Synopsis of David Sklansky's Theory of PokerTheory of Poker by David Sklansky discusses theories and concepts applicableto nearly every variation of the game, including five-card draw (high), seven-card stud,hold'em, lowball draw, and razz (seven-card lowball stud). This book introduces you to theFundamental Theorem of Poker, its implications, and how the theorem should affect your play.Other chapters discuss the value of deception, bluffing, raising, the slow-play, the valueof position, psychology, heads-up play, game theory, implied odds, the free card, semibluffing,and much more. Many of today's top poker players will tell you that this is the book thatreally made a difference in their play. That is, these are the ideas that separate the expertsfrom the typical player. Those who read and study this book will literally leave behind thosewho don't, and most serious players wear the covers off their copies. In many ways, thisis probably the best book ever written on poker.

1. David Sklansky Poker

David Sklansky Poker

Excerpt from the Book Theory of Poker: Check RaisingCheck raising and slowplaying are two ways of playing a strong hand weakly to trap youropponents and win more money from them. However, they are not identical. Check raising ischecking your hand with the intention of raising on the same round after an opponent bets.Slowplaying, which we discuss in more detail in the next chapter, is playing your hand ina way that gives your opponents no idea of its strength.

It may be checking and then justcalling an opponent who bets, or it may be calling a person who bets ahead of you. When youslowplay a hand, you are using deception to keep people in for a while in order to make yourmove in a later round. Clearly, then, a hand you slowplay has to be much stronger than ahand with which you check raise. Check raising can drive opponents out and may even win thepot right there, while slowplaying gives opponents either a free card or a relatively cheapcard. THE ETHICS OF CHECK RAISINGThere are some amateur poker players who find something reprehensible about check raising.They find it devious and deceitful and con sider people who use it to be less than well-bred.Well, check raising is devious and it is deceitful, but being devious and deceitful is preciselywhat one wants to be in a poker game, as is implied by the Fundamental Theorem of Poker.Checking with the intention of raising is one way to do that. In a sense, check raisingand slowplaying are the opposites of bluffing, in which you play a weak hand strongly.

Ifcheck raising and slowplaying were not permitted, the game of poker would lose just aboutas much as it would if bluffing and semi-bluffing were not permitted. Indeed the two typesof play complement one another, and a good player should be adept at both of them. The checkraise is a powerful weapon. It is simply another tool with which a poker player practiceshis art. Not allowing check raising in your home game is something like not allowing, say,the hit and run in a baseball game or the option pass in a football game. Without it pokerloses a significant portion of its strategy, which, apart from winning money, is what makesthe game fun.

I'm much more willing to congratulate an opponent for trapping me in a checkraise than for drawing out on me on a call he shouldn't have made in the first place - andif I am angry at anyone, it is at myself for falling into the trap. NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR CHECK RAISINGTwo conditions are needed to check raise for value - that is, when you expect you mightbe called by a worse hand. First, you must think you have the best hand, but not such a greathand that a slowplay would be proper. Second, you must be quite sure someone behind you willbet if you check.

Let's say on Fourth Street in seven-card stud someone bets withshowing, and withyou're getting sufficient pot odds to call. Now on Fifth Street you catch a king to makekings up. Here you might check raise if you are pretty sure the player representing queenswill bet.This second condition-namely, that someone behind you will bet after you check-is veryimportant. When you plan to check raise, you should always keep in mind that you could bemaking a serious, double-edged mistake if you check and no one bets behind you. You are givinga free card to opponents who would have folded your bet, and in addition you are losing abet from those who would have called.

So you had better be very sure the check raise willwork before you try it. CHECK RAISING AND POSITIONWhen you plan to check raise with several players still in the pot, you need to considerthe position of the player you expect will bet because that position determines the kindof hand you check raise with, to a large extent.

Let's say you have made kings up on FifthStreet, and the player representing queens is to your right. Kings up is a fairly good handbut not a great hand, and you'd like to get everybody out so they don't draw out on yourtwo pair. You check, and when the player with queens bets, you raise. You are forcing everyoneelse in the hand to call a double bet, the original bet and your immediate raise, and theywill almost certainly fold. You don't mind the queens calling your raise, for you're a bigfavorite over that player.

However, if he folds, that's fine too.Now we'll place the player representing queens to your left instead of to your right. Inthis case you should bet with kings up even though you know the player with queens will betif you check and even though you think you have the best hand. When you bet in this spot,you are hoping the queens will raise so that the double bet will drive out the other playersin the pot, just as your check raise was meant to do in the other instance. And if that opponentdoes raise, you can now reraise.Suppose that instead of kings up, the king on Fifth Street gives you three kings. Now youare much stronger than you were with two pair, and your hand can tolerate callers. Therefore,you would use the opposite strategy you employed with kings up.

With the probable bettorto your right, you should bet, and after everyone calls, you hope that bettor raises so thatpeople will be calling a single bet twice (which they are much more likely to do than tocall a double bet once). On the other hand, if the probable bettor is to your left, thenyou check the three kings, and after that player bets and everyone calls, you raise. Onceagain, you are inviting your opponents to call a single bet twice and not a double bet once.In sum, the way you bet or check raise depends on the strength of your hand in relationto what you can see of the other hands and the position of the player you expect to bet orraise behind you when you check or bet. With a fairly good hand, like kings up or aces upin seven stud, you try to make opponents call a double bet because you d like to drive themout. With a very good hand like three kings or three aces you play to induce your opponentsto call a single bet; then you confront them with having to call another single bet. In thiscase, you don't mind their staying in since you're a big favorite over them. CHECK RAISING WITH A SECOND-BEST HANDWhile you generally check raise because you think you have the best hand, it is frequentlycorrect to check raise with a second-best hand if the play will drive other opponents out.The principle here is identical to the principle of raising with what you think is the second-besthand as it was explained in Chapter Nine and Chapter Thirteen.

If the probable best handis to your immediate right, you can check, wait for that player to bet, then raise so thatthe rest of the table will fold rather than call a double bet. While you may not be the favorite,you have still increased your chances of winning the pot, and you have the extra equity ofwhatever dead money is in the pot from earlier betting rounds.Sometimes you can check raise with a come hand like a four flush if there are many peoplein the pot already and you don't expect a reraise, for you are getting good enough odds,especially if you have a couple of cards to come. This play should usually be made only whenthe probable bettor is to your immediate left; then the other players will call that bettorbefore they realize you are putting in a raise. You do not want to drive players out becauseyou want to get the correct odds for your raise. SUMMARYThe factors you must consider when you plan to check raise are:. The strength of your hand.

Whether someone behind you will bet after you check. The position of the probable bettorTo check raise with a hand with which you want to thin out the field, you want the probablebettor to your right so that people will have to call a double bet to stay in. With a verystrong hand and with most come hands, you want the probable bettor to your left so the otherplayers in the hand might call that bettor's single bet and then be invited to call yourraise.