Dear Dr Tom,
Because of the luck involved in poker it can be quite tricky to judge your own true abilities. I know I’m up at my local casino, but I’ve only been playing there four or five hours a night, two nights a week for a year. Is this enough to call myself a winning player, or could I still be a lucky payer? How many hands do you have to play before variance evens out? Does variance EVER even out?
Darren K., Edinburgh
Folding Kings
Dear Dr Tom,
Dan Harrington says it’s crazy to pass kings pre-flop in a tournament, yet great players can do it. What are you thoughts on the matter?
Paul, Greenford
When a foul-mouthed force of nature called __FullFlush1__ began ripping into the highest stakes on the net in February, the chatter on the forums went crazy. He must be on a massive heater, they reasoned. He’s bound to go broke soon. But __FullFlush1__ did not go broke. He continued to tear into the best players in the world with impeccable reads and fearsome bluffs.
I recently noticed a very comparable position between my 15-year-old son’s experience with simultaneous equations and the way a lot of new poker players learn poker from the net and TV.
There’s a certain sense of inevitability about that next bad beat when you’ve had a run of seven beats in a row. You’re all in, the guy turns over a flush draw and you put your best sarcastic voice on: “I wonder if you’ll hit?” you say.
Dear Dr Tom,
I am a beginning poker player trying to get to grips with online play. Are there any poker sites that are particularly good for beginners? And is there any tuition software that you can particularly recommend?
Yours,
Fishy,
Cyberspace