Poker Night 2 101

For beginners and experienced poker players alike!
From actual gamblers who bought this game to invest in virtual profits, to beginners who don't even understand how to play poker at all!
This guide will show you how to play Poker Night 2 (most aspects also carry over to Poker Night at the Inventory) and beat 100% of the game, top to bottom.

Introduction

Hello! I'm CheeseTheJensen (aka JensenButton; aka anything you want to call me blurghghjfjf) and welcome to my guide, on how to play Poker Night 2.

Gamblers who played actual poker before (or anyone who thinks they don't need this guide), maybe you would like to reconsider continue reading this guide? Maybe there's a trick or two under my sleeve I would like to show that you can use! Otherwise if you already know all the aspects of Poker Night 2, feel free to carry on and leave this guide alone :(

But if you're staying anyway, good! :D

Okay, without further a do, let's get started!

Poker Night: How it differs from other Poker games

Poker Night at the Inventory and Poker Night 2 alone differs from other realtime poker games (examples include Zynga Texas Hold'em etc). You're playing against a set of bots. With personalities. And that you're a mute (that's right, you don't do the talking).

In Poker Night, all players are seated according to their skill level, the weakest towards the left, and the strongest towards the right. Those seated towards the left mostly have incosistent strategies, while those to the right... fairly consistent strategies. Now obviously, those seated to the right are harder to take down, while those to the left are easier to take down. However, this isn't always the case. Especially since all of this falls into the context of luck, occasionally the stronger players get knocked out first.

"But wait," I hear you cry. "At times, even the weakest can beat me when I have a stronger starting hand!!!"


Then you're playing it all wrong. I know, hole cards like A-Q, A-K, A-J and A-A all sound delicious but don't, and I mean. DON'T. Raise super aggresively. The bots have been known to 'cheat'. And as in 'cheat', I mean the community cards dealt during the flop, turn and the river can be altered to their favour. And they ultimately win.

So, apologies for explaining the advanced stuff of poker, for the beginners! Let us explain how poker (and if it isn't obvious enough already, Texas Hold'em and Omaha Hold'em specifically) is played!

History of Texas and Omaha Hold'em

WOOPS, ACCIDENTAL INTERRUPTION FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS SECTION OF THE GUIDE THAT EXPLAINS THE HISTORY OF POKER HOLD'EM CRAP LOL

History of Texas Hold'em

Although little is known about the invention of Texas hold 'em, the Texas State Legislature officially recognizes Robstown, Texas, United States as the game's birthplace, dating the game to the early 1900s.

After the game spread throughout Texas, hold 'em was introduced to Las Vegas in 1967 by a group of Texan gamblers and card players, including Crandell Addington, Doyle Brunson, and Amarillo Slim. This is when "ace high" was changed from the original form in which aces were low. Addington said the first time he saw the game was in 1959. "They didn't call it Texas hold 'em at the time, they just called it hold 'em.… I thought then that if it were to catch on, it would become the game. Draw poker, you bet only twice; hold 'em, you bet four times. That meant you could play strategically. This was more of a thinking man's game."

For several years the Golden Nugget Casino in Downtown Las Vegas was the only casino in Las Vegas to offer the game. At that time, the Golden Nugget's poker room was "truly a 'sawdust joint,' with…oiled sawdust covering the floors." Because of its location and decor, this poker room did not receive many rich drop-in clients, and as a result, professional players sought a more prominent location. In 1969, the Las Vegas professionals were invited to play Texas hold 'em at the entrance of the now-demolished Dunes Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. This prominent location, and the relative inexperience of poker players with Texas hold 'em, resulted in a very remunerative game for professional players.

