POKER-THE NUMBER GAME

POKER -All About Number

The most popular form of lottery played anywhere in the world today is our own Numbers game. My survey shows that during 1973 almost three out of every eight persons who gamble in this country played the numbers. These 36 million Americans, of whom 15 million were women, wagered the gigantic sum of $10 billion in an effort to hit the elusive three digits that would pay off.

The Numbers game has different names among various segments of the population: Policy game, Mutual Numbers, Negro Numbers, Policy racket, Numbers racket and others. Foreign-born Latin Americans call it Bolita; the winners in this Latin-American lottery are usually determined by drawing small numbered balls from a box. The operators and their employees and the majority of players refer to the game simply as “the Numbers.” Most journalists, law-enforcement agents and government officials call it the Numbers racket or the policy racket.

Today’s Numbers game is a variation of the Italian national lottery (see page 207) which has been in existence since 1530. In America, during early colonial days, clandestine lottery operators, like their English contemporaries, permitted players to wager on two or more numbers of their choice, the winning numbers being determined by the last two or three numbers of the first-, second- and third-prize numbers drawn in some legal lottery.

Since most players played a combination of digits derived from the five-figure number on their weekly lottery ticket, this illegal wagering was called “insurance betting” and the operation itself was known as “policy shop,” both terms deriving from “insurance policy.”

In 1973, the $10 billion numbers handle in the United States was greater than the total handle of all the combined foreign government- sponsored lotteries in Europe, Asia and Latin America plus the privately operated Irish Hospitals’ Sweepstakes and the legally run football pools in England and other European countries.

The largest handle of any type of lottery outside the United States, contrary to the statements made by some so-called gambling experts, is grossed by the British football pools. The eight major pools took in $339,360,000 in 1972. The players got back 50% of this ($169,680,000) in prize money, called ‘dividends.” About 30%, or $101,808,000, went to the government in taxes, 17%, or $57,691,200, went for overhead, and the legal limit of 3%, or $10,180,800, to the promoters as profit. The top prize award for a two pence wager can run as high as $1,500,000 or more.

The $10 billion U.S. Numbers handle for 1973 broke down approximately as follows: 47% came back to players as prize money; 40% paid salaries, operational expenses, lawyers’ fees and fines: 7% ($700 million) was retained by the operators as profits. The final 6%, or $600 miffion, went to corrupt politicians and law-enforcement agents as the illegitimate tax called graft or ice. It is called ice because it is used to cool off the officials so the heat won’t go on.
The state and Federal share in taxes was: 0%.

Playing a Crossruff

On some hands the declarer does not attempt to draw trumps at any point of the play. Instead, he makes as many tricks as he can in the trump suit by taking ruffs in each hand.

When North, in response to the Blackwood four no- trump, shows two aces by his five-heart bid, South judges that the small slam may require a successful heart finesse, at worst.

The play of the hand will depend to some extent on the defense. Suppose, first, that West begins with two rounds of clubs. After ruffling the second round South can see twelve almost certain tricks by way of a CROSSRUFF. He will plan to make all the trumps separately. First he should cash the ace and king of spades and the ace of hearts. Then he can claim all the rest of the tricks, for nothing can prevent him from making the next eight tricks with high trumps.

Suppose, however, that West leads a trump at trick 2. South will need then to finesse the queen of hearts, cash the ace, and proceed with the crossruff as before. If the opening lead is a trump, South must be careful about the order of play: win in dummy, finesse heart queen, ruff heart; ace and king of spades, ruff heart; ruff spade, ruff last heart.

Reversing the Dummy

While it is usual to look for ruffs in the hand that is relatively short of trumps, sometimes it pays to take several ruffs in the longer hand. Suppose you begin with three trumps in dummy, five in your own hand: if you can ruff three times in your hand, then draw the outstanding trumps from dummy, you have extended the trick-winning power of the trump suit from five to six.

South plays in a contract of six hearts and West leads the king of spades. The declarer has eleven top tricks. Looking at it the other way, he has two possible losers in clubs.

