How does poker work?

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I've found poker interesting, merely for the fact that people actually seem to be good at it. I know the rules, and I've played a couple games, but I still have no idea how it works. It's a game based entirely around luck. You either get good cards or you don't, and you bet accordingly. But whenever I play, or even watch other people play, the same people always seem to win. That's indicative of skill, which shouldn't be a factor in a luck-based game. Anyone want to fill me in? How do people actually get good at poker?

A good player can calculate the odds of the other players having better hands. You can increase the odds by keeping track of the cards that have been played. Someone who is an "idiot savant" may be able to keep track of all the cards. Card counters, consider cheaters by casinos, just keep track of the high value cards.

There is also the aspect of being able to read the other players. While you might think that an Aspie might be at a disadvantage in not being able to read body language, he may have an advantage in not being "readable."

Last edited by BTDT on 22 Feb 2017, 10:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

I don't get that either. From what you're telling me, the only valid strategy in a poker game is also considered cheating. If you're supposed to go in blind, how is it possible for there to be poker champions? The mere fact that it's based on luck and chance, and that strategizing is forbidden, should mean that nobody can win those games consistently enough to be made a champion.

Poker is typically played with "house" rules. The entity that provides the location typically gets to add extra rules to the game. They can throw you out of the house if you don't follow those special rules. Casinos don't like card counters because it flips the odds in favor of the player. Since Casinos are private property they can throw you out.

https://www.888poker.com/magazine/strat ... -counting/

There are ALOT of ways to strategize in poker that dont involve counting cards.

A good deal of it (as in, the majority of it) isnt that it's "you VS the cards" (AKA, pure luck) but insteaed "you VS the other players". The important part isnt just what happens with YOUR hand of cards: It's what happens with your hand of cards WHEN COMPARED TO YOUR OPPONENTS. All the bluffing and "psychological warfare" aspects are a really huge part of the game... things like that (some of thoese things of course being exactly the kinds of things that plenty of us here at this site have a hard time with). Things of that nature take what could originally be seen as a game of luck, and make it into a game of deep tactics.

But the easiest way for you to get an idea for yourself is, honestly, to just go look it up. Lots of sites out there go into all sorts of different strategies/tips, and they're never things like "How to GET THE ULTIMATE HAND EVERY TIME!! !!1!!1" because that doesnt even make sense. Heck, the vast majority of poker hands, from what I'm told, are super-minor types (like, one pair, or stuff like that, the "big" ones dont come into play much). And of course there's also mathematical aspects, like understanding what the odds of a particular thing happening are, but that bit is kinda obvious.


Someone I know got into poker a couple of years back and was just entranced by it, so I've heard quite a bit about it at this point.

I'll describe the "texas holdem" variant, which is the most common one in casinos and on tv, as well as the one that is the 'easiest' to become truly good at.
In this version, players have 2 cards each, which are kept secret to the others, and 5 more cards are placed on the table for everyone to use, with betting rounds in between.
step 1: everyone gets his 2 cards
- Betting round
step 2: 3 cards are placed open on the table
- betting round
step 3: one more card is opened
- betting round
step 4: the last card is opened
- betting round
step 5: the 'private' cards are revealed, and the person with the best combination of 5 cards (out of the 7 he can use; his own 2 and the 5 "shared") wins it all.

A certain number of players indeed "go in blind" (typically, 2), but these change every round.
You need to calculate the odds of the cards you need being turned open next turn; where "i need any spades" has a decently good chance (roughly 1 in 4, but lower if your opponents also have spades in-hand, which you don't know), but "i need the queen of hearts" is so unlikely that you can assume it won't happen.

Next up, you determine the "strength" of the "hand" you got (a pair, a straight, what have you), as well as what you think the others have (based on the visible cards and their bets)

The strategy comes in to play during betting; how much you bet on each round (relative to the total pot) gives an indication of the relative value of his hand (do i have the best set that is possible with these shared cards, is it decent, do i have nothing yet, but a good chance to get something good...)

In between, you can try to identify the subconcious reactions of other players when cards are opened, and try to send fake signals yourself.