The good player can extract a steady income from the unlimited supply of players and money offered by public club and casino poker. But the house cut, the stiffer competition (resulting from the higher percentages of superior and professional players in public poker), and the rigid rules and betting limitations of public poker all serve to reduce the good player’s edge odds, flexibility, and income. As a result, private poker is generally more profitable than public poker.

1. Club Poker

Public poker in the Gardena card clubs is tough, fast, and different. As a group, the Gardena poker players are the best in the world. Most newcomers to public club poker lose money not only because of the house collection and the superior competition, but also because of their own confusion, errors, and lack of knowledge. Even the experienced private-game player will be confused, perhaps shaken, the first time he plays public club poker—especially if the first time is in Gardena, California.

Unlike casino poker, in club poker there are no house dealers to protect, help, or guide new players. Also, club poker moves faster and is higher pressured than casino poker. The newcomer to Gardena poker often encounters harassment, intimidation, and pressure from other players. The nonprofessional regular players in the lower stake games especially try to press for advantages by intimidating newcomers into losing money through confusion and errors. Superior players and professionals in higher-stake games, on the other hand, usually do not harass new players because they want to hold them in the game for longer-term money extraction Thus, the newcomer can learn public poker more comfortably in the higher-stake games, but he will pay more for his lessons because he will be up against superior competition.

After twenty to forty hours of Gardena poker, the good player begins integrating the unique characteristics of club poker into his own poker experience and skills. The good player will then start to detect patterns among different games and players. As he continues to play club poker, those patterns will become increasingly familiar. After a dozen or so games, the good player will start to recognize a sameness for each kind of club game (e.g., low-stake, high-stake, highball, lowball) and for each class of player (e.g., losers, winners, sporadic players, regular amateurs, regular professionals). Because of the rigid customs and rules in club poker, the playing and betting actions of club players fall into more predictable patterns than do similar actions by private game players. Once familiar with club poker and its patrons, the good player can enter any club and after a few hands be able to read and predict most actions of both amateur and professional players with good accuracy.

The good player can reduce or even eliminate the cost of learning Gardena poker by rattling his opponents by switching the pressures and intimidation from him to them. The good player’s normal technique for rattling and intimidating opponents requires a confidently bold and aggressive style. But, for the newcomer, such a style would be unconvincing and ineffective because of his weak, defensive position during his first few ventures into public poker.

Ironically, that temporary weakness places the good player in an ideal position to use unorthodox behavior or bizarre actions to confuse and frighten his opponents. By such actions, he can often nullify the disadvantage of his own initial confusion by throwing his opponents into even greater confusion. Being a stranger, he can effectively induce bewilderment and fear in others through the unknown. For example, feigning insanity can induce paralyzing fear in others. Who would not fear a deranged stranger? Few players would dare to pressure or intimidate a psychotic at their table. Indeed, most players would be rattled into making errors. Feigning a physical disorder such as a severe tic or emitting strange guttural sounds will also rattle opponents into errors. Feigning deafness, muteness, or severe handicaps usually eliminates harassment and provides peace.

John Finn first experienced public poker in the Gardena, California, card clubs. He promptly canceled the disadvantages of being a newcomer by rattling his opponents into errors. He learned public poker at their expense.

After arriving in Gardena, John Finn parked his rented car in the self-park area behind the Eldorado Card Club. He entered the club through the automatic glass doors. He walked past the darkened lobby partly illuminated by a large gas-fed fireplace and abruptly stopped and stared into the brightly lit pitlike playing area filled with rising layers of white smoke. A low rumble of voices came from the cloudy pit. For an instant, John felt he was witnessing several hundred vagabonds huddling around tables in a cavernous Salvation Army hall. He moved to the observation rail that partly circled the poker pit and studied the scene. Some people were poorly dressed, which gave the entire crowd a tacky appearance. Everyone seemed to homogenize into a blend of middle-aged and elderly men and women. A few looked younger, but most looked pallid and wan… some looked cadaverous. About 25 percent of the players were women—some seemed slack and bored, others were tense and desperate. John observed more closely. Contrary to his first impression, many faces reflected an intelligence and a strength… or at least a faded intelligence and perhaps a surrendered strength, especially in the older people. He estimated that 70 percent of the players were addicted smokers… John Finn knew he could extract money from this crowd.

