Teaching Poker to Others

Poker Discussion
#1

Teaching Poker

I have a younger sister and a younger cousin who both have complained to me of boredom. My sister tends to just work extra shifts when she’s bored, although I worry the stress is killing her slowly. My cousin tends to empty wine bottles into her belly when she’s bored, and that brings its own long list of worries. I’ve offered to teach them both to play poker. I’m still hoping they’ll take me up on it.

I see articles about teaching kids to play poker during the lock-down. I wish I still had a child at home to introduce to this game!

Who would you like to teach to play poker? How would you start?

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#2

I know some people who I would not want to teach to play poker because they would get a little too into it without paying attention to the actual strategy involved :crazy_face:.

But if I were to teach someone poker (assuming they are old enough to read lol) the first step would be to look at this site Basic Texas Hold'em Strategy | Basic Strategy Articles.
Beyond the articles on this page, there are more advanced strategy articles in the left hand window, plus a very helpful Youtube account with the same name. These strategies are pretty basic and possibly somewhat outdated, but it’s where I learned the fundamentals to go from someone who just enjoys sitting around the table to actually understand the game.

With complete beginners, it can be fun to start with very little preamble except the basic rules and just learn as you go (with play money of course). You can even try playing with cards face up for a while. Poker, especially texas holdem is pretty simple game, so you don’t need to do anything fancy.

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#3

I love the idea of teaching with all the cards face up. Good way to start.

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#4

Chances are good that you have an old Monopoly set in a closet. Use the Monopoly money to bet with. That way, “something” is at risk that can’t hurt anyone.

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#5

I would love to teach my 6 year old grandson how to play poker. Unfortunately I had to get permission from my daughter and I was denied :disappointed:. Mama knows best… probably teaching him without me knowing lol :joy: updates to come hahahahahaha

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#6

What’s that old saying? Isn’t it “Better to ask for forgiveness than for permission?”

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#7

Hahahahahaha, yes indeed my friend :joy:

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#8

This is how I got started, playing poker with my uncles as a child, and eventually other nephews joining in as they got older. It was great fun.

If the new players are younger, I’d just play, probably going easy on them. Playing with the cards face up is probably great for just a hand or two. After that, I think the mystery of the opponent’s cards is one of the great allures of the game.

With older new players, I think talking about some of the basic strategies is good:

  • starting hand selection
  • thinking post flop in terms of how many hands you are ahead of relative to how many hands you are behind to
  • semi-bluffing
  • bet sizing
  • odds when drawing, and direct odds versus implied odds
  • impact of stack depth
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#9

there is an art of progression and pure luck/chance. i watched my parents played as a young teen, never like the smoke filled room. even my hair and cloth stunk after they played evening to next morning. one time my parent loss badly and mom cried for very long time. i learned never gamble more than your expectation, set amount and leave. Asian loves to play 13 cards poker. not sure if that is Pai Gow. the four players will each dealt a total of 13 cards; three cards first hand equal 1 point or what ever the wage for each point; five cards second best hand or five points; the top best five cards, ten points. player can not show best hand on the second best hand or else player will forfeit his point. it is not easy to hold all 13 cards in one hand. always remember your second hand can’t be better than your third hand. first hand = 3 cards; second hand = 5 cards; third hand = 5 cards. i hope you all got the idea. even kids loves this game, just holding all 13 cards is a challenge.

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#10

This sounds very interesting. I will try it. Thanks, domaho.

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#11

I tried it long time ago and it is hard to play but fun.

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It is called Chinese poker or 13 card poker.

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#12

hello anthony, why the casino do not have this chinese poker? i went from the very bottom to now 425,000 in less than a year. i uses the 2.500 daily freebie and stick to that amount progressively. this is how i got this far 425K chips in the bank. really enjoy picking these online player’s brain. some can’t take a joke when i tease some player for bluffing. of course i do the same with nothing. more like a mental manipulation game and be alert and let go your good hand when your opponent may have even better hand than you. one idication is when the opponent consistantly bluff, that’s when you let him eat his arrogant defect. 85% of the time the opponent got the best hand. i found one strategic is use the pass when you are not in the bet circle. this way you save tons of chips. not always, when a small pair turns up. you may get three of a kind, has the best chance to win. i like to see the flop, by luck it may add to three of the kind. majority time, it kills your opponent two pairs; AA,KK,QQ, and other two set pairs. take care and stay healthy. domaho

#13

anthony, i forgot this one part when playing online, not play in 9 player table. the more player the chance to dilute you winning chance. six is in between. try to get the top right position. not sure why, but i found this position won more than others. four is my ideal table. six player table is good in some way bc you don’t have to pay but able to see the first two cards. let me get your take on how you play. thanks, domaho

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#14

9 player SNG pays top 3 finishes
6 player SNG pays top 2 finishes

Best of luck

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