Poker is the best game in the house for a gambler and it has to do with allowing each individual to pick the opponents he will come up against and the amount of the betting he wishes to engage in. And, if you have knowledge of Poker, then you are on the right track!

The reason that this is the best game for the Player, is because you can choose who you wish to engage in combat with. In Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, etc, the house has that built in edge, called Vigorish, working for them. The Vigorish is the difference in what the house pays and what they should pay. Naturally they are entitled to it because they pay the rent, dealers, electric etc. But the bottom line is that we (the players), fight this high Vig every time we go to a table game or machine.

But in Poker, there is no built in edge, except for the rake (percentage the house pulls from the winning hand). Some charge 5% while others are a lot less and the individual players who lose a pot are not subjected to this hidden rake. In private games, you will find there is no such thing.

Plus, you can go to a table and play against people who are worse than you are. A BAD poker player gets the label of FISH or MARK. That's because he/she is a lousy (for want of a better word) player and subject to getting whacked by stronger players. You can also leave a table if you find you are the dubious owner of the terms FISH and MARK.

In other words, if you are playing against good strong players, you can keep table jumping until you find your own MARK. Believe me; it takes only a couple of hands to sort out the strong players and the bad ones. You can bet the ranch that I wouldn't stay at a table where the other players were far superior to me.

If you are just starting out and think you know the game because you wipe out your family at the Friday night penny-ante kitchen table games, then you better read the following, regarding a few things you should be aware of but keep in mind that it is still the best game for you to play:

• You gotta know how to READ your cards.
• You gotta know the chances of you improving your hand, based on the cards you can see on the table.
• You gotta be aware of the TELLS by your opponents.
• You gotta be sure NOT to have TELLS of your own, whereby another player can get a read on your mannerisms, which give away your style of play.
• You gotta know when to apply discipline.
• You MUST have MONEY MANAGEMENT.
• You must learn NOT to chase.
• You must learn to have the DISCIPLINE necessary to know when you are beat.

The things I listed are not hard to understand and a fairly decent Poker player will know exactly what I am talking about. Don't think that the list cancels out the fact that I believe you should play this game. Play Poker, but at the same time, NOT BEFORE you are aware of what you need to compete with other players. Being new to Poker, you may not have heard the term: A ROCK!

A Rock is a player who waits for a sure fire powerful hand, before getting involved in a pot. He/she won't call or bet until the situation warrants that his/her hand can withstand anyone else's cards. Other players will pick up on these actions and the Rocks soon find that nobody stays around when they finally do bet, making their powerful hands practically worthless. That is where you must have a balanced way of playing, in such a way that you give out absolutely no information to your opponents as to your strengths or weaknesses.

You should know that the term BLUFFING is over rated. You can bluff once, maybe twice a night, but a good player will pick up on these moves and negate them with moves of their own.

Go back over that list I laid out and see how it applies to your playing. I am not trying to discourage your playing this game but rather want to encourage you to do so, when you're a solid player.