Friday Night Poker

What better way to get to know your friends than a casual game of poker... usually the risk is rather slim and you do get your shot at a little spending cash..

Against friends:

Competition, in all social structures, is healthy and natural; it aids in bringing a bond, often a sense of loyalty, and if you destroy a poker table you certainly gain the respect of all the players and what more could you ask for?

Against Co-workers:

Well.. a serious win brings about some niceties, such as the notice of a boss, or an invite to a harder game.. and a loss....

Some Strategies:

So you've got a wonderful advantage if your playing against people you already know, even if you've never played poker against them: their personality will say alot about how their going to play poker. Here are some common personalities/traits and their link with playing style: The Nice Guy, The Mathematician, The Jerk, The Anxious Player, The Artist, and The Quite Girl..

The Nice Guy:

Essentially he's a call station, and when he bets a big hand, he won't usually bet it that hard, at a table full of good players, his chips will slowly dwendle away, some keys: don't bluff him, a good starting hand is probably better than what he started with (however, this also means if the board is dropping rags, he's quite likely to be making a hand), and lastly if he pulls something out of the ordinary, like an all-in, he's probably got you beat.

The Mathematician:

Watch out! This player is usually superb on all levels except one... if you know pot odds you can quite successfully bluff him, a rather good player, he often wins because he is actually playing correctly most of the time.

The Jerk:

A very aggressive player, his main downfall... he bluffs too much, the best way to take him down is to wait for a good hand and equal his aggression.

The Anxious Player:

Rarely is a player more likely to profit than from an anxious player, if a player is in a hurry, their judgement is greatly affected, they will often play crap hands for too much, especially if the player has to leave after the current hand, even a borderline hand can often take them down.

The Artist:

Artist's must have passion to survive, they also learn patience out of neccessity.. an artist can't make a painting sell faster by will alone, and unless they're selling art, they're not making money.. Poker, well at least winning at poker, similiarly, is an art. As such, an artist is well fitting to play poker, if they've been playing very long at all they are very dangerous, and you're going to have to use your best moves when you think you've got them beat and you're going to have to give up a pot if you think otherwise, let's face it a third of your chips is always less than all of your chips.

The Quite Girl

This girl is one of the better players, you know how it goes, "you can't listen when you're always talking," and since she isn't talking... She's probably watching every move you make, beware against her, and don't try to push her around, her weakness... she will rarely bluff.... or is that a weakness?