Nertz (??)

About a year ago, I had a chance to play a game that is very related to solitaire in many ways. The people I played with called it Nerts. After looking it up, I have found out that it is not a widespread game, or at least that it is known by a different name, but we all called it Nerts.

Nerts is played with multiple people. I would say that four people is about the optimum amount. It can also be played with teams of two. This allows more people to play the same game, and also speeds up the game considerably.

Every player (or partner pair) gets their own deck. The decks should have different backsides, so that they can be separated after play. The players each stack thirteen cards into a pile face-down, and then four additional cards face-up next to these 13. The top card in the 13 pile is then flipped face-up on top of the pile. To end the round, someone must get rid of all of these 13 cards. To "get rid of" these cards, players can either stack them onto the four piles (solitaire style, meaning 7-6-5-4-3 etc. alternating colors) or play them onto the field. The field (middle section) is the equivalent of the stacks on the top of a solitaire game. The first cards to be played out there are aces, and then twos of the same suit may be played on top of the aces, and so on. This is the main way to "get rid of" cards. Cards from the four piles or the card on top of the 13 pile may be played onto the field. Of course, when the top card of the 13 pile is played, the next card on the 13 pile should be flipped over, so that it can be played.

This next paragraph is about the other half of the game, which, as you can already see, gets very complicated while playing. This paragraph is about what the second partner would do, if there are partners. Otherwise, the one player will do both of these jobs. The second partner will have the remaining cards (after the 13 pile and 4 face-ups are dealt onto the table). Like in solitaire, they have the main deck, and play with them. The cards are laid down in threes, and the top card may be played either onto the field, or onto the 4 cards. Playing onto the 4 cards is rarely useful, but it can help get certain cards from the 13 deck in play, so that more can be played. Also, like solitaire, after the top (of the three) cards is played, the one under it can then be played. Also, neither can be played, and then 3 more cards may be laid down. This player is often dealing the cards very fast, and quickly scanning the card on the field, as well as on the 4 stacks. These cards may be played onto the field directly, or onto the 4 stacks, where the other partner may play them onto the field. Also, the player #2 may play cards from the 4 stacks onto the field. Much teamwork, and possibly counciling, are needed from the two partners, as games often get fierce and competitive.

Solitaire

With the addition of solitaire to my blog, I am blogging about the two games that I play after finals tests. Which one I play depends on if the whole class is done, and we can talk, or if we have to sit and be silent. I would, of course, play Texas Hold 'Em if we could talk, but if not, I would play solitaire.

Solitaire is a very generic group of games. These involve many aspects that the solitaire that you an I think of has. This common form of solitaire is called Klondike. It became so popular because of its default on Windows computers. This program was created by Wes Cherry, but he was never paid, because of complications.

Klondike solitaire has a few different styles of play. The original style is to draw one card at a time, allowing the player to draw through the deck as many times as they want. The Vegas version consists of drawing three cards at a time, and restricting the amount of times a person can go through the deck.

Though debatable, I think that Klondike has very little strategy. All that one has to do is not play stupid. For instance, a stupid move would be to play 2 through 7 of hearts, if the other suits are still on their ace. This restricts clubs and spades from being played on the field, and jeopardizes the game for the player. Maybe that is a bad example, because play as many cards on top is not stupid, but a novice mistake. But really, a small amount of experience and a little bit of thinking is all anyone needs to play.

Poker Face

A good poker face is often the difference between getting a lot of chips and very few. If people don't know whether or not you are bluffing, and your expression doesn't give away your hand, it is them in the predicament. If they can tell that you are bluffing, based on your facial expression, they could call your high bets and end up taking lots of your money. If you watch a World Series of Poker, it is very obvious that the players have taken time to create a good poker face, because their faces are always completely expressionless (at least until they win big).

http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/pokerface.jpg

An easy way to make a good poker face is to find some sunglasses that do not allow other people to see your eyes. The picture on the link is an example of this. Often people's eyes can tell a lot about what they are thinking. Perhaps I have a 7 and 10 in my hand. This could result in two different straights: 10 high and jack high. To see if I have one of these straights, I would have to scan the community cards a few times over (maybe someone else would only scan once, but I know that I would forget half the cards by the time I'm done scanning). If someone saw me doing this, they would know that I have, or have close to, a straight, full house, or some other somewhat complicated hand. All of these hands are good, so they may fold, and give me less of a pot when (or if) I get the straight. Sunglasses would have influenced this situation, and the beauty of it is that they require no practice or skill to use.

A simple, yet often very hard, way to create a good poker face is to not smile. Smiling is the first reaction people have to getting good hands, or seeing people stay in when they know they shouldn't. If someone with a keen eye sees someone merely hold back a smile, the resulting decision could be changed. A strategy I sometimes use to not smile is to figure out what I am going to do, then think about something totally off the subject. Usually the thing I think about is also very complex or disgusting. This averts my mind until it is my turn to call, check, or raise, and also keeps any emotion I had off of my face.

