Anotv document

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Winning Secrets
of Online Poker
Douglas W. Frye and
Curtis D. Frye

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(c) 2005 by Thomson Course Technology PTR. All rights reserved.
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This book is dedicated to our parents
David and Jane.

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Acknowledgments
Doug Frye
I would like to thank Mitzi Koontz, our acquisitions editor, for her belief in this project and for
her hard work in helping make it a reality. Kim Benbow, our friendly, intelligent, and always
responsive copy editor, was forced to fi gure out what the heck we were talking about, but she
was without fail able to steer us toward lucidity. Our long-term involvement with the game
took us into "poker-speak" at times, and her feedback brought us back to proper English. That
being said, Curt and I had fi nal say over what ultimately went in and how it was worded, so as
much as we would love to shift the blame for mistakes, the blame is 100 percent ours.
My deepest appreciation goes out to the folks at StudioB for their strong representation.
Neil Salkind has played a major role in getting Curt's talents and ability recognized and
rewarded with consistent work. He, and recently Laura Lewin, have worked diligently to
help me establish a foothold in the writing business. They are unfailingly professional and
nice folks to boot. Thank you.
I would next like to note the role Wilson Software's products have played in my game's
development. Their software has helped me weed out many imperfections in how I play;
any remaining shortcomings are solely my fault. They graciously provided the most
recent versions of their products to us for use with this book, but it is important to note
that we chose them as the company whose products we would use only after having paid
full price for many of them over several years before this book was conceived.
I can't fail to mention several of the closest poker friends I've made over the years. Johnny,
Robin, Tina, Jae-gor, Kim, Steve, Heather, and Larry--it's been great getting to know you.
I've met a lot of good and friendly dealers and fl oor people over the years as well. It's a
stressful job, I know.
Finally, thanks to my twin brother and co-author Curt for everything, but for this book espe-
cially. He helped get me through my fi rst major writing project with no permanent damage.
Curt Frye
First off, I'd like to thank Doug for coming up with the idea for this book. Good ideas
often seem obvious in retrospect, but I'm surprised no one had ever gone beyond the
basics of tracking your poker results or how to use the Wilson Software Turbo Poker
series to test your strategies. I'd also like to thank Mitzi Koontz, our acquisitions editor,
for putting her faith and her company's money into this project. Kim Benbow did a great
job editing our text: tweaking here, querying there, and helping to fi x the inevitable
repetitions that crop up when two writers work in parallel. Thanks also go out to Mike
Tanamachi for his interior design and to Danielle Foster for the interior layout.
I'd also like to thank my agent, Neil Salkind, and David and Sherry Rogelberg of StudioB.
They've helped my writing career take off.
iv

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Contents at a Glance


Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Part I

Chapter 1
So What Is This Online Poker Thing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Chapter 2
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Chapter 3
The Mechanics of Online Poker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chapter 4
Games You Can Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Chapter 5
Cash Games versus Tournaments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Chapter 6
Playing the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Chapter 7
Cheating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Part II

Chapter 8
Starting Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Chapter 9
The Flop and Fourth Street . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Chapter 10
The Turn and Fifth and Sixth Streets . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Chapter 11
Playing the River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Part III

Chapter 12
Evaluating Your Play Using Spreadsheets . . . . . . . . 164

Chapter 13
Analyzing Your Game Using Poker Software . . . . . . 196
Part IV

Chapter 14
Turning Data into Discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Chapter 15
Maintaining a Stable Playing Environment . . . . . . . 234

Chapter 16
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238


About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243


Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
v

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Contents


Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Part I

Chapter 1
So What Is This Online Poker Thing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A Potted History of Online Poker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Online Poker Is Taking Over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Positives, Negatives, and Legalities of Online Poker . . . . . . . . . . 4
Reasons to Play Poker Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Reasons Not to Play Poker Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Online Poker: Legal or Not?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Chapter 2
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Basic System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Selecting a Site and Installing the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Other Ways Online Poker Rooms Compete for
Your Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Branding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Player Perks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Depositing Money into an Account and Cashing Out . . . . . . . . . 14
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter 3
The Mechanics of Online Poker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Poker Hands' Rankings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Mandatory Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Player Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Table Stakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
vi

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Contents

Chapter 4
Games You Can Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Playing Flop Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Hold 'Em . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Omaha (High Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Pineapple (High Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Seven-Card Stud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Playing the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
High-Low Split Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Qualifying and Evaluating Low Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
High-Low Split Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Dividing a Pot with Multiple Winners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Chapter 5
Cash Games versus Tournaments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Playing in Cash Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Analyzing Cash Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Going to Your Pocket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Formulating Cash Game Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Playing in Tournaments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Buying In to a Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Practicing Tournament Play. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Recommended Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Chapter 6
Playing the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
The Lobby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Figuring Out Which Tournament or Table to Join . . . . . . . . . . 55
The Cards Are Out! Now What Do I Do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Other Stuff You Need to Know About Game Play . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Playing Multiple Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Chapter 7
Cheating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Predicting the Order of a Shuffl ed Deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
vii

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Contents
Augmenting Your Play with Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Collusion Between Two or More Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Surrounding the Sucker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Correcting Odds on Draws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Detecting Cheating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Relying on the House to Police the Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Detecting Cheating on Your Own. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Part II

Chapter 8
Starting Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Choosing Starting Hands in Flop Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Understanding Why Position Makes a Difference . . . . . . . . . . 74
Choosing Starting Hands in Hold 'Em . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Choosing Starting Hands in Omaha High . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Choosing Starting Hands in Omaha High-Low . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Choosing Starting Hands in Pineapple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Choosing Starting Hands in Pineapple High-Low . . . . . . . . . . 94
Choosing Starting Hands in Stud Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Choosing Starting Hands in Seven-Card Stud . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Choosing Starting Hands in Seven-Card Stud High-Low. . . . . 97
Choosing Starting Hands in Razz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Chapter 9
The Flop and Fourth Street . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
The Cards Come Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Hold 'Em Flops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Omaha High and High-Low Flops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Conclusion: How Much Thinking Can One Do in a Minute? . . 123

Chapter 10
The Turn and Fifth and Sixth Streets . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
The Fourth (or Fifth) Card Comes Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Hold 'Em Turns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
viii

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Contents
Omaha High and High-Low (Twists and) Turns . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Chapter 11
Playing the River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Playing the River in Hold 'Em and Pineapple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Playing When You Have the Nuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Playing When You Have a Strong Hand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Playing When You Have a Marginal Hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Playing When You Have a Weak Hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Playing the River in Omaha High . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Playing When You Have the Nuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Playing When You Have a Strong Hand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Playing When You Have a Marginal or Weak Hand . . . . . . . . 152
Playing the River in Omaha High-Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Playing When You Have the Nut Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Playing When You Have the Second Nut Low . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Playing When You Have an Emergency Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Playing the River in Seven-Card Stud. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Playing When You Have a Full House or Higher . . . . . . . . . . 154
Playing When You Have a Straight or Flush. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Playing When You Have Trips or Two Pair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Playing When You Have One Pair or Worse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Playing the River in Seven-Card Stud High-Low . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Playing When You Have the Nut Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Playing When You Have the Second or Third Nut Low . . . . . 160
Playing When You Have an Emergency Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Playing the River in Razz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Part III

Chapter 12
Evaluating Your Play Using Spreadsheets . . . . . . . . 164
Keeping Detailed Written Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
ix

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