“If thou have power to raise him.”
Henry IV., Part I. Act III., Scene 1st
The stake put up before play is begun by the player next the dealer, on the left, is called the “blind.” All the players who come in must put in the pot double the amount of the “blind” before cards can be drawn or bets made. The blind cannot exceed one half the limit, and should not be, more than one tenth of the limit, in order to make the game generally satisfactory.
The player whose duty it is to put up the blind is said to hold the age, and is, from his position, entitled to the last bet.
The ante should be made small, as it is in no way a measure of the betting. The fact that a player has “anted” should not influence him to come in; he should not “make good” unless he would under other circumstances have drawn cards. The old style of poker required the dealer to put up a fixed sum to be played for before he dealt.
While the ante may be put in the pot at any time before the player holding the age looks at his hand, it is proper for it to be made before the dealing is begun. As it is in a way the measure of betting, the ante as well as the limit should be definitely and unanimously decided before the deal begins.
It may not infrequently happen that a player who has had a run of luck desires to raise the limit and increase the ante. This procedure is much to be deprecated, as it is apt to be a sacrifice of the comfort of all for the caprice of one. Of course in that method of playing known as “table stakes,” wherein any one player, on depositing in full view on the table the sum total of what he is willing to risk, has a right to “see” any hand for that sum, a raise of the ante or limit beyond the amount so deposited is impossible. And in the game of “freeze-out,” a variety of poker, any player losing the amount so deposited on the table is forbidden to come again into the game, the remaining players continuing the game until all the chips are in one player’s possession.
While the ante and the limit are, as before said, generally arranged at a fixed value, an unlimited game is sometimes played. This, however, :is gambling pure and simple, and at once places the player with a small capital at the mercy of his richer rivals. As this little treatise has been prepared for the use of those in search of harmless amusement, using stakes solely as a controlling influence to keep the play within bounds and hold the interest of the players to its spirit, I would suggest that the limit be never more than the equivalent of ten times the ante.
Having anted, B, the second player -that is, the one on the dealer’s left -affords the third, C, the opportunity of “raising before the draw,” or of “straddling” or doubling the ante (double the ante is of course four times the amount of the blind). In case of “raising before the draw,” any player on. the left of the age is allowed to raise the stake then being played for--by putting that much additional into the pot, to the limit, or to any less amount he chooses.
As such a raise has an inevitable tendency to keep other players from drawing cards, at such an additional expense, it is not wise to resort to it except in extreme cases, where the player so raising has a good hand, which he believes the others - are specially willing to “buck” against for bluffing purposes.
As the third player, C, must in any event bet first unless he passes, it would seem that he ought to be very particular in straddling. Ordinarily he should not come in, that is, offer to bet, with less than a pair of tens in his hand. He must therefore consider, when he proposes straddling, that the chances are that he has not enough in his hand to warrant coming in. A straddle under the circumstances-as he cannot see his cards until after the straddle-implies confidence that he has that much or more, or amounts to a bluff pure and simple. Generally speaking, good players do not straddle. For straddling does not in reality alter the chances of winning: it simply gives the straddler the opportunity of observing what the other players draw, with a view of forming the poker-player’s legitimate inferences as to the value of their hands to begin with.
If the player next the age, on the left, does not straddle, no one else can, and he must use his privilege before the completion of the deal. No one, of course, should look at his cards before the deal is completed all around.
Should the third player, who sits next the age, straddle the “blind,” as the ante is now called, the players next him may in turn straddle his “Iblind, “or raise, so long as the “blind” is not in this way made more than half the limit of the betting.
Some players, in case of a “straddle,” allow the player making the “straddle” the privilege of drawing cards last. But this is not right, and should not be permitted.
When in the pot, the right of the age to bet last and the right of the dealer to draw cards last should never, under any circumstances, be interfered with.
For more information on the game of poker, visit: http://www.tops-poker.net
Henry IV., Part I. Act III., Scene 1st
The stake put up before play is begun by the player next the dealer, on the left, is called the “blind.” All the players who come in must put in the pot double the amount of the “blind” before cards can be drawn or bets made. The blind cannot exceed one half the limit, and should not be, more than one tenth of the limit, in order to make the game generally satisfactory.
The player whose duty it is to put up the blind is said to hold the age, and is, from his position, entitled to the last bet.
The ante should be made small, as it is in no way a measure of the betting. The fact that a player has “anted” should not influence him to come in; he should not “make good” unless he would under other circumstances have drawn cards. The old style of poker required the dealer to put up a fixed sum to be played for before he dealt.
While the ante may be put in the pot at any time before the player holding the age looks at his hand, it is proper for it to be made before the dealing is begun. As it is in a way the measure of betting, the ante as well as the limit should be definitely and unanimously decided before the deal begins.
It may not infrequently happen that a player who has had a run of luck desires to raise the limit and increase the ante. This procedure is much to be deprecated, as it is apt to be a sacrifice of the comfort of all for the caprice of one. Of course in that method of playing known as “table stakes,” wherein any one player, on depositing in full view on the table the sum total of what he is willing to risk, has a right to “see” any hand for that sum, a raise of the ante or limit beyond the amount so deposited is impossible. And in the game of “freeze-out,” a variety of poker, any player losing the amount so deposited on the table is forbidden to come again into the game, the remaining players continuing the game until all the chips are in one player’s possession.
While the ante and the limit are, as before said, generally arranged at a fixed value, an unlimited game is sometimes played. This, however, :is gambling pure and simple, and at once places the player with a small capital at the mercy of his richer rivals. As this little treatise has been prepared for the use of those in search of harmless amusement, using stakes solely as a controlling influence to keep the play within bounds and hold the interest of the players to its spirit, I would suggest that the limit be never more than the equivalent of ten times the ante.
Having anted, B, the second player -that is, the one on the dealer’s left -affords the third, C, the opportunity of “raising before the draw,” or of “straddling” or doubling the ante (double the ante is of course four times the amount of the blind). In case of “raising before the draw,” any player on. the left of the age is allowed to raise the stake then being played for--by putting that much additional into the pot, to the limit, or to any less amount he chooses.
As such a raise has an inevitable tendency to keep other players from drawing cards, at such an additional expense, it is not wise to resort to it except in extreme cases, where the player so raising has a good hand, which he believes the others - are specially willing to “buck” against for bluffing purposes.
As the third player, C, must in any event bet first unless he passes, it would seem that he ought to be very particular in straddling. Ordinarily he should not come in, that is, offer to bet, with less than a pair of tens in his hand. He must therefore consider, when he proposes straddling, that the chances are that he has not enough in his hand to warrant coming in. A straddle under the circumstances-as he cannot see his cards until after the straddle-implies confidence that he has that much or more, or amounts to a bluff pure and simple. Generally speaking, good players do not straddle. For straddling does not in reality alter the chances of winning: it simply gives the straddler the opportunity of observing what the other players draw, with a view of forming the poker-player’s legitimate inferences as to the value of their hands to begin with.
If the player next the age, on the left, does not straddle, no one else can, and he must use his privilege before the completion of the deal. No one, of course, should look at his cards before the deal is completed all around.
Should the third player, who sits next the age, straddle the “blind,” as the ante is now called, the players next him may in turn straddle his “Iblind, “or raise, so long as the “blind” is not in this way made more than half the limit of the betting.
Some players, in case of a “straddle,” allow the player making the “straddle” the privilege of drawing cards last. But this is not right, and should not be permitted.
When in the pot, the right of the age to bet last and the right of the dealer to draw cards last should never, under any circumstances, be interfered with.
For more information on the game of poker, visit: http://www.tops-poker.net