In this chapter, we have introduced you to the rankings of five-card poker hands, forced bets, the actions available to a poker player during a hand, and to the governing concept of table stakes. This information should be second nature before playing for real money. At this point, we feel it is important to make the following point:
When a person is new to an activity, they are often able to understand conceptually what they read the first time, but they sometimes lose that knowledge when a situation comes up where that knowledge must be applied. OK, maybe it only happens to us, but if it happens to you as well, don’t feel bad about coming back to review this, and any other chapter, to brush up on the information. We read and re-read several poker authors all the time. As our games have improved, we’ve been able to review more and more complex material, but every now and then it helps to look at the basics. It’s really amazing what a person can forget over time, and looking back helps a lot.
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