each have wagered $500, $1000 total. Since pocket aces will win about 88% of the time, the player with A-A will win 88 out of 100 times, or in money terms, this player will win approximately $880 (a profit of +$330). On the other hand, the player holding 7-2 off-suit, the worst hand in hold ‘em because both cards cannot be used to make a straight or a flush, will win the other 12 hands (a loss of $380). This example should help you realize the importance of polishing the skill of hand selection.
Some common hand percentages:
A pocket pair flops a set around 12% of the time
A hand of A-K will flop at least a pair around 37% of the time
A hand of two suited cards will flop four cards to a flush around 11% of the time
So, what makes certain hands better than other hands? In the example above, we learn that pocket pairs, specifically big ones, can be a very strong hand, with the potential to win without help from the community cards. Furthermore, when a high pocket pair meets matching community cards, the result is a set or a full house, both of which are powerful poker hands.
Higher cards are, obviously, better than lower cards, as they result in better hands with bigger kickers. Suited cards (of the same suit) have a good chance of creating flushes, while connectors (consecutive) or near consecutive cards, will more likely result in a straight. Even better are suited connectors, which increase the odd of a straight, flush, or rarely, a straight flush. Additionaly, hands that use both hole cards are typically stronger than hands that only incorporate one hole card, as they are less likely to produce a tie and split pot.
There is a chart of the 70 most playable hands, written by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth, included in their book, Hold ‘em for Advanced Players, (page 14-15). By studying this chart, you will greatly increase your knowledge of hand selection and be able to incorporate it into your game, in turn, increasing your chances of playing a hand for which any two cards can win!
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In Phil Gordon’s book, Poker: The Real Deal, he suggests all aspiring and established poker players watch the top 8 poker movies of all times, which are listed and reviewed below. We’ve also added Casino Royale as #9. You can purchase or download any or all of these movies, new or used, at the bottom of this post from Amazon. Gordon suggests every poker player will “repeatedly be faced with critical decisions that will forever alter an outcome, whether of a hand, a tournament, or your poker career” (18). These movies exemplify some instances of defining moments for the poker characters in these movies.
#1. Starting from most recent, but not rated in that order, the first movie on our list is Casino Royale (2007), the most recent Bond movie, starring Daniel Craig, as James Bond. In this movie, Bond is up agains bad guy, LeChiffre, while the defeat of worldwide terror rests in the hands of Bond-in his poker hands to be more specific. In the first poker scene, Bond goes heads-up against LeChiffre. Bond hints that he knows LeChiffre’s tell, but then mucks on the river.
In the second poker scene, LeChiffre knows Bond is on to his tell, so he uses this information to bluff and beat Bond, once again. By this point, Bond has lost $14 million, but in Hollywood, another $5 mill is easy to come by, and Bond re-buys. Eventually, Bond wins $120 million on one of the rarest poker hands to ever be played, and saves both Britain and the US, as well as the rest of the world. This movie shows how in poker, anything is possible!
#2. Next on the list is Rounders, from 1998, in which Matt Damon’s girlfriend has reformed him from his gambling ways. His old friend and poker buddy, Ed Norton, is trying to bring him back to the tables. Ultimately, Norton gets Damon into a heads-up with Russian poker man with an addiction to Oreos, Teddy KGB, played by John Malkovich. This movie is packed with poker scenes, and the good guys don’t always come out on top.
#3. Robert Redford stars in Havana, a movie from 1990, set in the 50’s. Robert Redford stars as Jack Weil, who goes to Havana to set up a poker game, but inevitably falls in love and ends up smack dab in the middle of the Cuban Revolution.
#4. House of Games (1987) is a twisted thriller that follows a female psychiatrist and a professional con artist, which leads to a great poker scene.
#5. California Split (1974) follows to LA gambling men, George Segal and Elliot Gould, who can’t figure out whether they are in for the action or in for the score. There is lots of great poker action in this film, including a cameo by Amarillo Slim Preston.
#6. Cool Hand Luke (1967) is an American Classic, more specifically, a Southern classic. Paul Newman plays a tough convict who won’t be broken. His nickname, Cool Hand Luke, is given to him in the poker game, due to his bluffing skills. This movie is where the famous quote, “What we have here is a failure to communicate,” came from.
#7. A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1967) stars Henry Fonda and Joanne Woodward as husband and wife. Husband loses all their money in a poker game, has a heart attack, and it’s up to the wife to learn to play poker and win their money back.
#8. The Cincinnati Kid (1965) puts Steve McQueen, an amateur poker player, against Edward G. Robinson, a poker pro. This movie serves as the archetype for all movie poker scenes that follow and depicts the greatest bad beat story in all of poker cinema history.
#9. My Little Chickadee (1940) is the oldest poker movie staring W.C. Fields as Cuthbert J. Twillie, who is a con-man/poker player, who gets mixed up with Mae West.
There is a lot to learn in these movies, if nothing else, that poker has been around a long time. It’s not a new game, though modern-day culture has re-invented the hype surrounding the game and its players. Hollywood recognized this American pastime we call poker long ago, which is so much more than a fad.
Find any of these movies, plus Phil Gordon’s book, below!
Resources
1. Gordon,Phil. Poker: The Real Deal. New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2004.
2. Bondmovies.com
3. Amazon.com
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As I researched further into the topic of the previous post (poker over the last 70 years or so), I found some more interesting info on the subject. First of all, I discovered that Texans actually started the the WSOP and Texans won 8 of the first 9 main event titles. What is ironic is that the game of poker has been for the most part illegal in the Lone Star State. Therefore, the big names in poker, aka the “Texas Road Gamblers” were outlaws and virtually on-the-run, as they moved around playing the game. The lifestyle of the Texas Road Gamblers, who had their run from the 1950s to the 1980s, was that of a nomad, as they drove the Texas country roads from one game to another, dodging raids and shooting cheaters.
Like some players today, poker was their job, but unlike all players today, they didn’t play on television and they didn’t misbehave at the table. Poker was a dangerous and lonely occupation, not a leisurely and social past time.
By the 1950s and 60s, poker had become a somewhat organized crime. Each town had its own “boss gambler,” who decided who got to play poker and where they’d play. Why did he get to choose? Because he paid off the law. Since poker was legal if a charitable cause backed the event, many poker houses used charitable fronts to get away with housing poker establishments. Part of the house rake went to charity, part went to overhead, and part went to paying off officials, and the rest was pocketed.
The games essentially consisted of locals, the professionals, and the fat-pocketed amateurs, who the rounders loved to take advantage of. After the game, the Texas gamblers would analyze every hand and every card played, much like poker is analyzed today. It’s no wonder that when players like Doyle Brunson finally got to Vegas, they were, for a while, unbeatable. We can now thank these veterans of poker for bringing poker to the mainstream. Whether they really meant to, or not, these guys were just doing their job, and these Americans truly loved their jobs.
Resources:
Wilson, Des. “Ghosts at the Table.” Poker Pro Magazine June 08June 2008 20 Jun 2008 <http://www.thepokerpromagazine.com//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=646&Itemid=2>.