Stepping Up From Home Poker

With all the hoopla around Internet, tournament, and TV poker, many people forget that poker's "minor leagues" are home games. More people still play at kitchen tables and in rec rooms than in public poker rooms. That's a good thing, because those home players are interested in poker beyond their city limits, and that's how our industry continues to grow. Eventually, many home poker players venture beyond their home games to explore the competitive world of poker. Whether on the Internet or in live cardrooms, more and more people are making the transition from home poker to public poker daily.



Cardroom and Internet games are very different from home games. While there are many recreational and social players, pretty much everybody is there first to take your money, and second to have a good time. While it can be a sociable experience, it's sure not social – it's about winning. Once you've made the decision to venture into public cardrooms, you want to go about it in such a way that you will be comfortable, and not give up too much advantage.



As I've often said, probably the most important decision a poker player makes is what game to sit down in. What stakes and what game form? What's the lineup like? What's the texture of the game? What you're looking for is a game in which you have the greatest edge against the field.



You should have a good sense of your own knowledge level, and what type of game suits you. Before sitting down at a table in either an Internet or live cardroom, observe for a while. Get a feel for the players. Rate yourself – honestly – against them. Don't fall into the trap of underestimating your opposition, or overestimating yourself.



Remember that the pros are just waiting for somebody like you to sit down; hometown heroes come and go, but the grinders eking out a living never go away. The good news is that in poker, you don't have to be the best player in the world to do well; being in the top two or three at the table will usually be profitable. Observe and choose your game carefully.



If, when it's your turn to call the game in your home game, you select Be One-Buy One or Choose 'em High-Natural Low, chip declare, because it's your best game, remember that you won't find it in a cardroom or on the Internet. There are fewer games played in public cardrooms than in your home game. However, there is a broad range of limits available.



In order of popularity, you'll find Texas hold'em, Omaha eight-or-better, seven-card stud, and seven-card stud eight-or-better. You also can sometimes find Omaha high, razz, draw, and lowball. The selection tends to be significantly greater on the Internet than in live cardrooms, and, of course, it's greater in large cardrooms than in small cardrooms. There are also regional variations; you find more stud-type games in Atlantic City and at Foxwoods, and more draw-type games in California.



There are fundamentally different poker skills associated with draw games, hold'em games, and stud games; you should choose the type of game that best suits your particular skill set. There are also basic differences between high-only and high-low games (low-only games are not much of a factor in public cardroom and Internet poker, and are found mostly in tournament play).



Remember that the ability to read which way somebody is going and then backing a busted hand into half the pot is part of the art of chip-declare games, and many a home player profits from this ability. However, this particular reading skill is useless in public games, where there is no chip declare, and the rule always is, "Cards speak."



Your greatest area of choice – especially on the Internet – is the available stakes. You can readily find games from 25¢-50¢ to $300-$600, fixed-limit, spread-limit, pot-limit and no-limit. And if you have the bankroll, they'd probably be happy to have you in the $2,000-$4,000 game at Bellagio! How high should you play? The basic thing to remember is that the bigger the game, generally speaking, the tougher the competition. You probably don't want to make your initial foray into public poker at stakes at which you're confronted in every session by people trying to make a living at the game.



You want to play for stakes at which you have a chance against the competition. You want to play for stakes that are big enough to be meaningful to you. Most importantly, you want to play for stakes at which you can afford to lose. The best players in the world get creamed by the deck some days, and on any given day, regardless of your skill level or your edge against the field, there's a chance that you will lose every dollar you put on the table. One approach is to find the limits at which you are comfortable and believe you can beat the game – and then play one limit lower.



Don't be afraid of making the move from home poker to public poker. But, do think about the move before you make it, and do it in such a way that the game stays enjoyable and potentially profitable for you.

Roy Cooke played winning professional poker for more than 16 years. He is a successful real estate broker/salesperson in Las Vegas. This column is largely excerpted from Roy's upcoming book, The Home Poker Handbook, available at http://www.conjelco.com/ later this year. His longtime collaborator, John Bond, is a freelance writer in South Florida.