After a disappointing attempt to establish a "Gambling Fraternity Convention", Tom Moore added the first ever poker tournament to the Second Annual Gambling Fraternity Convention held in 1969. This tournament featured several games including Texas hold 'em. In 1970, Benny and Jack Binion acquired the rights to this convention, renamed it the World Series of Poker, and moved it to their casino, Binion's Horseshoe, in Las Vegas. After its first year, a journalist, Tom Thackrey, suggested that the main event of this tournament should be no-limit Texas hold 'em. The Binions agreed and ever since no-limit Texas hold 'em has been played as the main event. Interest in the Main Event continued to grow steadily over the next two decades. After receiving only eight entrants in 1972, the numbers grew to over one hundred entrants in 1982, and over two hundred in 1991.

During this time, B & G Publishing Co., Inc. published Doyle Brunson's revolutionary poker strategy guide, Super/System. Despite being self-published and priced at $100 in 1978, the book revolutionized the way poker was played. It was one of the first books to discuss Texas hold 'em, and is today cited as one of the most important books on this game. In 1983, Al Alvarez published The Biggest Game in Town, a book detailing a 1981 World Series of Poker event. The first book of its kind, it described the world of professional poker players and the World Series of Poker. Alvarez's book is credited with beginning the genre of poker literature and with bringing Texas hold 'em (and poker generally) to a wider audience. Alvarez's book was not the first book about poker. "The Education of a Poker Player" by Herbert O. Yardley, a former U.S. government code breaker, was published in 1957.

Interest in hold 'em outside of Nevada began to grow in the 1980s as well. Although California had legal card rooms offering draw poker, Texas hold 'em was deemed to be prohibited under a statute that made illegal the (now unheard of) game "stud-horse". But in 1988 Texas hold 'em was declared legally distinct from stud-horse in Tibbetts v. Van De Kamp. Almost immediately card rooms across the state offered Texas hold 'em. (It is often presumed that this decision ruled that hold 'em was a game of skill, but the distinction between skill and chance has never entered into California jurisprudence regarding poker.) After a trip to Las Vegas, bookmakers Terry Rogers and Liam Flood introduced the game to European card players in the early 1980s.
Source: Wikipedia[en.wikipedia.org]

History of Omaha Hold'em

Wait. There seems to be no history for Omaha Hold'em... LET'S JUST SKIP IT ANYWAY

Texas and Omaha Hold'em: How It Is Played

Okay, I once again apologise for my alternate personality randomly copy pasting the entire Wikipedia page of Texas Hold'em into the previous section. So anyways, on with how it's played!

How To Play Texas Hold'em

The Dealer, The Blinds and The Buy-Ins
As with all other community card gambling games, the game obviously INVOLVES chips. So to play the game, you must pay the blinds and the buy-ins.

The buy-in is just the minimum amount of money required to join in the game and lose with everyone else.



As seen in the image above, every player MUST eventually put in a specified amount of chips on the table (amount varies as the game progresses). These are the blinds, and they will go around one player after another, hand after hand. The dealer button is just to indicate that the person having it will have his/her own turn the last.

Texas Hold'em

A hand in the game is divided into four segments. the pre-flop, flop, turn, and the river.

Pre-flop (and the rules of betting)
Everyone will be dealt two cards. These are the hole cards. After everyone has seen their own hole cards, a round of betting occurs. The player sitting adjacent to the big blind (not posting the small blind) will have his/her own turn first.

He/she has to call (paying the amount equivalent to the big blind), fold or raise. If he/she raises, every other player has to call to her raise (especially the small and big blinds).

Once every other player without a blind calls, the player with the small blind has to call as well or fold, but he/she has to only call 1/2 the amount, since he/she already paid for the other 1/2 in his/her small blind.

And as for the player with the big blind, he/she can check or fold. He/she does not need to pay because he/she already posted the full amount in his/her big blind.

Flop
After the pre-flop, three community cards will be dealt on the middle of the table. Your chances of winning after seeing the flop without folding will change drastically during this hand, either for the better or worse (which is why this deal is called a flop).

After the flop, another round of betting occurs.

Turn
After the flop, one community card will be dealt on the middle of the table. This is called the turn.
By now, your chances of winning should be secured as the others either rise or tumble, though it's really rare to see someone's winning chances rise again after the turn. If everyone is still in the hand by this deal, someone might be bluffing.

