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Widely regarded as the world’s best poker player, Johnny Chan has been beating the highest buy-in tournaments and big money cash games everywhere for the past twenty years. Because he worked his way up to the top of the poker world by starting in the smallest games, Johnny is the perfect person to teach you how to do it. Whether you are a beginning or intermediate player, this book will help you on your road to expert status. All of the popular casino poker games are covered in a clear and easy to understand fashion. Win just one extra pot and this book will have paid for itself! “Johnny Chan is the toughest No-Limit opponent I have ever faced.” Doyle Brunson - Winner of nine WSOP Titles “I play with Johnny on a regular basis in the highest games in the world and there is no tougher all around player.” Chip Reese - World Class Player “I have been playing poker with Johnny Chan for over twenty years and he’s still the greatest player I have ever played against.” Bobby Baldwin - CEO of Mirage Resorts - 1978 WSOP Champion “Johnny Chan is a great poker player. I’ve learned a lot from watching him play.” Phil Ivey - Winner of four WSOP Titles “Johnny Chan is the best tournament player I have ever played against.” Phil Hellmuth - Winner of nine WSOP Titles Johnny Chan and Mark Karowe Some of Johnny’s titles include: 1985 WSOP Limit Hold-em Champion 1987 WSOP Main Event Champion 1988 WSOP Main Event Champion 1988 Hall of Fame Main Event Champion 1989 WSOP Main Event Runner Up 1989 Hall of Fame Main Event Champion 1994 WSOP Seven Card Stud Champion 1997 WSOP Deuce to Seven Draw Champion 2000 WSOP Omaha Pot Limit Champion 2002 WSOP Match Play NLH Champion 2003 WSOP No Limit Hold-em Champion click the graphic to find out how to buy the book Copyright © 2005 by Johnny Chan and Mark Karowe All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any format by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Top Player Media LLC 409 N. Pacific Coast Hwy. 430 Redondo Beach, CA 90277 www.tpmllc.com www.PlayLikeChan.com Some photos of Johnny Chan provided courtesy of Larry Grossman of Las Vegas, Nevada. ISBN 1-933074-30-2 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The Top Players All Agree: “It is a rare poker player that excels at tournaments as well as big money side games. Not only does Johnny Chan excel at both but in all types of poker as well.” Lyle Berman - Chairman of the Board of the World Poker Tour “Johnny Chan is the toughest No-Limit opponent I have ever faced.” Doyle Brunson - Winner of nine WSOP Titles “I play with Johnny on a regular basis in the highest games in the world and there is no tougher all-around player.” Chip Reese - World Class High Limit Player “I have been playing poker with Johnny for about twenty years and not only is he the toughest player I have ever played against, but a great guy as well.” Jerry Buss - Owner of the Los Angleles Lakers “Johnny Chan is a great poker player. I’ve learned a lot from watching him play.” Phil Ivey - Winner of four WSOP Titles “Johnny Chan is the best tournament player I have ever played against.” Phil Hellmuth - Winner of nine WSOP Titles “I have been playing poker with Johnny Chan for over twenty years and he’s still the greatest player I have ever played against.” Bobby Baldwin - 1978 WSOP Champion President and CEO of Mirage Resorts HOW TO USE THIS BOOK This book is geared toward beginning and intermediate players. The best way to use this book is to: 1) Read it over in a comfortable fashion, familiarizing yourself with its contents. Please use the glossary if necessary. 2) After you have a good idea of what it covers, you should then carefully read the individual sections that are of special interest to you. 3) Go into a public card room and practice what you have learned. While playing, try to remember hands and situations that make you feel uncomfortable. Make note of any hands during which you are unsure of proper play. 4) After each session, review the appropriate sections of the book and reflect on what happened in the card room. 5) The next time you encounter a similar situation while playing, try to adjust your play to incorporate what you learned through your study and reflection. Over time, this process will be very helpful in facilitating your progression from beginning to intermediate player. Although this book contains a lot of very useful information, playing winning poker 10 is both an art and a skill. You need to practice and gain experience to progress. There are a