I have played poker and other games of skill for 60 years; and have made a good living playing poker on the road. I was asked some questions and will try and answer them.
Poker is not gambling, it is a game of skill. In the old days the big money game was low ball. It was an easy game to win consistently because it is almost finite. I went years, when young and never lost a single "house game" because low ball had a simple rule that allows one to win every time in most house games if playing for several hours.
In limit low ball the pros never take more than one card except in rare cases when using a joker. In your normal house game, they will take 2 and even 3 cards, so if you just play pat hands or just draw one card, the odds are so much in your favor it is almost impossible to lose over an evening of playing.
No limit low ball is a silly game, IMO.
There are tricks, but as low ball is a dead game I will only mention a few to show how it worked. Say you are under the gun with a 9/8, you can play that hand (against pros), but you must raise to knock out as many players as you can. Position is very important in all poker. In a house game it may not be playable if everyone is coming in each time.
Say you are dealt ace, deuce, trey. You throw that hand away! In a house game they will play that hand every time. And 9/8 will beat an ace,2,3 heads up over the long run. It has been a long time, but I think ace, deuce, joker can be played. Just barely. |
