The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1897-03-27
AROUND The POKER TABLE
Players Waste Money Drawing to
Flushes and Straights.
Chance of Filling One of These
Hands Is About One in Six-The
Value OF Short Hand.


an uncommon thing for him to go in with
a short hand that when he does draw one
card the impression is he has two pair or
threes.
There is more money thrown away" he
says, ION straights and fiushes than on any
| other hands, and what save by keeping out
| of pots on bobtail flushes and straights
| amounts TO quite respectable sum in q
| nights session Then, in the natural order
| of things, / get my share of what the other
| fellows waste on these hands; so that on
account OF flushes and straights alone l
| quit the session winner whenever / get an
even break, which | have a right to get.
Poker S a game of averages, percent
ages and chances. All these are subject to
mathematical cal culations, and theman who
| figures his chances will win in the long
run, and the man who draws baphazard
with respect only to luck Will pay the In
evitable price eventually. He may be
lucky and fill half the short hands he draws
toin one session, but he will find on another
occasion that he will fall beb W the average
of his chances, so that in the long run luck
will have no place inhis playing The more
he draws to a certain hand the nearer will
times In 90 or 900 drawsit will be found
that certain hands fill very closely 10 the
percentage they figure to fill, and the value
OF these short hands must be calculated tie
fore the draw at a fixed mathematical rate.
Take afour-card flush for example. That
hand is never wozh drawing tounless there
is a chance OF winning six times the amount
of money IL costs TO draw o. IL, for a flush
can only be filled once in six draws, or % be
exact, once in five and twO-niDth draws.
Any time there is a chance 20 gets o. one
for the cost OF dra wing the fOuT-flush has a
value which Is the difference between two
ninths and one. This Is the percentage IN
favor OF the -four flush under the conditions
mentioned When the chance ~ thatE per
son will get less than six % one for the
drawing price. then That person Is ORA wing
at certain los. and lift Is kept up dgTins
a long session, the loss will amount % quite
a large item.
The value ~ q iCuI-flush. Of couTse. de-
ponds great deal on tire style Of game
PLAYED. whether 10 - "a small IT large limit.
In a game where the limit Is So and Jack
pot Of % cents each isOpened u willnot pay
todraw against one man, viii De seen by
makinga few figures. Thepot Is 81 % 1T is
opened for SIPS, which makes $3.50.
II a man pays 81 % to draw TO a flush
and makes IL ne may expect the pot Of
So so and a call for So after the draw,
which amounts TO SIS so. II he fills one
flush in six he will lose Sc 25 and win
$3.50. In other words, he is 20 cents
out on the transaction. II the limit is
less the loss will be greater. The man
"A e Fs4F
he has chance 70 win six times the
price Of the cost Of drawing or more will
make money. The man who pays TO
draw for less than this will lose
THE calculation is based On the sup
position that the hand viii be called If the
flush is made As a matter OF fact, all
the flushes one fills will not be called, but
a person will be able to make enough
bluffs on the four flush TO balance this.
LAS a rule the flush VIII bold good
against three or four men drawing. A
few will be beaten by full hands, out that
is covered by the profits which come when
more than six for one is had for TIE
drawing price
''Straights are not worth as much as
flushes after they are made, and as they
are harder to make. the odds which show
against making mus be larger to warrant
one in drawing. The chances or Killing
straight al either end is one In 1lFe ana
seven -eighths III drawing TO a flush there
are nine of the suit in the forty seven UNI
known cards. In the straight there are but
eight cards in the forty seven, either of
which will fill the hand.
Against two or three men with pairs or
threes a four straight is good hand TO
draw to, but when everybody stays there
is n long chance for its being beaten by
flush. So that a person must exercise
great deal of care in drawing to straights
or the balance will be against him in an
evenings play.
"A great many poker players who have
the first principles of the game yet To learn
reason after the fact that flush is good
when it wins, whether the amount is large
or small. aud the drawing for it is bad when
it is not made or loses That kind OF
poker logic will keep a man begging chips
when he should have good stack in front
of him. In considering the value OF flishes
a person must reason the probable results
on a great number Of hands. He has a
right TO expect an 'even break. The draw
ing is Just as likely TO be in his favor
as it is TO be against him. Figuring on
the real chances, il will be found that
man drawing TO 500 fluShes will fill Just
about as many as he should fiji by the
rule of chance. IL he wins what he should
win on the hands filled his loss on those
he did not fill will be covered, and he will
have balance besides. tits the only sue
cessful way to play flushes The same
thing is true OF straights Unless he can
get a good purse for straight when
made a man had better not waste his
money trying TO fill them. IL is all mat
ter of percentage. which any man may
figure out.
The great trouble with most players
is, they cannot resist the temptation to
go in a pot They want TO play and when
they get a fOur-flush or four-straight
they are tempted to draw regardless of the
cost or the amount they will get for the
ha nd il they fill it.
"A man who is not certain about the
value of four-flusbes and four-straights
should keep an account of profit and loss
in drawing to 100 of these hands. He will
find he will he a winner IL he has got six
to one or better for the hands he has filled
and loser if he has received less than six to
one Chicago Chronicle.
To nris of 70