After the turn, another round of betting occurs.

River
After the turn, the last community card will be dealt on the middle of the table. This is the river. Where either one or more players' chances of winning is a guaranteed 100%.

After the river, a final round of betting occurs.

Revealing Hands
After the river, all the players who did not fold after the final round of betting will reveal their cards. The winner of the hand will be decided based on the following criterias:

1) The rank of the hand
2) Kickers (Any card to back-up the rank of the hand, mostly preventing ties from happening)


The cards do NOT have to be exactly the same as the chart shown above.
But to sum it up:

Royal Flush: A 'Straight' (10-J-Q-K-A) and a 'Flush'.
Straight Flush: A 'Straight' and a 'Flush'.
Four of a Kind: The player has four cards of the same number. (e.g 4-4-4-4)
Full House: A 'Three of a Kind' and a 'Pair'.
Flush: The player has five cards of the same suit.
Straight: The player has five sequential cards. (e.g A-2-3-4-5)
Three of a Kind: The player has three cards of the same number. (e.g 3-3-3)
Two Pair: The player has two pairs of cards of the same number. (e.g 2-2; 10-10)
Pair: The player has two cards of the same number. (e.g A-A)

Showdowns
Showdowns occur when there is no player that has the sufficient funds to call to a bet due to going all-in. Before a showdown begins, bets that have not been called will be refunded back to their respective betters. All the players whom are participating in the showdown will then reveal their cards.

Once a showdown begins, the cards are dealt after each other, without any betting rounds, all the way until the river.

Like a normal round after the river, the winner is decided from the rank of each players' hands.

Players who went all-in and lost the hand in the showdown will be busted out, and have to buy-in again to play at the next hand (or in the case of Poker Night, at the next tournament).

Omaha Hold'em

Omaha Hold'em is the same as Texas Hold'em, the only difference being all players are dealt four hole cards, and that the player has to pick two of his/her hole cards, and three of the community cards dealt on the table to make up his/her final hand. (Probably the reason why I seldom play this game due to confusion.)

The Tells

So with the explanation of how to play Texas and Omaha Hold'em pinned down, let's move on to stuff more Poker Night-related, that seperates this game from the others.

In order to win Poker Night at the Inventory (or Poker Night 2, in THIS context), you have to rely on tells that the bots make. Just like players in real life. But you don't know how to read through their tells if you don't know who I'm talking to specifically, right? So let's meet the four players (five, if it includes you) in Poker Night 2!

The Players

(I apologise if I make this very gentlemen-oriented)
The Player

That's you.
Tells
The Player doesn't have any tells! OH MY GOD THAT IS OVERPOWERED

Brock Samson

Background
He's one-half Swedish, one-quarter Polish, and one-quarter Winnebango. He made his debut in the Adult Swim animated series The Venture Bros. as the former bodyguard to the Venture family. His first video game appearance was in the classic flash game Rough Justice. Brock's brute strength and endurance border on the superhuman.

Brock is very fond of bluffing, even though he is paranoid of others doing the latter, and will often try to force other players to fold if he believes that they have bad hands. He will sometimes even go all in, which will usually work unless the opponent wasn't bluffing, in which case - depending on whether or not the probabilities are with or against him - he will either win or lose, although he does seem to be somewhat cautious of playing mediocre hands. He will sometimes continue pushing the opponents even if they decide to call the bets when they're not bluffing.. He is the second-most consistent player (after Sam the doge).

Tells

He will scratch the back of his head if he has a bad hand.
He will slam the table angrily if he has a bad hand.
Occasionally, if he has a good hand, he will play with his chips before tossing them in.
If he cracks his knuckles, he has a good hand.

Claptrap


Background
Smart-aleck robot Claptrap made his debut in Gearbox Software’s Borderlands and also appeared in its sequels Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. He also appeared in the promotional Claptrap Web Series. A fine example of the CL4P-TP General Purpose Robots, he is friendly to a fault, charmingly eccentric, and probably even knows how to play cards.