Having a good poker face can always helps to keep other players from knowing what cards you have, but providing fake expressions could also be very effective. If you know that you are a poker player who often smiles at a good hand, and then quickly creates a straight face, you might want to smile in the same fashion at a time when most, or all, people are looking at you. This could make them think that you have a good hand, and bluffing would then be easier for you.

Though very closely related to the previous strategy, random expressions can create a good poker face. This is a strategy that I love to use when playing poker. If I get a bad hand, I will think about something funny, and laugh. I still play smart, but this randomness not only confuses opponents, but also helps the player, who might have trouble holding back their true emotions. The other players would simply think that you are faking, and disregard your expression(s).

Ultimately, you have to decide which strategy to use. This is done through examining your opponents, trying out different strategies, and having experience playing the game.

History

Texas Hold 'Em, or simply Hold 'Em, was invented in in Robstown, Texas.

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It was created in the early 1900s, where it spread through Texas, but wasn't introduced to Las Vegas until 1967, by a group of Texan gamblers. The game that we play today originally was split into two games: hold 'em and draw poker. Hold 'em is very close to what we play now, and draw poker uses only two bets, instead of four. In Las Vegas, hold 'em was being played in the Golden Nugget Casino, but it didn't attract any wealthy people, so the game grew very slowly.

Eventually, an event that later became what is now known as the World Series of Poker was established in 1969. Participants played many variations of poker, including Texas hold 'em. After its first year, no-limit Texas hold 'em was played as the main event.

In later years, variations of Texas hold 'em were prohibited in California, but Texas hold 'em remained legal, mainly because it was based more on skill than only luck.

It wasn't until the 2000s when Texas hold 'em passed 7 card stud as the most popular form of poker. This is thought to be because of wide-spread television and internet coverage.

Online Poker

Online poker is in many ways very different than live poker. One of the big differences is that one isn't required to go into a room with all of their chips. Also, people often go all in when they get bored, which screws the game up for many people.



The requirement of using all of your chips at all times is often enforced when playing with friends. This makes it impossible to go all in, lose, and keep playing. this is very important because going all in can be a very strategic, yet risky maneuver. To hide chips behind your back and go all in would not, in fact, be going all in. Going to a table with a certain amount of chips and holding some back is a very common thing in casinos, however. This aspect makes online poker more like casinos. The difference of casinos and at home play is often that in casinos, one can cash out whenever they want. At home, there are often rules that restrict that rule. Usually, people play until all but one person is out. Third place often gets around what they bought in for, second gets a little more, and first gets the whole rest of the pot. Buying out midplay would mean that someone could make more money than the third place winner in a small amount of time. Also, the first place winner would get less of the pot.



Online poker is offered in many places on the web, both for fun and for money (which is usually fun). The free versions often have a problem when people realize that 3000 chips is worth nothing, and 10 ships is also worth nothing. This leads people to play very riskily and, with the combination of not using all of their money (as previously mentioned), go all in frequently. A good game of online poker has people who are playing to have fun, but also to be fair. I have played a version of online poker on facebook, which actually had some conservative people playing. This increased strategy used in ways such as bluffing. The address to this specific site is www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2389801228. These games are a great waste of time (in the most positive sense of the phrase), and provide many people with cheap entertainment. Though I have never played online poker with real money, I believe that people play with less risk, because of the possibility of losing money.

The different places to play poker effect the game experience, and everyone should take into account who they are playing with and where they are when playing a game of poker.

Some rules

I'm not going to say how to play the game, because most of that is very boring, and most people know already. For my sake, and also for your sake (possibly), I am going to go over which hands are the best, and some other sometimes forgotten rules in Texas Hold Em.

Someone once asked me "what is the best and the worst hands in poker." I looked at them, and was kind of confused with the question. She wanted to figure out these extremes to have a basis on how good certain cards are, but i knew it wouldn't help. Also, I didn't know how to explain that to her. I told her that a royal flush is the best hand, and a 7 high is the worst hand, but nobody ever gets those two hands. The truth is that the hard thing about knowing which hands are better is kind of complicated. Firstly, there are seven cards out, but one can only use five. This is confusing, because someone might think that they have three pairs, because they do, but three pairs is obviously a six carded hand, and does not fly in poker. Also, there are many different kinds of good poker hands that do not necessarily seem alike. An example is a flush and a pair. The flush is much better than the pair, but a flush doesn't even have one pair inside it.