The simplest way to make a twelfth trick may appear to lie in club finesse. A much stronger line is to take three spade ruffs in hand. This is called REVERSING THE DUMMY.

South wins the spade lead, ruffs a spade, and can afford to test the trump situation by leading the ace of hearts and a heart to the 9. If it turned out that the trumps were 4—1 he would have to abandon the dummy reversal and rely on the club finesse. As it is, all players follow to two rounds of trumps.

South ruffs the third round of spades, crosses to the jack of diamonds, and ruffs the last spade. Then he enters dummy with the king of diamonds and uses the last heart in dummy to draw the outstanding trump. It is the mark of reverse dummy play that at the finish dummy has the long trump.

As all have followed to four rounds of spades, it is safe now to finesse the queen of clubs for an overtrick. The finesse loses but South makes the rest of the tricks.

Establishing a Suit by Huffing

One of the most valuable uses of the trump suit is to establish a side suit by ruffing. At no trump not much can be done with a combination such as A x x x x op. posited a singleton, but in a trump contract it is quite common for the declarer to establish the fifth round. Here the side suit is somewhat stronger:

South plays in a contract of four spades. The defenders take the first three tricks in hearts and then West switches to a low club.

It is unlikely that West would have led a club from the king at this point, and as he has other chances South goes up with the ace. His general plan is to establish a winner in diamonds, on which his club loser can be discarded.

It would be a mistake to draw more than one round of trumps, because the trump suit may be needed for entry to the table. Declarer takes one round of spades with the ace, and then plays the king and ace of diamonds, followed by a low diamond from dummy.

When East follows to the third diamond South has to decide whether to ruff low or with the queen. Since the contract will be safe if either trumps are 2—2 or diamonds 3—3, it is right for South to ruff with the queen, avoiding a possible over ruff. When West shows out, South plays a spade to the jack, and his worries are over when both opponents follow suit. He leads a fourth diamond and ruffs, then enters dummy with the king of spades and cashes the fifth diamond, discarding the queen of clubs. His last card is a winning trump.

Winning Hands In Poker Game

The various card combinations that produce winning hands are the same as in regular poker. Let It Ride uses one standard 52-card deck with no wild cards. The value of a hand depends on which of the fol lowing card combinations it contains, listed in order from the highest to the lowest.

Royal Flush: Five consecutive cards, ten through ace, all of the same suit. Simply stated, it is an ace-high straight flush. This is the highest- value hand in Let It Ride. The odds of getting a royal flush are 1 in 649,740 hands. Straight Flush: Five consecutive cards, all of the same suit. The odds of getting a straight flush (excluding a royal flush) are 1 in 72,193 hands. Four-of-a-kind: Four cards of the same rank. The fifth card is unrelated to the others. The odds of being dealt four-of-a-kind are 1 in 4,165 hands.

Full House: Three cards of the same rank and two cards of another rank, that is, three-of-a-kind and a pair. The odds of getting a full house are 1 in 694 hands. Flush: Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence. The odds of getting a flush are 1 in 509 hands. Straight: Five consecutive cards of mixed suits. An ace may be either the lowest card as in A 2345 or the highest card as in 10 J Q K A. The odds of getting a straight are 1 in 255 hands.

Three-of-a-kind: Three cards of the same rank. The remaining two cards are unrelated. The odds of getting three-of-a-kind are about 1 in 47 hands. Two Pair: A pair of one rank and a pair of another rank. The fifth card is unrelated. The odds of getting two pair are about 1 in 21 hands. One Pair: Two cards of the same rank. The three remaining cards are unrelated. The odds of getting any pair are about 1 in 2.4 hands. The lowest winning hand in Let It Ride is a pair of tens. The odds of getting a pair of tens or any better hand is 1 in 1.63.

Poker game in California

The casino rule is that you are not supposed to show your cards to any other players. Is there any advantage to seeing other players’ cards? Only for the banker, and especially if the banker is another player. Theoretically, there is no advantage to the dealer because she has to set her hand strictly according to unvarying house rules. However, there is no assurance to the player that this always happens. It would, without a doubt, be a tremendous advantage for a player to see the banker’s cards, but this is unlikely to ever happen.

