talkmagic.co.uk

just out of interest...
does anyone play poker...

i reckon i could pick it up, but it looks confusing, right now.

and do you get 'suspicions' if people know you can do magic.

i often get the
'i wouldn't play cards with you'
line, even though i don't actually know card cheating moves - just know the very basics.

Texas Hold 'Em seems to be quite popular at the moment. It's not too complicated to learn; I found it was easier, not to mention more fun, to pick it up by actually playing rather than reading a book. I don't get many suspicious comments but that could have more to do with my lack of serious card skills rather than anything else.

I've played poker a little bit on and off for about four years, though I don't really gamble so its only games with friends. Texas Hold Em is a good place to start and like Replicant said, its much easier to learn poker by playing than by reading about it.

Since I got into magic, and specifically because Im into card magic, I get that same mistrust and get watched like a hawk. Its kind of funny, but at the same time a bit harsh. As if I'd ever cheat someone, especially good friends, out of money.

Im an honest sort at heart. Oops, are those aces on the floor? How did they get there.....

I used to play online a bit (Texas Hold'em). You can do so for free with Yahoo (although obviously it's a lot more tempting to go all in if it's not real money). However, any gambling is an uncertain enterprise and I reckon that, despite some heavy tournament wins, I lost fractionally more than I won before stopping.

I've just been reading The Oxford Book of Card Games (the history of cards, not a rule book). The author makes a good argument that poker isn't really a card game at all. It's a game of money management and psychology that happens to use combinations of cards as the underlying random factor.

Just thought it was interesting.

Texas Hold'Em is a fascinating game, and particularly suited to the analytic skills every magician should have!

I agree that the best way to learn the rules and technicalities of the game is to just sit down and play it. A lot of the big online sites allow you to play with play chips. The quality of play will be awful, but you'll quickly learn a lot about the ins and outs of the game; when kickers play and when they don't, what hand beats which and so on.

If you're at all interested in getting good at the game, to the point where you can make money from it, then you're either going to have to put in a lot of hours playing, or give yourself something of a head start by studying books and thinking about your game.

Remember that Limit and No Limit Hold'Em, while superficially the same, are fundamentally different games, but I think it's good to play both once you understand the rules. Limit Hold'Em will help to focus your understanding of the mathematical side of the game, whilst No Limit will help with the psychological side.

Also don't just restrict yourself to Texas Hold'Em... Omaha, Razz, Stud, Draw and the variants thereof will all assist with building a deep skill set for playing Poker.