After watching from the rail for thirty minutes and reading through a house-rule booklet obtained in the lobby, John Finn went to the large chalkboard that listed the poker games in progress and the waiting list for each game. The lowest-stake game was $1-$2 high draw, jacks or better to open. John gave the boardman the false initials “J.R.” to be listed for that low-stake game. In ten minutes, “J.R.” was announced over the speaker system. Moments later, John was sitting in his first public poker game. …His opening ploy was to rapidly cross himself several times in view of everyone.

After an hour, John was still winless and had forfeited two pots because of technical errors: On his first forfeited pot, he had turned up his pair of queens to show openers after no one called his final bet. When he tossed his other three cards face-down on the discards, a collective shout from the other players informed John that his hand was dead. (According to Gardena house rules, all five cards—not just openers— of the opening hand must be spread face-up before any of those cards touch the discards.) John forfeited the pot. Several hands later, he held three kings. His only opponent held two pair and stayed pat. John was the dealer. He drew one card, but forgot to burn a card (deal a card into the discards) before drawing. Again a collective shout informed John that his hand was dead. The player with two pair promptly spread his cards face-up, grinned, and yanked the pot into his pile of chips.

John decided he had learned enough from that game and wanted to establish a stronger psychological position in a higher-stake game. Looking at the game board, he noticed that a $3-$6 draw game had no waiting list. John played one more hand. He opened with three tens. Everyone folded. He promptly spread his hand face-up and pulled in the 40-cent ante—his first pot in public poker. As he stood up to leave, a wizened old woman sitting across from him looked up, stretched her skinny neck, and cackled. “Hey, buster, don’t tell ‘em where ya won all that money.”

As he moved to the $3-$6 game, John already knew his strategy. He would nullify the disadvantages of his inexperience by rattling his opponents into yielding advantages to him.

After silently slipping into the empty seat, he put his chips on the table, anted for the next pot, touched his fingertips together in a praying position, bowed his head, and waited for the cards to be dealt. Someone asked him a question. John did not look up or even acknowledge the question. He looked at no one, said nothing, and moved with squared, mechanical-like motions. Between movements he sat with fingertips joined and stared silently at the “action spot” on the table. The conversation at the table diminished as the players began casting glances at him and then at one another. John knew they were worried about his behavior.

His total withdrawal gave John Finn a two-way advantage: First, it allowed him to shut out interference and distractions from the other players so that he could concentrate, learn, think, and plan strategy. Second, since the other players were reluctant to pressure or intimidate him because they were nervous about his behavior, John had the solitude and time to think and act deliberately, thereby decreasing his confusion and errors.

But this technique, being a short-range tool, needed constant reinforcement as new players entered the game and as other players became tired of John’s behavior and began challenging it with intimidation. For example, after a profitable hour of this silent playing, John bowed his head as a portly player entered the game and sat beside him. The stout man began chatting with other players. After two hands, he noticed John’s silent, mechanical-man behavior and jabbed John’s shoulder several times while blurting, “Hey, man, you alive? You some kind of a robot? Say something so I know I’m not playing against a computer.”

Without moving or looking at the man, John kept staring at the table while answering in low monotones, “Doctors at state hospital make me like this … to control myself. They keep accusing me of being paranoid . . . they keep lying about me. They keep accusing me of being violent. This way I stay controlled and peaceful.”

Several players shuddered. But the portly neighbor pressed on, “Hey, man, what hospital? Who’s your shrink? I need someone to make me stay controlled and peaceful. I need someone to make me quit gambling and eating. Man, how do I get committed to that hospital?” He punched John’s shoulder again.

John Finn jumped up, pointed a stiff finger at the man’s face, and shouted, “Don’t bug me! Don’t bug me or I’ll lose control!”

The stout man picked up his chips. “No … no offense, sir,” he said. “I’m leaving. See, I’m leaving.” He stood up and left.

Everyone became silent. Another player abruptly stood up and left. John played two more hours in peace while winning $100. As other players left, new players entered the game. Gradually the players became hostile toward John because of his mechanical behavior. So he decided to reinforce his act again at their expense.

