Assignment #1
Here we are at the end of the fifth chapter of a book entitled Ken Warren Teaches Texas Hold 'Em, and you're probably thinking, "How is anybody going to teach me anything if I don't have any homework assignments?" Your wishes will be granted, starting right now. All of the material presented up to this point was necessary to teach you the basics about poker and Texas hold 'em. Now that you have some of the basics under your belt, we can change our focus from the broad and general to the more narrow and specific aspects of the game.

Your first assignment is to create a file, folder, ledger, logbook, or notebook for keeping your poker records. It can be anything from a memo pad with just the basics to a computer file with every category you can imagine. It has to meet just three main criteria: it must contain your own personal records, they must be permanent, and you must be able to update them easily whenever you wish to.

If you have no idea how you want to create this record, then I suggest you use an 8.5"xll" notepad. Following the eighteen categories listed above, number your lines 1 through 18 and fill in the blanks. Use the rest of the page for narrative remarks. Your notepad will have 50, 75 or 100 sheets, and you will be using one sheet per playing session. By the time you run out of sheets, you will know what is most comfortable for you. You'll either start with another tablet or you might switch to a computer-generated spreadsheet or program. Good luck.

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Don't forget that you're just a beginner. Don't be too hard on yourself. When you start playing hold 'em seriously and you're keeping records, you might get discouraged when you have to record loss after loss. This might keep you from wanting to play the game at all. I want you to allow yourself a training period where we will agree in advance that your results don't matter. After all, it's a training period. Nobody can expect to be a big winner while he's still learning, no matter what the subject is.

Give yourself a break. Decide how long you want to take as your learning period. During that time, concentrate on improving as a player and don't worry too much about the results. Of course, you'd like to see an upward trend after a while, but you should be more concerned about increasing your understanding of the game. When you feel like you're no longer a beginner, start your records over with a zero balance, as if you had never played before. Don't forget to have fun!

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After the second betting round, the dealer burns another card, and then turns the next card face up on the table. This fourth community card is called the turn. A third round of betting among the remaining players follows, only this time you can bet from $ 1 to $8 in the $ l-$4-$8-$8 game or the higher amount in the structured game. For example, in a $3-$6 game you must now bet or raise in $6 increments.

The River
After the action is completed on the turn, the dealer again burns the top card. He now turns a fifth, and final, card face up on the board. There is a final round of betting, called the river, which follows the same betting guidelines as the turn.

The Showdown
When all the action is completed, there is a showdown. All the active players who want to claim the pot turn their hands face up. Using his pocket cards and the five cards on the board, each player (with the dealer) determines his best poker hand. The highest hand at the table wins.

The dealer button then moves one player to the left, marking the new dealer's position. The blinds are posted by the next two players, and the game begins all over again.

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Each player is dealt two cards face down. These cards are called the pocket cards. Do not show these cards to any other player, since they constitute your entire private hand.
Remember that the blinds have to put their bets in the pot before the deal. The play now starts with the player to the immediate left of the big blind and moves clockwise. Each player has three options. He can fold (muck his hand), call (keep his hand and put the correct amount of money in the pot), or raise (increase the bet by at least as much as the previous bet).

If no one has raised by the time the action comes back to the small blind, he can either fold, call (put in enough money to make up the difference between his bet and the big blind's bet), or raise at least the amount of the big blind. For example, in a $l-$4-$8-$8 game where the big blind is $2, a raise of $1 is not permitted, because all raises in poker must be for at least the amount of the previous bet.

In a structured game, the raise must be exactly the small-tiered amount. Since the blinds had to put their money in the pot before they saw their hands, they also have the option of raising themselves.

If no one has raised by the time the action gets back around to the big blind, he then has the option to raise. The dealer will ask him, "Option?" and the big blind has to answer with either "Check" ("I bet nothing more") or "I raise."

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