The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-27

A deals. b antes, II c comes in he gets only
+ to TO ana se'1 > to- + 81 to then Z;
nns he Is getting II to (. since he can no
longer count the ante as his own money. This
explains clearly why B can AFFORD to draw 10 II
much smaller hand than & can.
But supposinR A.. when IL comes his turn, not
only goes In with the required ante, but raises
I five white chips, The figuring must all be-
10 the advisability of drawing cards. keeping
In mind the hand he has to draw TO. the odds he
gets on the bet he must make before he can
draw. and the chances of the FIVE hands out
strong hand or y blufing,
then gets odd- Of u to i he hlls and secs
time !, has reached + he will have 10 face the
and though the odds in the bet are greatly in. his
favor. the chances against him are heavy unless
he also has II strong hand. And in the mean,
new odds have to be figured each time.
Thus far we have only considered the case of
an ordinary pot When We come to the jack
pot We find the conditions entirely different,
though the principles remain the same. The
odds TO be figured ARE different. and are much
greater in favor OF coming IN, 80 that a player Is
| justified in drawing 10 smaller cards than in an
ordinary poi. even though II is certain that The
| opener has jacks or better. These odds, again,
vary according, to the amount the rot has been
opened for. and the position In which the PLAYER
sits, or rather, on how many players have come
In before he has his say. There - also the prob
ability 10 he estimated Of a raise before the draw,
So that only the man on the right of the opener
can know positively what odds he will have TO
| play. The only reason why II ia good play 10
come into a Jackpot on II smaller hand Than y Is
wise to back in IN ordinary pot Is that the ODDS
in the betting are better, for i mus, always be re-
membered that the player Is betting against the
whole pot. regardless of how much he may have
put into IL already. Other wise the fact OF the
| opener certainly having Jacks or better would
indicate the wisdom Of staying out WIN a
smaller pair.
| down "a good hand. the saying ia often heard,
and the foregoing analysis of the odds which
can ba figured and of those which can only be
guessed at. makes the meaning Of the saying
clear. Al all events, enough has been Told 10
show how n player who has studied the tables
enough 10 know the chances OF the draw can
decide IA 10 the wisdom Cf drawing cards, mat
is. the wisdom on the basis of mathematical
computation. The further proposition mat " Is
always wise TO back your luck L. seldom dis.
| puted by experienced PLAYERS, so that u i held
| good play. or AZ least justiflable, 10 draw toa
single card. or even a three flush or a inter-
mediate straight. II the player - sitting ln"X-
| c~eptional luck. The question OF how Tar 10
| press the luck is practically answered by each
| PLAYER according 10 hs temperament, and since
a run Of lnck in itself consists of n series of con-
tradictions Of the law OF mathematical propa-
| hiliticS. no positive judgment can be passed.
! except in extreme cases. The fact that no ruhnI
llck can be- expected to continue indetinittN
should keep the player on the wHtCh Tor VI"
first indication OF its tnrn. .
The importance of studying The chances of
the draw, and the wisdom OF passing ont OF,
poor cards are unaue~'ionablr AS q iin'''i hoi
more money is lost at poker IN the long run
| by paving to draw cards when the chances ar"
against the PLAYER than is lost by Gt,umH y.
hands after the draw, In The betting, hhl''SS
! ones ruck is persistently bad; he Will win some
times. and will have n chance To recoup NJ
losses, but the player who chips IN Gons,ahus
no probability of recovering, II II trn" thhl ne
will sometimes make an extraordinary draW'
but he has to figure the chances thar ne W.
not win enough on such a hand 10 pay lT Ms
frequent chipping IN without results
Blu, after having arrived at an understandings
Of when u is wise to draw ana when u Is , Sdi;
how to draw, In this II Il only possible 10 lhF
down general rules. because the game * one
Of such compleSity as to REQUIRE ,he usrenm.u
the grand principle being always Regarded w"
situations of the game are 50 varied ~ 70 can
for a frequent disregard of general rules,
Good PLAYERS generally draw to the strength
of their hands. That Is n man holding a,Iar
will draw three cards; holding three oi q KING
he will draw two, and holding two Yalr- ne WI
draw one. No good player. however; holds
himself always bound by this rule since ne may
nj times wish To deceive his antagonists 'nu
many fairly successful players hahttuallN vary
this play by holding an ace with n palr, believing
that the chance Of making ,aces, M ON 9 Two
card draw j. better than, the chance ol w.
of a kind on a three-card draw. Opinions dl1er
aS TO the wisdom Of this, butt the genera, 81 mon
is against holding upa"kicker, unless The, player
| wishes TO convey the impression lnHl ne mas
three Of a kind obviously if he holds w a
kicker frequently. he will not convey the M
precision 10 those who are familiar with ms
style Of play. This variation from mathematical
rlay. like standing rat on an incomplete hand,
is nothing more or less than a blum and Is only
justitiablc a. u means of nuzzllng ~" other
PLAYERS and 50 destroying their confidence m
their own hands.
There il one contingency in which "A good
player will sometimes deliberately hreak ms
| rule Of drawing to The strength Of hi, hand. ~"
NAV have StnVpt in n pot, believing maj MS
| hand is n good a. any that l. out against hilll,
but when il comes TO the draw he may sec from
the number Of cards the others take that they
all have better chances than he. SUPP oSlhE
he has two pairs. If'he draws one card. H. haS
four chances in forty-sevenof making tull, ana
if that full be n very small one he might ierl no
confidence in it. II. then. h" dlsCard-. on" I'lr
out of his Two, he will have a very much smaller
chance but sin q Gh2ncs, Of se,,'ns t",r cod %a Z
but II he il convinced that his chances WIN u
small. full are worthless. he is justified in taking
even that chance. -,
Another case which more often occurs vii!
show the wisdom OF disregarding this general
rule on occasions, II frequently hanr"nS ma
n PLAYER will hold n good pair, say Of aces, and
feel a reasonable confidence in them before he
has seen the other players draw, II may n',
however. that one or two other players nave
stood pat, another has drawn on" card ana
another has drawn two. In such a Cnse a single
pair Is n poor hand to draw 10. There l., oi
course, a chance Of making three oi a klnn
or two pairs. which would be n worthless hatln;
There is also a possibility of n full and n s'liI
more remote possibility Of -four aces. either OF
which would be worth betting on, II may
happen. however, that by diScarding one OF ms
aces he will have a fairly good chanc" OF making
an ace flush. and his Judgment may he MAJ
an ace flush would he worth playing, IN such
q case it would be good rlay "a, srlit the acrS
and draw TO his -four flush. Otherwise a ralr
Of noes Is esteemed the better hand 20 draw 70.
Enough has been said TO indicate that IN ne
draw, ms well rs in every part OF the pay 'h'
game Of draw poker Is PLAYED best by IN" mhh
who best knows when TO disregard III" general
rules of good rlav. But the beginner, seeing
the rules frequently disregarded. is likely u"
make the mistake Of Understanding inc I'M
~nortnnrc of rules. IN no other part Of the game
is he more likely 10 make this mistake thah IN
drawing. he may see n good nlayer some
times draw 70 an ace or even take nv' 'aru-
and occasionally win n pot as a result J ne
natural effect IL 10 encourage The poor player
10 do the sam" thing. but II he docs, how ~ al
most invariably suffer. for he will not KNOW
enough Of the game TO understand when s'lch
rlav Is utterly indefansible and when 1t Is lustl-
fable. The only safe course. therefore. y ,nrst
10 master the general rules and a~fterward i,ry
10 become familiar with the conditions mat
Justify a departure from them