The opportunity came several hands later. Before the draw, John had the last bet and raised the maximum on his two pair—jacks and fours. He drew one card and caught the third jack for a full house. He knew his three opponents held weak hands; they would check and probably fold on any betting strength from him. After catching his full house, John had to change his strategy in order to build a larger pot for himself. So he used his abnormal behavior to elicit bluffing and betting action from his opponents: With a jerk, John rose from his seat and faced the player on his left. Lifting his upper lip to expose his teeth, he bowed and whispered, “Thank you, sir, for my straight flush.” Turning clockwise, John bowed and uttered his thanks to every player. With each bow, he flashed the jack of hearts and the four of clubs in his carefully arranged hand that concealed his other three cards. He then slumped into his seat, closed his eyes, lowered his head to the table, and continued muttering words of thanks.

The first player snorted and bet the maximum. The second player raised. And the third player called. Without lifting his face from the table, John shoved all his chips toward the pot and said in a muffled voice. “Reraise the maximum.” After long pauses, each player called. Still pressing his forehead against the table, John spread his full house face-up against the table. All three players threw down their cards and promptly left the table. Another player stood up and left. The game had been broken. John grabbed the $110 pot, picked up his chips, and left.

Perhaps John Finn overacted in that last hand, causing the players to flee. But so what? Unlike private games, each public game is a one-shot combination of opponents. What they think, feel, or experience has little bearing on future games. So by acting abnormally, John rattled his opponents and won an extra-large pot on top of the $100 he had won earlier— all while learning to play club poker in Gardena. If John had not rattled his opponents, he probably would have lost money in that game—$100 or more. A little planned acting made at least a $300 difference. John exchanged his initial weakness for a bizarre aggressiveness that intimidated and confused his experienced opponents into making multiple errors. With careful planning and unorthodox action, he beat his opponents while learning their game.

2. Casino Poker

Casino poker is easier to learn (especially in the major casinos) than club poker because the nonplaying casino dealer controls the game and protects the new player by guiding him through unfamiliar rules and customs. That help from the dealer reduces the new player’s technical errors and allows him more thinking room to analyze the game and execute strategy. The good player makes a wise investment by toking (tipping) dealers who provide him with pressure-relieving protection and helpful information. With the dealer’s protection and help, the new player can win pots that he might otherwise have lost or forfeited because of his inexperience. But, in the faster-moving higher-stake games, dealers are more reluctant to help or protect the newcomer. Yet even here, the inexperienced good player can beat experienced professionals by rattling them with unorthodox actions.

When he first moved up to higher-scale casino poker, John Finn twice assumed the role of a mute in order to play in peace and to gain the thinking time necessary to turn certain high-pressure situations into winning hands. On another occasion, he faked a severe tic to successfully bluff a professional player out of a $240 lowball pot.

Once John Finn had control of casino and club poker, he dropped most of his short-term ploys for the more profitable long-range strategy of tough, sound poker based on the Advanced Concepts of Poker.

When to use unorthodox or bizarre acts and which act to use depend on the game and its players. Such acts benefit the good player when he is first adjusting to or learning a new game situation—such as casino or club poker. Once he has the new situation and its players under control, the good player will find his straight poker skills are more effective than unorthodox or bizarre behavior.

3. Notes on Public Poker

John Finn made the following notes while playing poker in the Gardena card clubs and in the various Nevada casinos:

