Card games have always remained one of the favourites of the players who are into enjoying them for fun. However, these games make players unknowingly enhance their logical thinking and analytical skills.
Mid-Day cited FICCI-EY prediction, stating how the online gaming sector is expected to reach INR 187 billion by 2022, which will be way more than INR 65 billion recorded in 2019. In this journey of the online gaming industry becoming one of the most dominant sectors across the globe, the game developers have played a great role in addition to the designers who made the platforms user-friendly. And of course, the games themselves offer a relaxing experience to the players.
While the puzzles enhance your ability to deal with letters and numbers, card games improve your cognitive abilities. Today, people are more inclined to opt for card games, especially poker, so that they don’t end up having a blank mind due to the pandemic, lockdown, and social distancing norms. If you are among those who desire to learn this game and want to play it, there are a few aspects related to the game that you need to know.
Among all other things to be aware of dead cards. Players must know what such cards are and how they need to deal with them to win.
What are dead cards?
A dead card is a card that cannot be dealt with the rest of the cards in the deck. It is a situation that arises at some point in a tournament while playing poker every time, and hence, players need to understand how it happens and is taken care of. While counting the number of outs for making hands, dead cards play a significant role with the pot odds of the players, making them call a bet. If the card is dead, it is not counted in the outs.
There are instances where players receive an innumerable string of hole cards, including J-2, 7-4, 9-3, etc. These dead card pairs can never be played no matter which position players are playing from.
When does a card become dead?
A card becomes dead when they are exposed either accidentally or during the course of play. Accidental exposure includes instances when you mistakenly turn the card’s face up, while a normal exposure during the course of the game includes the situation where the game demands exposure.
For example, in a seven-card stud game, a card in some other player’s upcards is a dead card for you. When you play poker online, you should be aware of such cards to ensure you are counting the right outs.
How to deal with the dead cards?
When you are well aware of the situations that make your cards dead, the next thing to explore is how well you can deal with them. Most people consider dead cards as the symbol of failure. If you are one of them, you are under a big misconception. Having dead cards is just a part of the game, which you can handle easily by applying the right strategies. Above all, when you have dead cards, it is good for you. How?
After all, these dead cards make you believe you can tackle even the worst situation arising not in the game but in your life too.
Hence, the dead cards personify the life challenges, thereby teaching you to deal with them tactfully. Here is a list of ways you can adopt to ensure you deal with the dead cards:
Be patient with cards
Most players make a mistake while playing because they carry an expression on their faces that indicates their weakness to the opponents. Refrain from having such facial expressions. Whether you have strong cards, weak cards, or dead cards in your hand, never show that to your competitors.
Poker is a game of observation, and if the rest of the players get a clue of your weak cards, they will surely make it a nightmare for you. Thus, be patient with the cards. If you are strong, keep it to yourself and expose the cards only at the end. Be unpredictable and win the game.
Observe opponents
Like your opponents look for your facial expressions as indicators of your position in the game, you need to be observant enough in the same way. Keep a tab of the moves of your opponents. If you are in a live tournament of nine hands, you get ample time to observe your opponents and figure out which hole-cards they show and the way they bluff. For example, watching two players on your left and right before your mandatory opening bet.
Appear strong
No matter how weak your cards and position is, your level of confidence matters. Even if you don’t have the best cards, you can show your competitors that you are the strongest of all players in the game. When you are card dead, your opponents know that you are looking for a chance to play your best cards. To mislead opponents, you can re-raise cards on a raised pot and keep on folding for a while, making them think you have stronger cards. Your attempt to appear stronger will misguide opponents, offering you a chance to play your best cards.
Steal the blinds
It is one of the ways that might not be effective all the time. However, this trick can help you build a stack. Raise the pot to a level that you know none of the players would call. It will ensure there are no more callers, and you would be assured of getting the blinds.
Understanding the concept of the dead cards will let you take control over the tournaments, no matter which one of them you choose to play. The online gaming apps share all guidelines required for you to go through to know how to proceed. It would be easy to play and win once you read the guidelines and learn how to handle the dead cards.