These problems are often solved with posters, which are bought by many recreational poker players, who like to play, but cannot always remember all the rules. If someone asked me if a full house (a pair and three of a kind) is better or worse than a flush, i would have no idea. I could very easily find out by looking at one of these posters that a full house is better. Also, if in the same situation I forgot what a flush was, I could look at this same poster to figure out that it is five cards of the same suit.

Sometimes two people will get the same hand. This often makes one of the more experienced poker players at the table grow interested. In these situations, sometimes a 'kicker' is used, and sometimes it is not. The whole 'kicker' rule is not on most posters that i have seen, and it is complicated. The kicker is the next highest card that is not in the most important part of the hand. If I had two pair (2s and 4s), and my friend had 2 pair (2s and 4s), and my next highest card is and 8, the 8 would b the kicker. If my friend's next highest card is a jack, since their kicker is higher than mine, they would win. If the kickers are the same value, the pot is split. In some instances, however, kickers are not used. I have found this is true in flushes, when a certain high card is a community card. I have also found, however that a flush will use a kicker. Obviously, different people play with different rules, which brings me to my next topic.

Some people play so that nobody will ever split the pot. To do this, they use the values of suits. This is also very diverse. Some people say hearts are high, and some people say spades are high. Not only are the orders different, but the applied card can also be different. Some people look at the high card's suit(s), and some people look at the kicker's. This is all very personal, and must be explained in detail at the beginning of the game to avoid big arguments in the middle of the game. The way I see it, though, is that having the exact same hand and kicker is not very probable; if it did happen, splitting the deck would be a fine compromise.

Texas Hold 'Em

About a week ago, I got a chance to play texast hold 'em with some friends. There was about 10 people playing, and we played elimination. At first, we had two separate tables, or games. We played at these tables until only 3 people at each table remained. At this time, We merged the two games. By the time we had gotten this far, about 3 hours had passed, and the friend's dad had to go to bed. We decided to play in the garage, and the father agreed. We then played for about 3 more hours. Around 12, people started talking about going home, because it is illeagal to drive past 12:30. We decided to end the game there. It was at this time that I did a very stupid move. I took out the chips from my back pocket. When my friend was passing out the chips, he had made an extra pile. I snatched it, and kept it in my back pocket the whole game until this moment. I took them out to compare how much we had, and how much we had started with. Only one other person recognized that I wasn't cheating by having those in my back pocket. He too, however, wanted to rank higher, and by counting me out of the running, as I had gotten first place, everyone would be granted a higher position. Needless to say, I was shunned as the cheater.

From this experience, I learned that one always has to judge his crowd when playing poker. Some people wouldn't care, and I thought that that was the case. Also, if you do cheat, get away with it. Don't tell anyone about it until at least a wek after the ocassion. but that advice doesn't get anyone, except for a cheater, better at poker. I believe that the reason I won was because everyone underestimated me. I had never played with any of them before, and used that opportunity to my advantage. I often said things like "stay" instead of "check" or "call". I also called a flush "5 of the same suit". For the icing on the cake, I got lucky. I hadn't been close to chip leader until the final table, when I won a ton of chips.

My strategy worked because I could have a good hand, and my opponents might think that I don't know how good of a hand it is, whether bad or good. Also, new players tend to try to bluff, but often get caught in the act.

Many people lose a lot of chips and don't realize it when they stay in. In the game I was playing at the first table, a certain two people always rose the bet before the first three community cards were lain down. This upped the pot quite a bit, but drained the individual pots people had. I suppose that this strategy of upping the pot early on is good for people who are risky, because they have more chance to win. I found a mention of this very situation in the website I mentioned earlier.

"How aggressive the players are: Assuming you've been playing with a few people for several hands, and you noticed some jackass is raising every hand preflop, you'll want to play tighter. Let the guy win the blinds (big deal) and nail him to the wall when you have a solid hand in the pocket preflop" <http://www.texasholdem-poker.com/preflopstrategy>

My personal stance is to be pretty conservative. I like to fold out quick, unless I have a really good hand in the beginning (after the first 3 cards are lain). I then try to bet medium bets every turn, so that people don't fold out. Keeping a couple of people in the game and betting medium bets gets more money in the pot than betting large amounts and playing against only one person. The only problem with my strategy is, however, that more people have chances to beat me. I usually don't worry about this, though, because I don't stay in this long unless I have a good hand (usually 2 pair or better).

A new route

Starting today, I will try to start writing one thing for a change. I will be
writing about card-playing, including different types of poker, other
games, such as UNO, and maybe even experiment with other kinds (if there
are...?). My reasoning for this is that it is too cold to play phanic, and there are many different card games and strategies that I could experiment with. Since I know and often play Texas Hold 'Em, I think I will begin with observing that game.

I will be citing sources that I use to research the game, such as www.texasholdem-poker.com/, which teaches many aspects of the game. I will also use my personal experiences and ideas to provide my opinion on the suggestions from the website.