Claptrap's a coward and a fool, and his poker strategy reflects this; his poker moves do seem to be the same as Max: random. He may either be cautious, aggressive or he may bluff. When Claptrap has enough money, he will attempt to bet loose-agressively. Until then, he will fold frequently while waiting for a good hand (and if he has a good hand, he's going to try to go all the way to the end with it). He does seem to have a tendency to go all in when pressured and low on funds. He's also more difficult to read as his tells occur more rarely than the other characters', but he goes all-in at times he shouldn't, so he's likely to get knocked out by the other players.

Tells

When Claptrap tilts forward and his antenna droops, he is unhappy. This may indicate a bad hand, or disapointment at a flop.

Claptrap's arm-flaps may swing up in surprise when he is pleased. However, he is still prone to playing it safe early in the game, so this may become misleading.

Ash Williams

Oh, wait. That was the wrong picture.

Ah! That's more manly!

Background
Bringing both boomstick and badassery to the table, Ash is the star of the original Evil dead films, the most well known of which is the cult classic movie Army of Darkness. He's also a video game veteran, as his first video game appearance was The Evil Dead for Commodore 64 in 1984. This was followed decades later by Evil Dead: Hail to the King, Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick, Evil Dead: Regeneration, Army of Darkness Defense, and Evil Dead: The Game. Ash is a housewares clerk at S-Mart and ordinary modern-day hero… or about as ordinary as you can get with a robotic arm.

Ash is a very aggressive player and likes to bluff on weak hands, frequently raising and going all in, especially even before the flop is revealed. Because of this, some will probably easily find Ash the most irritating poker player to compete against, most notably if you have a particularly bad pair of hole cards yourself to begin with. He will usually only fold if he has a very bad hand, making him an easy opponent and often the first to be eliminated. He tends to check only when the flop has ruined his hand and can be forced to fold with a medium or large bet. He is very rarely the last to check.

However, Ash's poker strategies have a tendency to be quite inconsistent and he will be very unpredictable: in one hand/tournament, he will be overtly aggressive and reckless whereas in another hand/tournament, he will be perhaps overtly cautious. Hence, he'll probably be the hardest poker player to read; when he bets aggressively right after the flop is revealed, he will indeed be hard to read. In his case, it's all or nothing: he will either have a good hand or he's bluffing.

Knowing him though, if he has a weak flop, he may occasionally bluff. However, when he has a good hand, he will take full advantage of it and his methods of doing that may vary considerably. He will bet aggressively as soon as he sees - what he views as - a good hand on the flop that isn't too coherent to his other opponents; on the other hand, as the common strategy goes, he will check-raise; when an opponent bets a small amount (either as a bluff or a playing-safe bet), he will intervene with a big raise. He will also be as extremely pushy as Brock most of the time; even with a large amount of money he has, when he sees the flop, he will sometimes immediately go all-in, though on a mere one pair hand (the highest one pair hand he can find).

Tells

If Ash brings both hands to his head and leans back and then bangs his fists on the table in frustration, he does not have a good hand.

If Ash wiggles the fingers on his right hand, he's very uncertain.

If Ash looks to the right nervously, he could be bluffing.

If Ash clenches his fist and grimaces, then he has a bad hand.

If Ash taps his teeth with his finger in thought, he probably has a good hand.

Sam (and occasionally... Max)


Background
Sam is a 6 foot tall anthropomorphic dog (retroactivly classified as an Irish Wolfhound by Steve Purcel) detective who originates from the comic turned point and click series Sam & Max: Freelance Police.

Sam is probably the most honest, consistent poker player in the game; a cautious player and tends to call or fold most hands. If Sam suddenly starts making large bets, he is very confident in his hand. However, he's the character you'll least likely need to worry about as he rarely bluffs, but whenever he does, he'll be confident enough with his hole cards to rebound from another player's bluff.

Tells

Sam will drop down to the table when he has a bad hand.

Sam will furrow his brow when he doesn't like the flop.

