Here are a few thoughts on the content and structure of the guide.
While writing it, I realized that it made sense to begin with some fundamental concepts. For example, I always struggled to remember how to calculate a pot-sized bet in Pot-Limit, so I decided to explain the calculation in detail and include several examples. The forum threads were also extremely helpful to me at that stage.
No-Limit and Fixed-Limit were comparatively straightforward to explain. After that, I remembered other betting structures such as Spread-Limit and Cap games, and eventually came across Half-Pot Limit as well. The chapter Fundamentals then briefly covers blinds, antes, and lowball games before finally explaining the structure of abby99 Mixed Game Cards. Ending with that simply felt natural to me, since the cards are used so extensively throughout the guide.
The main focus of the book, however, was the large number of variants featured in abby99 Mixed Game Cards and the challenge of finding a meaningful way to categorize this games. I ultimately decided to divide the games into two main categories: Classic Poker Games and Circus Games. While I could not find an official definition for these terms, I used Classic Poker Games to describe variants that are regularly spread in casinos or card rooms, or are part of the WSOP schedule.
(The only exceptions were Badacey and Badeucy. Although they are played in the WSOP Dealers Choice event, I felt they fit better into the later section on Hybrids, where I grouped together variants that combine elements of two poker games.)
It was also important to me not only to introduce the games themselves, but to provide more detailed explanations and research some of their historical background. Under Circus Games, I then collected all remaining variants and organized them into the categories: Qualifier-Based Games, Alternative Hand Rankings, Games with Card Separation, Exposed & Discard Variants, Hybrid Variants and Multi-Board Games. A few variants did not fit into any of the existing categories, so I grouped them under Additional Variants of Classic Poker Games—mainly because I could not come up with a better name. For each variant, I tried to research and include additional information, especially from forum discussions.
However, before I actually started writing Chapter 5, Circus Games, I came up with the idea of adding another chapter beforehand that focuses on the topic of mixed games played at home. I had already read quite a lot about this subject in the forums, but in practice my own experience has mainly been limited to live Fixed-Limit mixed-game sessions. This is also an area where I would be especially interested in hearing about your experiences and perspectives.
Last but not least, I created several indexes in which I sorted the variants by maximum number of players, recommended betting structure, and of course alphabetically. I would be especially interested in your feedback on the recommended betting structure.
I am planning to do a revision at the end of the year and will definitely have it printed as a book for myself.
Thank you very much, and enjoy reading.
- Peter
