Teaching How to Play Winning Poker Part 2

In the first part of this series, we told you how the course came to be and how it evolved; and why the classroom environment is ideal for teaching the game of poker.

About the course. In all, the course consisted of seven sessions, each 1 and a half hours long. The first hour was spent on lecture and class discussion. The last part of each session was devoted to actually dealing and playing hands of hold'em. That gave the students hands-on experience and an opportunity to ask questions in real time. We played only with chips. No money was involved.

The course content was organized around my Poker for Winners! book. It helps to have a textbook to which the students can refer before, during and after the course. Some brought questions to class based on their reading of the textbook prior to class. Discussing their individual questions was helpful to all of the class members. (I always encourage class participation in discussions.) Sometimes there were questions or comments about previous class lectures.

We started with some introductory material and briefly covered the basics of both 7-card stud and Texas hold'em, followed by poker terminology and pertinent definitions unique to the game of poker - such as spread limit, structured limit, pot-limit, and no-limit games; table stakes; string bets (it helps to demonstrate this); "cards speak;" going "all-in;" jackpots and bonuses, and the difference between "monster hands" and the "nuts." We showed how to look at your hole cards so that you don't inadvertently expose them to opponents. Later in the course, we also discussed check-raises, slowplay, raising/reraising to reduce the size of the playing field (RSPF), "tells," overcards and overcalls, assessing and "reading" your opponents.

(After this class, one student thanked me for helping her to understand these terms. Poker does have a language of its own!)

Then we delved into my four Basic Rules for Winning at the Game of Poker. (I only teach WINNING poker. With these rules you are guaranteed to be a winner over the long run -- not every session but certainly the majority). We concentrated on Texas hold'em because that's the game they really want to play. (In subsequent courses, we focused only on Texas hold'em.)

After learning the four Basic Rules, we explored "made" vs. "drawing" hands - what they are and the best overall strategy in each case. (It's very important to understand the difference between these, and the appropriate strategies in each case.) I presented what I call my "A-B Chart" to show why, from a basic probability standpoint, it is to your advantage to start with a strong hand. This also served as an introduction to an understanding of the concept of probabilities and odds.

We spent considerable time discussing and analyzing various strategies. As part of that, we probed further into basic probability theory and its application in key decisions while playing WINNING poker. For example, why do we want to play against fewer than four opponents when we start with a made hand?

What is the best strategy for playing A-K? (That strategy may differ from the way many poker players play this hand.) When and how should we play small pairs? When does it make good sense to raise with a drawing hand? Why is occasional bluffing statistically a good move - if you do it properly? How does position effect our decisions? (Very important!) I even gave the class some homework exercises (no grades) to calculate the card odds for several typical situations. They learned the difference between "chance" and "odds." And we discussed how to calculate the pot odds and the meaning of "implied pot odds;" and how to use this information along with the card odds in making important decisions. (I treat poker as an investment: You want to get the best return-on-investment, ROI.)

By then my hold'em algorithm had been published; so we included it as part of the class instruction: how it was developed and how to use it. As in every rule, there are always bound to be exceptions; we explored the exceptions to the hold'em algorithm criteria.

Later in the course, just prior to our own tournament during the final session of the class, we took the time to review the hold'em algorithm and concomitant basic criteria, and how to use these. Both classes were combined for our own tournament - with wrapped prizes for the top five players with the most chips at the end of two hours of play. It was a lively event - even though we were not playing for money!

Ready to go out into the real world. At this point, my students were ready to go out into the world of brick-and-mortar poker casinos and online playing. Following the seventh and last class, the special hold'em tournament hosted by the Hustler Casino (which we discussed in part I) gave the "graduates" a great real-world experience - although many of them had been playing for quite a while before they enrolled in the class. (Some had never before been in a poker room, although they had visited Las Vegas or Indian casinos in the past.)

Several stayed to play in cash games after our tournament. One of the men, Allen B., sought me out that evening as he was preparing to leave. "Today," he said, "has been one of the most enjoyable days of my life!" One group of students formed their own Friday-night home game. (They invited me to participate, but I declined. I would feel guilty if I won; and what if I lost. . .)

Part III will conclude this series with a discussion about teaching philosophy; some advanced concepts; and other pertinent topics.