1. Advantages of private poker over club and casino poker: (1) No house cut to drain away available cash and profits. (2) The same players are available week after week for the long-range manipulation necessary for increasing money extraction and a growing poker income. (3) Generally weaker players.
2. Advantage of club and casino poker over private poker: The constant supply of fresh players allows maximum aggressiveness and ruthlessness without fear of destroying the game. If best strategy dictates, unrestrained action can be directed toward upsetting opponents. No need to mollify losers. Establish psychological dominance early. Only limitation — avoid excessively obnoxious tactics that might alienate club or casino management and result in banishment from their establishments.
3. The six card clubs in Gardena, California, provide simultaneous action for up to 1680 poker players. Over 400 licensed card clubs in California and more than 80 Nevada casinos continuously offer thousands of fresh poker players for money extraction, every hour of every day and night, all year round.
4. Major poker clubs and casinos always offer a selection of games and players. Carefully select the most advantageous game with the weakest players. Keep aware of the other games, and promptly abandon any game for a more advantageous game (e.g., more profitable stakes or weaker players).
5. Seek games with careless players, nervous players, women players, drinking players, players with tattoos or unkempt beards, and especially players wearing religious crosses or medals, good-luck charms, astrology symbols, or other mystical amulets. Avoid games with high ratios of calm, controlled, or intelligent-looking people.
6. Because of his initial confusion and inexperience when first learning public poker, the good player’s statistical game (the mechanical aspects—the figuring of odds and money management) is weaker than his strategical game (the imaginative and thinking aspects—the strategy and bluffing). Conversely, the statistical game of most public-game professionals is stronger than their strategical game because of their greater dependence on mechanical routines and rules designed to yield statistically maximum investment odds on every play. Their more rigid consistency makes them more readable and predictable. The good player, on the other hand, does not strive for maximum investment odds on every play; thus he is more flexible and unpredictable.
7. Collection fees or time cuts in public games range from $2 per hour per player for a $1-$2 game to about $24 per hour per player for games with blind bets and, raises of $100. The casino rake (from every pot) can range from a 5 percent maximum up to a 25 percent maximum—or even higher for snatch games designed for naive tourists. Maximum rakes in casinos are usually posted in the poker area. And in most snatch games, the casino dealer immediately drops the raked chips into the table slot rather than stacking them on the side for all to see until the hand is over.
8. House cuts are less harmful to the good player’s profits in the faster-moving, higher-stake, time-cut games (versus the slower-moving, lower-stake, pot raked games).
9. In public poker, lowball games are generally less flexible (more mechanical) than equivalent highball games. Therefore, the good player can usually use the Advanced Concepts of Poker more advantageously in highball games. But the faster betting pace of lowball can outweigh this advantage. Professional players, however, cheat more frequently and more effectively in high-stake lowball.
10. The narrow and fixed betting ratios (e.g., $10-$20) in all public club games and in most casino games diminish the effectiveness of the good player’s poker abilities, especially in executing bluffs and power plays. Casino table-stake games usually offer the best profit opportunities for the good player experienced enough in public poker to be highly aggressive.
11. Most casino and club shills (house players) play conservative and predictable poker (especially women shills), making them dependable decoys and unwitting partners for manipulating other players.
12. In public poker, women are generally weaker players than men. Many women lack the aggressiveness necessary for good poker. They play more mechanically and more predictably than men. In Gardena, during weekdays, up to 40 percent of the players are women. (The percentage of women players drops by half by nightfall.) Many are poor players—some are desperate players gambling with their Social Security checks and grocery money. Still, an estimated ten to twenty good, tough women professionals work the Gardena clubs. Successful women professionals are rarer in the Nevada casinos, but are increasing.
13. Opponents generally play looser and poorer poker on or immediately after paydays (e.g., on the first of the month and on Friday nights).
14. Best to enter games fresh and rested at 1:00 a.m.5:00 a.m. (while faking tiredness, nervousness, or drunkenness) in order to work over groggy players, drunk players, loose winners, and desperate losers.
15. To conceal poker abilities and to throw good players off guard, wear a religious cross.
16. Rattle opponents through physical invasions of their “territories” (e.g., by using elbows or hands, by pushing poker chips or money around, by knocking over drinks). Foist feelings of outrage, guilt, inferiority, or fear onto opponents through personal verbal attacks. Temper bad-boy behavior only to avoid physical attacks or banishment from games.
17. Never give opponents a break. Make them sweat. Grant them no mercy.
18. In highball, elevate height with extra chair cushions to see more carelessly exposed hands. In lowball, diminish height and sit low in order to see more cards flash during the shuffle and on the deal and draw.
19. Highly visible and self-publicized professional poker players, including those who play in and have won the World Series of Poker, reveal a composite character (with individual exceptions) of a prematurely aged, physically unfit heavy smoker who is prone to boasting, gross exaggeration, and gambling. Yet he is a character who is basically intelligent and shrewd — though vulnerable to manipulation through his flaws. He is a character who can be exploited and beaten by the good player.

In six days, John Finn put both public club and casino poker under his profitable control — at least for the lower-stake and medium-stake games. For the higher stake games, John had an additional major problem to deal with — the problem of professional cheating.