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Finding Tells with Guts and Feel
On Super Bowl weekend in 2001, all of the players had been eliminated from the $5,000 buy-in World Poker Challenge’s Championship event except renowned player Mike Laing, with $200,000 in chips, and unknown Bill Eichel, who had $630,000 in chips. The two were locked in a one-on-one poker duel and the game was no-limit hold’em, where you can bet any amount at any time.
With 166 entries, first place in this event would pay $331,000; second place $166,000. Not bad for two days work at the Reno Hilton! Besides the money, a measure of history was at stake. This event figured to be one of the top-six “Prestigious Poker Events” of 2001. If it were pro golf, we would call it a “major.”
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Texas Hold’em Basics: Here’s the Deal
Texas Hold’em poker takes five minutes to learn but a lifetime to master — so says traditional thinking. From the outset, it appears simple: After the four rounds of betting are complete, each player forms the best possible five-card hand by selecting three cards from the five “shared” community cards and his or her two hidden “hole” cards.
Granted, there’s a little more to the game than that.
First, we determine whose deal it is (it’s the player left of the last dealer), and award that person the white round plastic “dealer’s button.” Then the person to the left of the button posts the “small blind” required bet and the person two to the left of the button posts the “big blind,” which is almost always set at double the amount of the small blind. (By the way, blind size determines the betting level of the game.)
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