Ace: The card with one spot. The highest ranking card in high poker; in lowball, the lowest and therefore most valuable card.

Action: Betting.

Active Player: Player still in competition for the pot.

Ante: Uniform bet placed into the pot by players before the cards are dealt.

Ante-up: A call for a player or players to put their antes into the pot.

Bet: A unit of money wagered and placed into the pot.

Bicycle: In lowball, the A 2 3 4 5—the best possible hand. Also called the Wheel.

Blind: A mandatory bet that must be made on the first round of betting. Also, the player making that bet.

Blind Bet: The blind bet itself. Also, a bet placed without looking at one's cards.

Bluff: The act of betting heavily on an inferior hand for the purpose of intimidating opponents into folding their cards and making the bluffer a winner by default.

Bonus: Optional rule where a set amount is paid by all players to any holder of a high ranking hand such as a straight flush or a royal flush. Also called a Royalty.

Button: A marker used in casino games to indicate the dealer's position.

Buy-In: A player's investment of chips in a poker game or the actual amount of cash he uses to "buy" chips for Play.

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If you play poker regularly and your goal is win money on a consistent basis, you must not see every session as an end in itself and try to force wins when they just may not be there. Again, you can't win every time. During the times you lose, restrict your losses to a reasonable amount. You can't win every session, but if you're good, you can win most of them. Just as it's important to maximize your winnings at every winning session, it's equally important to minimize your losses at the losing ones.

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Part of the successful money management formula is knowing when to quit. You won't always be at the top of your game. You may be exhausted after hours of play, annoyed with another player, or simply frustrated by bad hands. Whatever the case may be, the important thing to realize is that you're distracted, and the loss of concentration will hurt your play. It's time to take a break.

You might even find yourself in a game where everything's going your way. You're winning big, but you're getting tired. You feel like a superior player, but you've started making mistakes. You hate to leave such a choice table. What should you do?
Leave. Once you start making mistakes, you lose your edge. You might start handing back your winnings. Of course, it's tough to leave a game you feel is ripe for your skills, but when the edge is gone, it's gone. Take your winnings home with you.

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As a rule of thumb, you'll need fifteen times the maximum bet in a limit game for a sufficient table stake. For example, if you're playing a $5-$ 10 game, buy in for $150 (15 times $10). Similarly, at a $l-$3 table, spend $45 (15 times $3). For a $10-$20 game, bring $300 (15 times $20) to the table.

What often separates the winners from the losers in that the winners, when ahead, leave the table as winners. When they're losing, they restrict their losses to affordable amounts. Smart players never allow themselves to be wiped out in one session. It is important to limit your single session table stake to the limits mentioned above. If you do not dig in for more money, you can never be a big loser. As the saying goes, the first loss is the cheapest. You can't always win, so catch some fresh air. Play again when you're fresh and brimming with confidence.

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Dead Man's Hand

AA88

Legal poker is especially big in the West. Besides in Nevada and California, the two biggest legal poker playing states, legal poker clubs now exist in many other states around the country, as well as in parts of Canada.

Many of these clubs offer discounts on buy-ins to help attract new players to the games. For example, on a minimum buy-in of $20, a club may give a new player $30 or even $40 in chips. That's quite a nice incentive. In return, the player must play a minimum amount of time or return the premium. If a player busts-out (loses his table stake), there is no penalty.

Poker clubs make their money either by charging each player a half-hourly or hourly fee for the seat, or, as in Vegas, with a rake—a percentage of money taken out of the pot by the dealer as the house cut. Poker clubs vary from the simple one game joints to opulent multi-game operations, where the player will find fine dining, restaurants, a full-service bar, and even live music.

Poker is not limited to the West. Indian casinos are springing up around the country. They offer good poker games as well. These venues give poker players, in addition to home games, plus legal, semilegal, and illegal card rooms, ample opportunity to test their skills at poker pretty much wherever they live.

Wherever you decide to test your skills, keep your mind focused on winning. That's what the game is all about. Be a winner!

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Club poker can be found everywhere in the United States and Canada: either legally—as in many states; openly tolerated, though not exactly legal—as in some locales; or simply underground—as in other places where open poker is not permitted by law.

In recent years, legalized gambling has spread like wildfire. States are finding that gambling tax revenues are a great source of income, especially in these hard times where governments are pressed for tax dollars. And, they figure, poker games are being played anyway. Why not legalize poker and get a piece of the action?

Deadwood, South Dakota put themselves on the map and revitalized their entire area with the approval of gaming in their town. Bringing back the spirit of the Wild West, this old frontier town legalized poker as well as other casino games. It now boasts a booming economy. Wild Bill Hickok's last poker game was played in Deadwood, and the hand he held when he was shot dead at the table, aces and 8s, is the most legendary poker hand of all. In poker parlance today, aces and 8s is known as "The Dead Man's Hand."

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It is one thing to bluff on occassion; it is another to bluff constantly. "Overbluffing" will drain you quickly, as opponents quickly catch on to your ways. Bluffing is most effective in small doses. Overbluffing is another way to say "playing too loosely,"—otherwise known as "betting too much," and consequently losing too much.

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