Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em

Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em: How to Play Low-Limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments by Daniel L. Cox.

The intent of Winning Blue-Collar Hold’em is not to put you in a seat at the next World Series of Poker (WSOP) or World Poker Tour (WPT) final table. Instead, the author is to improve the play of the average Low-Limit/Low Buy-in Texas Hold’em player, taking them to a more profitable level.

Televised final tables from $10,000 buy-in no-limit tournaments to high-stakes ring games have distorted the way the average player approaches the game. In a television environment that shows, at most, 10% of the action, successfully bluffing an opponent or the making an improbable two out all-in is more exciting, and thus will make the program, while the player with solid play is rarely seen, except when they are losing to the two-outer. The other aspect of poker that players viewing televised poker or starting out on the Internet fail to understand is that the style of play seen at the final table is not the same style of play that it takes to make a final table.

This book takes you beyond the simple “What” of playing poker and provides you with the “How” and “Why” necessary to become a winning low-stakes player. The use of poker aphorisms, or pokerisms, throughout the book separates it from all of the other books on the market.

One sure thing about poker is that even a wrong play can win and the right one can lose. The game of poker is never a game of exacts. No one can teach a player to make the right move every time. There are too many other factors influencing the outcome of a hand to teach absolutes. The only absolute in Hold’em is that there are no absolutes. To paraphrase Nietzsche, “Life would be senseless without poker.” As Anthony Holden said, "Whether he likes it or not, a man's character is stripped bare at the poker table; if the other poker players read him better than he does, he has only himself to blame. Unless he is both able and prepared to see himself as others do, flaws and all, he will be a loser in poker, as in life."

The intent of Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em is to improve the play of the average low-limit/low buy-in Texas Hold'em player. This book takes you beyond the "What" of poker and provides you with the "How" and "Why" you need to winning at low-stakes Hold’em. The use of nearly 200 poker aphorisms (pokerisms) separates it from all of the other books on the market.

Televised tournament final tables or high-stakes games distort the way average players approach the game. On TV you see only 10% of the action. The successful bluff or an improbable two out all-in is exciting, and thus will make the program, while you rarely see the player making the solid play, except when they lose to the two-outer. The other aspect players viewing televised poker fail to understand is that the style of play seen at the final table is not the same style of play that it takes to make the final table.

As Anthony Holden said in The Big Deal, “Whether he likes it or not, a man's character is stripped bare at the poker table; if the other poker players read him better than he does, he has only himself to blame. Unless he is both able and prepared to see himself as others do, flaws and all, he will be a loser in poker, as in life.”

Long-term success at Hold'em demands patience and discipline, play premium hands while paying close attention to position, and continually gather knowledge on your opponents. With these qualities, you can put yourself into the position to get lucky. This way you do not have to rely on the Poker Gods to win. Hopefully, this book will provide you with the edge you need to turn an enjoyable hobby into a profitable one.

Daniel L. Cox began playing poker at eight. His father Carl taught him around the dining room table for pennies. At 13 he entered his first "adult" game and learned the heartbreak of losing his entire bankroll on a bad beat, losing his $20.00 with Trip Aces in the hole. By age 17, he was playing in poker rooms in Gardena. At 18 he made his first trip to Las Vegas, finding the competition a lot fiercer than the home games he grew up with. After joining the Army in 1974, he made the payments on his first sports car with the winnings from the payday poker games in the barracks. Over the next thirty-five years, he has been playing poker in home games, back rooms, Officer's Clubs and casinos around the world.

In 1980, Dan obtained a B.A. in Economics and Literature from Claremont McKenna College and became a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He had assignments as a Chemical Officer, and General Staff Officer, as well as a tour as an Intelligence Officer in Korea. Injuries suffered in a parachute jump in 1980 forced an early medical retirement from the Army in 1988. In 1999, he obtained an M.S. in Management of Technology from the University of Alabama - Huntsville working his way through grad school as a PI. Upon graduation, he became CIO of a start-up endeavor in Huntsville. In 2002 he retired, bought an RV and began a two year odyssey, visiting casinos across America. Near the end of his travels, he met his eventual wife, Aleda. The following year, they celebrated a Las Vegas wedding and now live in the Southern California desert.

For his Senior Thesis he penned "Diary in Grey: Memoirs of a West Point Plebe," a 175-page fictionalized autobiographical novella about the first year experiences of a West Point Cadet. For the last five years, Dan has been the Writer/Editor of first, Gaming Review Online (www.gamingreview.org) and now, Poker Insider Magazine (www.pokerinsider.org). He travels the world reviewing poker rooms, writing articles on poker events and strategy. With decades of knowledge as a serious amateur player and a writer, he began this book on poker strategy. He is currently co-authoring a book on tournament strategy with a top professional player, as well additional poker strategy books based on Pokerisms and quotes.