Of course, the rule is broken whenever a player asks the dealer for help in setting his hand. This gives the banker/player a look at what he has to beat. It doesn’t matter as much at a full table, because if the banker I player breaks strategy rules to beat the exposed hand, he might end up losing against more of the other hands. With only two or three players, however, there is a clear advantage.

OVERCOMING THE HOUSE EDGE

Aside from blackjack, Pai Cow Poker is the only casino game in which it is theoretically possible to overcome the house edge. The modifier theoretical is used because from a practical standpoint, beating the house is not easy to do. However, because it is possible, this is a subject that needs to be addressed.

The theoretical possibility of beating the house is due to the fact that a banker / player in Pai Cow Poker can have as much as a 0.4% edge over the house under optimum conditions. Most of the time the advantage probably comes closer to 0.2%, but it is still an advantage. Besides winning all copy hands, the other benefit is that the 5% rake is applied to the net aggregate win (wins minus losses) instead of each individual win. Since a player usually gets the opportunity to bank on every seventh hand, how is it possible to overcome the player’s negative expectation of 2.5 to 2.8%? It ain’t easy!
Obviously, the only way to overcome the house edge in Pai Cow Poker is by trying to bank as often as possible. And that alone is not enough. The following conditions are necessary to have any chance of overcoming the house edge:

• A table in which the other players are betting heavily— considerably above the table minimum.
• A table in which the players are all declining the bank and the dealer is willing to let you bank every second or third hand.

This situation is no longer easy to find.

• When not banking, you should wager no more than the table minimum.

When the above conditions are optimal, the long-term expectation can actually become positive. To succeed, however, you must fully understand the best playing strategy and your bankroll must be large enough to sustain potential losses when banking the game.

CONCLUSION

Having gotten its start in the cardrooms of California, Pai Gow Poker is really a gambler’s game. Nevada upped the rake to 5% so it is more difficult to beat the edge, even for a player who banks a lot. Yet, if you never take the bank, the house edge is only 2.85%, assuming you play correctly. Because all the betting is at even money and there are so many pushes, your bankroll will not fluctuate excessively. All in all, the game is a fun and leisurely experience that will not drain your bankroll at an excessive rate. Although the strategy can get somewhat complicated, Pai Cow Poker is basically a very easy game to play.

Blind Stud

I am going to tell you about a interesting game called Blind Stud. Sometimes called Mike and Racehorse, this is a form of speel poker in which all the cards are dealt down, but there is no draw. It can be played with five, six, or seven cards. The average winning hands are about the same as for Five-, Six-, or Seven-Card Stud.
In the seven-card form, each player receives three down cards before the first betting interval occurs. Down card, bet. Down card, bet. Down card, bet. Final down card, final bet. The staying requirements are the same as for Seven-Card Stud.
In the six-card form, each player receives two down cards before the first betting interval. Down card, bet. And so on until six cards are down. The staying requirements are the same as for Six-Card Stud. In this game, never call on low two-card straights and flushes.
In the five-card form, each player receives two down cards before the first betting interval, and the game proceeds as in the six-card form until each active player has five down cards. The staying requirements include any pair, two high cards, or an ace with a middling card.
Generally, Blind Stud buds good pots, but it is of course more of gamble than the regular stud forms. Also, it doesn't give the expert as much opportunity for card analysis and strategy.

California Poker

As I know, if you draws to an 8-high hand, that's another sign of poor poker play. Study the strategy for draw poker, lowball before entering any game at the California clubs.

In the lower-limit games you'll find more bad players than in the games with a higher limit. The more money at stake, the better will be the competition.
The California games are good places to get your feet wet in competition speel poker online. The rentals aren't much of a cut, and the stakes are pretty low. As you improve, get into bigger and bigger games, and when you've mastered all the limit games in California, go for the high-stakes games in the Nevada casinos.
One final word. In the poker clubs, though it's perfectly legitimate and patrolled, you’ll be playing against strangers, strangers who will be handling the cards during the deal. Be alert and cautious. I'm always careful when playing among strangers, no matter where or under what circumstances.