lot of very intelligent, capable, hard-working players trying to do the same thing you are. This means that you must put in an appropriate amount of effort to attain winning player status. The amount of work you’ll have to put in depends upon what your goals are. Learning to beat low level games will take less effort than learning to beat higher games. Even if you are a complete novice, the tools you need to become an expert player are available to you. Books like this one and others in the “Play Poker Like Johnny Chan” series are valuable resources on your road to becoming a long term winner, but the most important resource you have is your own determination. The more you practice, the better you will become. If you are a beginner, I strongly suggest you try to follow as closely as possible what I teach in this book. In low limit games, there is no need to get tricky. Solid, straightforward play will get the money. When you are just starting out, it is important to keep things as simple as possible. I’ve made an effort to outline clearly the types of cards you are best off playing and the kinds of situations you should be looking for. Beginning players will do well if they follow this advice until it is second nature. After you gain a reasonable amount of experience and progress to the intermediate level, there will be times you may not agree with what this book tells you to do. The fact that you have considered my advice, and question it, is a positive step along your road to becoming an expert player. Poker is a very dynamic situation, and there are very few cut and dried absolutes. The best players are constantly evaluating all their alternatives and are flexible in their approach to difficult situations. The majority of the time, the approach I suggest will serve you best, but it is good for you to keep an open mind and be willing to experiment. If you decide something I teach will not work for you, that’s not a problem. Over the long run, it’s important for you to develop your own style of play. Also, be sure to visit our website: www.PlayLikeChan.com, where you will find lots of useful information on poker and gambling in general. 11 Contents CONTENTS Chapter One Hand Rankings 16 Chapter Two My Early Years 24 Chapter Three General Poker Concepts 29 The Basics 33 Number Of Players 33 Table Seating 33 Antes 33 Blinds 33 The Button 33 The Deal 34 The First Betting Round 34 Folding 34 Checking 34 Calling 35 Raising 35 12 Contents Re-raising 35 Check Raising 35 Draws 36 Connectors 36 Suited Connectors 36 Live Cards 36 Pot Odds 36 Implied Odds 37 The Board 37 The Nuts 37 Outs 37 Free Cards 37 Kickers 37 Value 38 Slow Playing 38 Subsequent Betting Rounds 38 Tells 38 Bluffing 39 Reading Hands 39 Chapter Four What To Expect In the Casino 40 Waiting Lists 41 Game Selection 41 Getting Chips 42 Personalities 42 Tipping 43 Collection or Rake 43 13 Contents Jackpots 44 Eating At the Table 45 Some Important Rules 45 Acting In Turn 45 Table Stakes 46 String Bets 46 Cards Speak 47 Called Hands 47 English Only 48 Seating Rights 48 Live Hands 48 Showing Hands on the End 48 Broken Games 49 Chapter Five Limit Hold-em 50 The Button 50 First Two Cards 51 Early Position 52 Middle Position 56 Late Position 56 Raised Pots 57 The Blinds 57 The Flop 57 Fourth Street 75 The River 78 Inducing Bluffs 78 Summary 79 14 Contents Chapter Six Seven Card Stud 80 First Three Cards 82 Fourth Street 92 Fifth Street 93 Sixth Street 94 Seventh Street 95 Chapter Seven Eight Or Better Stud 97 Third Street 98 Fourth Street 103 Fifth Street 105 Having Half the Pot Locked Up 107 Sixth Street 108 Seventh Street 108 Playing High Hands 112 Summary 115 Chapter Eight Omaha High 116 Understanding Starting Hands 117 Position 119 The Flop 123 Draws and Redraws 124 Summary 128 Chapter Nine Omaha Hi-Low 129 Have an Ace-Deuce or Ace-Three 129 Play Related Cards 129 15 Contents Scooping 130 Getting Quartered 130 Position 130 Raising Before the Flop 130 Multi-Way vs. Head-up 131 Getting Counterfeited 131 Jammed Pots 131 Having Extra Outs 132 Don’t Play Trap Hands 132 Bluffing 132 Starting Hands 133 High Hands 139 Three of a Kind 140 On the Flop 142 Flopping the Nut Low Draw 143 Flopping the Nut Low 143 Flopping the Nut High Draw 143 Flopping the Nut High 144 Fourth Street 144 The River 145 Bluffing On the End 146 Summary 146 Photos 148 Chapter Ten No-Limit Hold-em 173 General Concepts of No-Limit 174 16 Contents Developing A Style 178 My Style Of Play 179 The “All-in” Player 181 The Real Secret 183 Losing Is Nothing To Be Ashamed Of 184 Pot Limit vs.