Sam will readjust his hat when he thinks he has a good hand or likes the flop.

Sam will tug at his collar if he's bluffing.

Sam will growl if he's got a good hand.

Sam's betting is his biggest tell--he begins throwing in large bets if he has a killer hand.

Strategy

Use these tells to your advantage and with these tells you'll never lose again... probably.

Bounties and Unlocks

So now that you know how to play Texas and Omaha Hold'em, let's look at some of the sweet, bad*** loot aspects of Poker Night 2!

Decks, Chips and Felts

In Poker Night 2, each player on the table (except you) has their own unique personality and their OWN unique themed decks, chips and felts you can purchase with your fine Inventory Tokens.

Simultaneously enabling all of the decks, chips and felts of a particular theme will change the appearance of the Inventory, and depending on which theme you choose; may be as magical as a fairyland; or as eerie as a graveyard (yes, it happens if you choose Army of Darkness). It will also trigger special conversations related to the theme. And whoever gets busted out first, will receive a special elimination (which is kind of bias to be honest, because they do nothing to the Player if he/she gets busted out). It will also, upon beating the tournament, unlock a special ending. I will let you find out about that yourself ;)

The Plain Ol' Inventory Theme

Borderlands Theme

The Venture Bros. Theme

Sam & Max: 25th Anniversary Theme

Army of Darkness Theme

Portal Theme


Price of decks

The Inventory (default)
Borderlands (40 tokens)
Sam & Max 25th Anniversary (50 tokens)
The Venture Bros. (70 tokens)
Army of Darkness (120 tokens)
Portal (240 tokens)

Price of chips

The Inventory (default)
Borderlands (20 tokens)
Sam & Max 25th Anniversary (25 tokens)
The Venture Bros. (35 tokens)
Army of Darkness (60 tokens)
Portal (120 tokens)

Price of felts (aka table)

The Inventory (default)
Borderlands (60 tokens)
Sam & Max 25th Anniversary (75 tokens)
The Venture Bros. (105 tokens)
Army of Darkness (180 tokens)
Portal (360 tokens)

Bounties

And now... THE COOL S*** EVERYONE TALKS ABOUT, OTHER THAN THE GAME!
In order to win a bounty, you have to complete a set of three Bounty Challenges (randomized every tournament). After you complete all the Bounty Challenges, you'll be eligible for a Bounty in the next tournament.

A player will put up his/her (her?? WHAT) on the table the tournament following after. And all you have to do to claim the Bounty, is to win the tournament! Don't worry if you lose, the Bounty will always be up for grabs until you win. And the cycle goes on if you want to collect all the Bounties.

The following list of Bounties apply to the PC only. And to Poker Night 2 only (if I haven't mentioned that enough already).
List of Bounties
Team Fortress 2 items:

Sam - Bloodhound (Hat for Sniper and Spy) [Sam's Banjo]
Claptrap - Dapper Disguise (Misc. item for Spy) [Claptrap's VGA Trophy]
Ash - Necronomicrown (Hat for Pyro) [Ash's Necronomicon]
Brock - Samson Skewer (Misc. item for Heavy) [Brock's Samsonite]
GLaDOS - Long Fall Loafers (Misc. item for Scout) [GLaDOS' Personality Core]

Borderlands 2 items:

Sam - Hippity Hoppity (for Gaige (Mechromancer)) [Sam's Banjo]
Claptrap - Bluffer's Bane (for Maya (Siren)) [Claptrap's VGA Trophy]
Ash - Guy With The Gun (for Axton (Commando)) [Ash's Necronomicon]
Brock - Nothing Ventured (for Salvador (Gunzerker)) [Brock's Samsonite]
GLaDOS - Are Y0u Still There (for Zer0 (Assassin)) [GLaDOS' Personality Core]

Tips and Tricks

So with the tells discussed, it's now time to finally move on (I hope you did not went tl;dr mode)! These tips are far more advanced but they really come in handy. So take your time and absorb the information.