Reading Opponents Playing Patterns

Getting a fix on an opponent's patterns at poker is an ongoing 4ynamic search. It continues as long as we play the game. We are looking for two things: Pattern of play and pattern of deception. (I play with a man who raises with a pair of tens. The player does the same for 10-jack suited). We also need to get a fix on those players who will raise on less than premium hands, and it's especially important to discover what position means to them. For instance, will they raise on K-Q off suit in middle position? How about A-J off suit?

I remember a hand I played with Ralph. Ralph is a position-conscious poker player who would not think of raising in an early position without a premium pair. I put a reliability factor of 95 percent on my judgment of his position play. I was next to last and called on a five-six suited. Ralph raised in the big blind. When the play got back to me it was six-handed, so it made sense for me to call the raise, especially since I felt I knew exactly what Ralph had. For him to raise two places to the left of the button (big blind), he either had a pair of aces or kings. It was even unlikely that he had a pair of queens. The flop came 3-4-7 in three different suits.

Naturally Ralph bet and I as well as two others called.
On fourth street, he bet again and I raised him and other man who had turned two pair re-raised. Ralph still called, and I, of course, re-raised. Ralph also called the final bet. My point is that because of his previous play, a fellow player and I knew exactly what Ralph had in his hand. That is the kind of pattern information we need to win the most money. It's also the kind of information we need to keep our play from being too readable.

Whatever games we play in, we need to pick up the clues at are given to us. Some players will have a high reliability factor and others will vary their play enough so that you won't get much of a fix on them.

Tells are great to discover, but careful observations of the patterns is even more profitable. Watch carefully for the pattern of play and the pattern of deception.

Bsic Principles Of Winning

Suppose, in a $10-maximum game of poker, you've won $400. All right. You're a big winner and have reached the outer limits of your expected win. However, the cards are still going your way. You now invest 20 percent of that $400, $80, and if you lose that $80, you're out of the game, no ifs, ands, or buts.

In other words, you're allowing a retreat of no more than 20 percent of your winnings, with the expectation that you will be able to win even more money. If your good fortune continues, stay in the game. If you win another $100, then again use the same principle of continuing to gamble with 20 percent of your total winnings. Now you have a $100 leeway. Keep going until you lose that 20 percent, and then get out.

You may find yourself ahead $800. In that case, you play on till you lose $160 of that money. What happens if you never lose that 20 percent but keep winning? Then keep playing as long as you can keep your eyes open. You're heading for a magnificent win, a beautiful session of poker-take full advantage of it.

This is a "stop-loss" system, the same method used by in¬vestors in the stock market, who, after having a stock rise, set loss limits against their profits by automatically selling out at certain prices. This method allows us to let our winnings ride and limits our losses from those winnings.

Tilt Prevention

A well known player of my mostly visited poker table named as Harry. He was steamed and everyone knew it. Harry had flop a black ace on the board to go with his pair of red aces in the pocket. This was a low-limit ($3-$6) Hold'Em game and the complete flop was A ••• -6. -10. Harry had the opportunity to rise after the flop and merely called because he wanted to keep the players in. He slow played that set of aces into a full-blown tilt. A pretty little lady named Billie was on the button and she called before the flop raise and the $3 bet after the flop with 3.-4 •. Bless her soul.

You have already guessed that the turn card gave that pretty lady a straight draw. She caught the seven of clubs on 4th street and got a red five on the river. Billie giggled as she stacked the chips and tossed the dealer two dollars.

Meanwhile, Harry percolated. In my head, I considered how I could take advantage of poor Harry's temper tantrum. It isn’t nice to do that, but when I am at the poker table, I don't have a bleeding heart. I check the nice guy part of me at the door. When I see an opening, I go for it and encourage you to do the same. If you can't cope with a tilt, stay out of a poker game. Especially low-limit poker. Low-limit poker is a draw-out game and you will lose a lot of pots on the last card. Tilt and low-limit go together like jelly and peanut butter.