Calling all hands!
Dear Mark,
What are you thoughts about poker players who call an abnormal amount of hands? I find them very frustrating to play against. Is there a way to beat them? Tom C.
Calling a hand in poker is essentially matching the current wager. For
instance, If there had been a bet of $2, then a raise of $2, it would
cost a player $4 to call. Calling a bet is the cheapest and the most
passive way to remain in a hand.
In the lingua franca of poker, a player who is forever calling hands is
dubbed a calling station. Like you, Tom, I find them frustrating,
though beatable to play against. You prevail over constant callers by
obviously making your hands, and once you have identified a calling
station, knowing they often fail to press their advantage when they
have relatively strong cards.
Calling stations by and large tend to play passively, a style of play
that is characterized by the reluctance to bet and raise. Contrast that
to a loose player who plays more hands and holds on to them longer; a
loose-passive player who will call with almost anything, but raise only
with very powerful hands; an aggressive player whose play is
characterized by frequent raising and re-raising; or a tight player who
generally plays fewer hands and folds them earlier.
Unfortunately, as you well know, Tom, calling stations will hit more
backdoor and other unlikely draws than most players, and that is why
they can be annoying to play alongside.
The style of play that has worked very well for me over the years
against most players, including pesky calling stations, is being
tight-aggressive. Tight-aggressive players are very selective about the
cards they play, but aggressive once they get involved with a decent
hand. It is a playing style, Tom, I highly recommend.
Dear Mark,
Do you know if the game of Caribbean Stud Poker originates from the
Caribbean, or by some game maker in Nevada? Kenneth H.
Caribbean Stud Poker, a five-card stud poker type game without the
luxury of a draw, was invented and first offered in 1988 in an Aruba
casino. Though the game has skyrocketed in popularity all over the
world, popular or not, the house edge is still a tough beat at 5.3%,
with the progressive bonus side bet at 48%.
Dear Mark,
In sports betting, what is the difference between taking odds and laying odds? Benny F.
With sports wagers, you can either be “taking the odds” or “laying the
odds.” A bettor who is “taking the odds” is wagering an amount that is
less than they will receive if they win; that is to say, if you wager
$100, you would win more than $100.
What “laying the odds” means is that some odds are so high in favor of
the likely winner, that winning wagers are paid an amount less than the
amount wagered.
Gambling quote of the week: “Always remember, the first thing a gambler
has to do is make friends with himself. A lot of people go through this
world thinking they’re somebody else. There are a lot of players
sitting at this table with mistaken identities.” Pug Pearson, Fast
Company (1975)
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