Some Basic Stuff...

I want to write to the beginning poker player, at least at first. I am really hoping that those less experienced than I will benefit from my blog. If you are such a person and don't understand a concept or the lingo I am using please make a comment and I will try to clarify. Similarly, if you disagree with me on anything, please comment! I really want to improve my game, and would rather have my misconceptions exposed here than at the poker table.

Ranks and suits

For now I will use this short-hand when indicating specific cards: Ranks are pretty obvious -A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, & 2. "h" means hearts, "d" means diamonds, "c" means clubs and "s" means spades. So "As" is the ace of spades and "2c" is the two of clubs". Simple, right? Sometimes the exact suits are irrelevant to the hand under discussion and it is only important to know if two cards are suited or not. In such cases "s" means suited (two cards of matching suit) and "o" means off-suit (two cards of different suits). You will find this short hand is universally used in poker blogs and magazines. "A8o" means ace and 8 off-suit. "QJs" means queen jack suited. Clear?

Position

It will be important to indicate where at the table you and your opponents will be sitting. Again I will use common phrases and shorthand to indicate position. In a nine player hold 'em game, the first player to act (sitting to the left of the big blind) is referred to as being "under the gun" (utg), the next two are in early position (ep), the next two are in middle position (mp), and although both the next two are in late position (lp), the one guy sitting to the right of the small blind is "the button" (b). The button is the strategically best place to be sitting. Next come the small blind (sb) and the big blind (bb). Make sense?

It's no-limit hold' em, unless otherwise indicated.

I am going to be writing (at least at first) almost exclusively about hold 'em - the dominant form of poker. If I don't specify what kind of poker I'm talking about, just assume it's hold 'em. I will mostly be talking about no-limit hold 'em, but may talk about limit hold 'em as well. If I don't specify, assume it's no-limit.