Full House Poker (XBLA)

[Kubrick]

Getting the same problem, but if you host a game yourself it seems to fill up quite quickly and work fine. Bizarre.

[rmoxon]

As Mayhem pointed out, if you win because everyone has folded or if you lose on the river after the winner turns their cards over then you can choose to turn over either, both or none of your cards. It's a nifty lil feature and good it's included as professional players frequently show the odd card to the table trying to gain a psychological edge.

It's basically a tool that can help create the impression you're a particular type of player (be it tight or loose) in a bid to get the other players betting against you when they shouldn't.

That all sounds like a load of rubbish to me, theres no psychological edge when playing against A.I. opponents (infact i think a few people would argue that theres none when playing real people over a console online either for that matter).

Plus I just didnt really understand what either of you just said anyway, all I know is that if I have already lost then I dont want to be asked to choose which card to throw down, its a condescending waste of time, escpecialy considering that anyone with an ounce of common sense will know when youre doing it.

[merf]

I like this, I understand the basics of poker but never really play much, hope they can sort out the online code (I've not tried yet but comments aren't great here) as I'd like to play a few hands.

It did the impossible for me as gambling needs money & risk to feel like it matters but after building a pot in an offline tournament for a while I got twangs of nervousness pushing my chips in and going large on a hand as I felt I'd worked to build my pot.

I understand why you get asked what cards to show even offline, its better the game isn't altered off or online so you get used to how it flows and its a bit much to call it a 'condescending waste of time' - its how poker works, if you don't like it don't play.

[Charlie]

That all sounds like a load of rubbish to me, theres no psychological edge when playing against A.I. opponents (infact i think a few people would argue that theres none when playing real people over a console online either for that matter).

Plus I just didnt really understand what either of you just said anyway, all I know is that if I have already lost then I dont want to be asked to choose which card to throw down, its a condescending waste of time, escpecialy considering that anyone with an ounce of common sense will know when youre doing it.

Poker, whether online or real table, is all about psychology. When you have the cards you play the cards, and when you don't have the cards (which for most players is most of the time) then you play the players. It's not coincidence that so many amateur players who gain entry to professional real table poker tournaments by winning $10 online heats do very well sat face to face with millionaire poker pros. Real or online, the fundamentals are the same: play the cards and play the players.

Also, showing cards, even if you've lost, isn't a waste of time. Let's say you're a tight player (ie you generally play the hand you have and don't go chasing cards) then you might occasionally turn over your weaker card to paint the picture you're a loose player prone to taking big chances. By doing that when you next bet on a big pot with a big hand, there's a higher chance somebody will call you thinking you don't have the hand.

[rmoxon]

Poker, whether online or real table, is all about psychology. When you have the cards you play the cards, and when you don't have the cards (which for most players is most of the time) then you play the players. It's not coincidence that so many amateur players who gain entry to professional real table poker tournaments by winning $10 online heats do very well sat face to face with millionaire poker pros. Real or online, the fundamentals are the same: play the cards and play the players.

Also, showing cards, even if you've lost, isn't a waste of time. Let's say you're a tight player (ie you generally play the hand you have and don't go chasing cards) then you might occasionally turn over your weaker card to paint the picture you're a loose player prone to taking big chances. By doing that when you next bet on a big pot with a big hand, there's a higher chance somebody will call you thinking you don't have the hand.

But wont people know youre doing that?

I dont get the point.

[Flabio]

But wont people know youre doing that?

I dont get the point.

They might think you're doing that. Or they might think you're pretending to do that. Or maybe they think you're thinking that they know you're thinking about faking.

Poker is so much about the metagame because the *actual* game is really just probability and sometimes luck.

This is probably why I'm so poor at it.

[rmoxon]

They might think you're doing that. Or they might think you're pretending to do that. Or maybe they think you're thinking that they know you're thinking about faking.

Poker is so much about the metagame because the *actual* game is really just probability and sometimes luck.

This is probably why I'm so poor at it.

If thats the case then isnt it best to asume that who ever you are playing against isnt any single "type" of player and is basicaly just trying to confuse you then?

[Charlie]

I'm pretty crap at poker too. I play a lot, on XBL, on the net, face to face poker, mainly for fun, sometimes for money, and I'm still crap. But I'm fascinated by good poker players, both by their 'sixth sense' and their bravery and it's amazing how so many familiar faces make televised tournament final tables. It's definitely more about skill than luck.

Looking forward to seeing how I'll perform in the live Texas Heat tournaments that start on XBL tonight. Not very well I imagine...

[Mayhem]

If you were able to wade through the lag still plaguing the live sessions...

[Charlie]

I didn't experience any lag during the UK event, but I later joined the US event and the table I was playing at locked up.

I really like the Heat format though, I hoped the reward system would encourage people to play proper poker and from my experience it's definitely worked as not only is there something to win by playing well but the 3 tier table system means there is also something to lose by playing badly. I certainly had a lot of fun playing it.

[Mayhem]

Oh there was "lag" during the "UK" event, I experienced it. And the Americans can still play in the evening events here, there's no region restrictions as such, just merely which countries are being allowed to take part (which is only a handful I gather).

[merf]

i was playing a bit of online the other night in an unranked game, I was so impressed with building my starting pot of 230 coins to 5000 in half an hour or so I'm considering quitting my job and going pro.

is the lag only evident in the big organised tournaments then as seemed fine when I was on ?

[Charlie]

I've still to experience any lag, be it regular multiplayer mode or live event.

What does need sorting (still) however is the bloody network. According to last nights live event statistics there were close to 15000 players, yet in 3 of the episodes I joined I ran across just 1 human player, every other competitor was a bot. And bots completely change the way you play, indeed bots change the way they play against you, as post-flop they almost NEVER fold against humans and that completely kills the game because it completely removes bluffing from your armoury. Not good. Needs fixing.

[merf]

just won my first online ranked tournament, this decides it, I'm going pro first thing Monday.

nothing to this poker lark.

[Charlie]

Haha. Good luck in your new career.