Poker for Beginners
Taught by Chris Castelli
Chris is a teacher, web developer, musician, carpenter, poker player, and all-around mad scientist. He believes the words “teaching” and “learning” should probably be the same word. He has recently decided to stop trying to pick one job and just do them all. chriscastelli.net/hire
Arguably America’s true pastime, poker has been played in various forms for almost two hundred years. Its popularity has grown rapidly in recent decades, having finally shed its long-standing reputation as a dangerous game played by scary people.
Still, poker is widely recognized as a game of skill, and beginners may be reluctant to get involved, especially when money is on the line. The good news for beginners is that poker, like any other game, can be played just as easily without money, as long as the players are competitive and interested in improving their skills.
This class is designed to take players with little or no experience and help them shed the “beginner” label in just two weeks. You might not be ready to jump into a high stakes cash game, but you’ll be well-prepared to hold your own in a casual game against intelligent opponents.
The class will include an appropriate balance of lesson time and playing time, so you can learn through experience. We'll start by covering the absolute basics of poker and the most common poker variants, then we’ll move into understanding the most essential elements of strategy, and we’ll finish with a whole-class poker tournament. The winner of the tournament will receive a Brooklyn Brainery gift certificate!