The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-03-19
AROUND THE POKER TABLE.
Players Waste Money Drawing to
FIushcs and Straights.
From the Chicago Chronicle.

From the Chicago Chronicle.
One of the wisest men who sits in the
gentlemens game of poker very seldom
draws to a flush or straight 1t is such
an uncommon thing for him to go in with
short hand that when he does draw one
card the impression is he has two pairs
or threes.
There is more money thrown away"
he says, ION straights and Pushes than on
any other hands, and what l save by
keeping out of pots on bob-tail tiushes
and straights amounts to quite respect
able sum in a nights session Then in the
natural order of things L get my share of
what the other fellows waste on these
hands, so that on account of Pushes and
straghts alone l quit the session winner
whenever 1 get an even break, which l
have a right to get.
Poker is a game of averages, percent
ages and chances. All these are subject
to mathematical calculation, and the man
who figures his chances will win in the
long run, and the man who draws hap
hazard with respect only to luck Will
pay the inevitable price eventually. He
may be lucky and fill half the short hands
he draws to in one session, but he will
find on another occasion that he will fall
below the average of his chances, so that
in the long run luck will have no place
in his playing. The more he draws to
certain hand the nearer will he come to
making il the proper number of times. In
100 or 500 draws 1t will be found that GER
tain hands fill very closely to the percent
age they figure to fill, and the value of
these short hands must be calculated be-
fore the draw at a fixed mathematical
rate
Take a four-card flush, for example.
That hand is never worth drawing to I'M
mimi civ
the amount of money it costs TO draw to
IT, for a flush can only be filled once in
six draws, or to be exact, once in five
and two-ninth draws. Amy time there is
a chance to get six to one for the cost
of drawing the four-fiush 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 is that
person will get less than six to one for
the drawing price. then that person is
drawing at a certain loss, and If il is
kept up during a long session, the loss
will amount to quite a large item.
1.-THE value of a four-hush, of course,
depends great deal on the style of game
played, whether 1t is a small or large limit
In a game where the limit is 50 and a
jack pot of % cents each is opened 1t will
not pay to draw against one man, as will
be seen by making few figures The pot
is 81. Is, it is opened for $1.25, which makes
$3.50. If man pays $1.5 to draw to a
flush and makes 1t he may expect the
pot of $3.50 and a call for So after the
draw, which amounts to $3.50. If he fills
one flush in six he will lose 1926 and win
$3.50 In other words he is Is cents out
on the transaction. If the limit is less
the loss will be greater. The man who
will persstently draw to flush when he
has a chance to 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 suppo-
sition that the hand will be called if the
| flush is made As a matter of fact all
| the fiushes 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 will hold good
against three or four men drawing. A
few will be beaten by full hands, but that
is covered by the profits which come when
more than six for one is had for the draw
ing price.
"Straights are not worth as much as
Pushes after they are made, and as they
are harder to make the odds which show
against making mrst be larger to warrant
one in drawing. The chances of filing
straight open at either end is one In five
and seven-eighths. In drawing to a flush
there are nine of the suit in the forty
seven unknown 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 a goodhand
to draw to, but when everybody stays
there is a long chance Of its being beaten
by flush. So that person must exer-
else a great deal of care in drawing to
straights or the balance Will be against
him i'm an evenings play.
"A great many poker players who have
the first principles of the game yet 10 learn
reason after the fact that a flush is good
when 1t wins, whether the amount is large
or small, and the drawing for IL is bad
when 1t is not made or loses. That kind
of poker logic will keep a man begging
chips when he should have a good stack
in front of him. In considering the value
of hushes person must reason the proba-
BILE results on a great number Of hands
He has a right 10 expect an even break
The drawing is just as likely to be in his
favor as IL is to be against him. Figuring
ON the real chances IL will be found that a
man drawing to 800 Pushes will nh Just
about as many as he should fill by the rule
of chance. If he wins what he should win
on the hands filled his loss on those he did
not fill viii be covered and he will have a
balance besides. Il is the only successful
way to play fiushes. 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. II is all matter of percen-
tage. which any man may figure out
THE great trouble with most players is,
they cannot resist the temptation to 20 In
pot They want 20 play and when they
get four-hush of a four~straight they are |
tempted 20 draw regardless of the cost or |
the amount they will get for the hand II
they fiji II.
"A man who is not certain about the |
value OF four-hushes and four-straights |
should keep an account Of profit and loss |
In drawing TO 100 Of these hands. He will |
find he will be winner II he has got six TO |
one or better for the hands he has filled |
and loser II he has received less than six |
TO one.
-Crimsonbeak: Speaking OF George |
Washington the first President OF these /