A ‘Formula’ for Hold’em Starting Hands?Can it be Done?
George Epstein
I have utmost respect for Roy Cooke, the erudite Senior Columnist for Card Player magazine. And I appreciated his comments when we served sidebyside as panelists at the World Poker Players Conference last November at the Bellagio/Las Vegas. Furthermore, I treasured his advice in his column,”Hold’em StartingHand Basics,” in the June 18, 2004 issue of Card Player. He wrote:”The biggest moneylosing mistake . . . is getting involved in hands they (you) shouldn’t play at all.” What’s more, he observed that”there is not an easytolearn strategy regarding what hands are correct to play.” Then Roy added:”There is no formula that says if you hold two specific cards in a specific position, you should or should not enter a pot with a call or a raise.”
My comment: I agree, it’s not easy; BUT IT CAN BE DONE!
My Response to Roy Cooke. It so happens that I had decided a while back to apply my 50+ years of engineering experience to solve that specific problem: Hold’em or Fold’em? (A poker book distributor who believed I could make a significant contribution to the poker world, strongly suggested that I write a hold’em book; and, of course, this is a key part of the book.) Being an engineer, I approached the task by creating an algorithm a procedure or plan for making a critical decision. In this case, that’s essentially a formula or criteria to help you decide whether to stay in or fold a specific hand. Yes, it wasn’t easy; it took lots of hours with many revisions along the way until I had suitable starting criteria that took into account most of the important parameters (factors) that must enter into such an important decisionbased on which you make an investment ($$$) in that hand. When I finished, I realized there were some exceptionsas there are bound to be whenever you promulgate a new rule. (These also will be covered in my book.)
In the meantime, as a sort of trial balloon, I did put together the first draft of my algorithm and have it published as a booklet to test it at the World Poker Players Conference. The available supply sold out before the day was over! (The booklet is now in its second edition.) Attesting to its value, one of my students in the poker course I am giving at a senior citizen center, reported that he had won his first hold’em tournament using the algorithm. What a great testimonial! (A month later, he phoned to tell me that he had won two more tournaments. Wow!) Since he’s so good at it, I asked him to give a talk at the course. (Under the auspices of the City of Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation & Parks, the course was expanded to two separate groups to accommodate all 27 senior citizen centers in the Los Angeles area. It looks like the game of poker has arrived!)
The Key Factors. Before signing off on this column, let me point out the five key factors that should enter into your decision whether to stay in or fold during the preflop round of betting. More or less in order of importance:
And, if there is enough interest from readers, I’ll discuss this topic further. . . . So readers, what’s YOUR opinion?
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