The Brock and Ash Betting Wars

If you see Brock and Samson bet aggresively, fold. Unless if you got a really good hand and you are confident in knocking them both out. Chances are one of them will leave this table once the showdown is done.

The Dishonest (and Honest) Ash

Ash Williams is probably one of the most hardest characters to tell, but due to his fairly inconsistent nature, you might eliminate him soon enough. If not, he really becomes a pain in the *** to deal with once you are 1v1 against him.

When you are seated with all the players (especially him), just get out of hands not worth playing, and skip them. Chances are that he will be the first to be eliminated.

The Honest (and Dishonest) Sam

Sam is the toughest character to deal with and seldom gets busted out early into the tournament. So mostly late into the tournament he'll be the last player you'll get the privileges to bust out. And simultaneously, like Ash, a pain in the ***. He will bet really agressively on you when everyone else is gone. But he's still adorable <3

The best thing you could do is to keep folding until you get good cards (A-A, A-K, A-J, A-Q, K-K, Q-Q), like Ash early in-game or play the strategy with the tells and stuff (in the previous section).

"Folding Suits You, Do More Of It!"

Seriously. Just keep folding and play when you get good cards. Let the bots bust out each other when everyone is seated, or you'll have a hard time surviving to the finale.

Serving Drinks

If you have at least 20 Inventory tokens lying around collecting dust, WHAT ARE YOU DOING USE THEM! This increases the frequency of the bots' tells (for the entirety of the tournament) and you can use this to your advantage. Feel free to abuse it every tournament. It's a legal and very safe method.

Conclusion & Credits

Phew! That's alot of content right there. Hope you did not tl;dr. Thanks alot of spending the time to browse through this guide! But for the wary reader, just to sum it all up. Use the tells, fold on bad hands and play aggresively on good hands and you'll be on your way to a Poker champio-

*IT'S NOT REAL POKER!*

Oh. Okay --on your way to a Poker Night 2 champi...-on.

This guide, by the way, isn't 100% complete, so if you think there's a iota of information I've missed, feel free to let me know in the comments below, or through commenting at my Steam profile!

Special Thanks To

Poker Night at the Inventory Wikia (for some photos and information covered in this guide)
Wikipedia (for general Texas Hold'em whatsoever history)

Some photos used in this guide may be copyrighted, and I have done my best to put credits where it is due. Please let me know if I have missed any credits. Also, the guide is for educational purposes only. Not for monetisation (it never was).

[Tato]

"If you see Brock and Samson bet aggresively" error?

[MedicInDisquise]

Like that poor sap below me, it might be a good idea to outline what exactly are good hands.
You generally want hole cards (royalty; 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace) to start out with, since they (often) serve as kickers and thus tie breakers. Even better if you get a pair of any card to start out with, since often there will be a pair in the run, allowing you to make a very easy (and hard to match) two pair hand.

Don't feel afraid to use the cheat sheet, and keep a note of the suits of your starting cards as well. Even if I don't have hole cards or a starting pair, matching suits is reason enough to see the flop since that makes a flush much easier. And a flush is nigh-unbeatable unless the bots get really REALLY lucky. And trust me, they can and will BS their way to victory if you let them.

[ThrasherAloe]

Hahaha I don't even know how tell a good hand and a bad hand....

[perato]

Might as well mention the "cheaters" way too.

In the end, the easiest way to win all achis and items is to overabuse Alt+F4. There are few "rules" to this though.

When you get missions, make sure you're able to do them, if not, alt F4 and start another tournament and the game gives you new set of missions. See below why not to do this a lot.

Fold(or play a modest) first hand to save the tournament. If you alt+F4, you will lose money from your total pot(and 1 million achievement gets further away).

Then go all in when you feel like it and alt+F4 if the river turns in their favor. The trick is that you can alt+F4 when the game shows the scores(100% or 0%) and when you return to game you start from the last saved spot, that was before the hand is dealed.

Ofc this ruins basically the game, but if you're here only to do achievements/getting items to BL2/TF2, this is one of the fastest way.