Fun — but expensive — bar games every poker player should try

There are certain bar games every poker player should try.

Why? Well, apart from being a fun way to spend an evening they will also teach you valuable lessons that can be transferred back to the green felt.

From how to read body language to being more aggressive in the right spots, learn how to play poker better while knocking over skittles or sinking pool balls. Here are just a few of the best bar games every poker player should try.

Bowling

One of the most popular activities on the planet to have an official video game. The 10-pin variety is what you’ll find in most bars and alleyways around the world and bowling is a great game for poker players for several reasons.

What Poker Players Can Learn From Bowling

Reading Body Language

Poker teaching bowling the importance of body language.

When it comes to poker skills transferable to another game bowling is one one that teaches you to be a human antenna; picking up on small nuances other people give off unwittingly. This is equally applicable at the bowling alley as it is at the poker table.

Obviously to some extent people guard their tells more in a poker game than they would bowling, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t possible to glean useful information. Watch who is checking in on their turns before they’ve thrown the ball. Are they nervous? Are they rubbing their hands together? Are they pacing up and down? All this information could help you plan your own approach.

You should also pay attention to your own body language. If you just drilled the strike at the end of the lane and celebrated like you just won a WSOP bracelet, the next bowler might take note and adjust his or her shot. Discipline is required to avoid giving away too much information.

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Dealing With Variance

If you’ve been playing poker for any length of time variance is something you’re very familiar with. You may studiously dissect your game looking for leaks, but go without a win for weeks. Conversely you can turn up clearly not in the zone, but leave the table profiting hugely after everything drops into your lap. That’s variance, and it’s both boring and maddening in equal measure.

Bowling is no different. You can turn up at the lanes, get in the zone, and pick up everything you throw. Or you can draw a nasty lane, fail to connect properly with the ball, and struggle to break 100 all night. It’s just the nature of the beast.

It’s important in both poker and bowling not to get too high with the highs or too low with the lows. Enjoy a good run while it lasts, and remember that it’s only money (or bottles of beer) when things aren’t going so well. Stay calm and collected and trust in your ability. Over a large enough sample those dreaded swings will even out.

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Ball Control/Aggression

Another skill applicable to both pursuits is ball control and aggression. In both poker and bowling you need to know when to be aggressive and when to take a step back and play safe. And unsurprisingly it’s generally better to be aggressive when you’re doing well.

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Let’s take poker first. When you’re running hot it’s obviously a good time to fire up some big bluffs, since your opponents will often be willing to fold better hands than you hold. More often than not you’re going to be playing tight-aggressive poker, so when you have a hand you’re confident in you should be looking to stack that pot.

In bowling things are similar. If you’re in the zone and connecting well with the ball, it’s smart to try to strike as often as possible. Yes, sometimes you’ll leave a 7 or a 2 to set up for the next frame, but for the most part you want to be knocking down as many pins as possible every end.

But if you’re struggling you have to take a step back, accept that this isn’t your day, and concentrate on playing safe. Knock down as many pins as you can without taking stupid risks. Sure, the scores might be low, but at least you won’t leave a lot of splits for the other bowlers. 

Who Wins in a Poker Bowling League?

As far as bar games every poker player should try go, bowling is definitely up there. It’s so popular, in fact, that organized poker bowling leagues exist, mostly in the US. Generally it’s teams of five, and each week every bowler plays three games, and the team’s total score determines its points for the week.

So all together a poker bowling league player will play 45 games over the course of the season. As with poker, a single good frame (er, game) can rescue you from disaster. A perfect 300 game in bowling is the same as a perfect game in poker (assuming a full table and no bad beats).

Interestingly, just as in poker, it’s not always the best bowlers who succeed most in poker bowling leagues. Sometimes they do - obviously a high average will make it very difficult for opposing teams - but sometimes a less-skilled bowler with incredible ball control and knowledge of the game will lead his team to victory thanks to lots of strikes and spares.

Sound like anything in no-limit Hold’em? It should.

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Darts

Head over to the UK and darts is probably the second game you’ll Find In bar (after pool). There are plenty of television celebrities, a World Championship held annually at the circus-like Alexandra Palace in London and a wide array of boozers throughout Blighty with dedicated darts corners.

Darts might seem a bit old and slow for some, but there’s a lot poker players can learn from “just throwing a few darts.”

Darts Teaches Hand Management!

Hand eye coordination is a crucial skill in both pursuit.

Hand/Eye Coordination = Better Groupings and Flushes

Although it might seem archaic, and decidedly slower than other bar games (tenpin bowling, for example), darts requires incredible hand-eye coordination. You have to look at the board, call your score and then throw with sufficient accuracy to group your shots sufficiently to at least better a ton.

The better you are at throwing darts the greater chance you have of making flushes – groups of three, four or even five darts in the same sector. Indeed practice will allow you to hit a particular sector consistently, which means when the pro starts up 10 minutes before closing you’ll bust your nut to squeak in with a 180.

The lesson here, obviously, is hand-eye coordination. The more you practice hitting what you’re aiming at the easier it will be to hit that flush draw or risk cubes correctly during a bluffing game like (always a popular choice in UK bars).

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Pressure Cooker = Good for Heads-Up Poker Skills:

Darts is a pressure cooker environment. Even in teams matches there is very little banter - apart from the mandatory “nice!” whenever someone hits a 180 - because everyone is concentrating extremely hard on their throws.

And although it’s nicer to play poker in a relaxed atmosphere, occasionally you have to play in much higher-pressure situations. Whether it’s a crucial all-in against one opponent or heads-up No-Limit Hold’em, poker can get very tense at times. And the better you can perform under pressure, the better chance you have of coming out on top.

Of course there’s no quite like it, but getting up on that oche semifinal of a local tournament will put you under some serious pressure.

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Darts Has Seedy, Seedy Side Bets:

is a bluffing game, pure and simple, so it should come as no surprise that darts has a rich tradition of side bets. Basically, whatever you can think of is probably already a standard wager in pubs across the UK.

For example, unless you’re playing an old timer who still believes the earth is flat and has never heard of PCR, you’ll be laying odds on whether or not your dart will break the wire when you throw it at the board. Get it? The wire is about an inch off the board…

These kinds of wagers develop naturally in any bar game with random elements, so don’t feel bad if you and your buddies start laying bets on who can get the highest score in 3 darts. Just understand that you’re participating in a long and noble tradition.

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Skittle Alley

Also known as ninepins, skittle alley is a quintessential English bar game and is virtually identical to tenpin bowling except … er … eight reasons.

There are eight pins instead of ten, which obviously makes it easier to wipe them out. It’s also called skittle alley because the pins are, in fact, brightly colored skittles. Traditionally made out of wood, these days most skittle alleys feature plastic pins.

Apart from the obvious difference in equipment skittle alleys tend to be smaller than bowling alleys, with fewer lanes. Also the shoes are not separated into black and white pairs, and you’re not encouraged to drink San Miguel while Guns ‘n’ Roses blares in the background.

Otherwise it’s pretty much the same.

Same Skill Set as Bowling

Knock the skittles down however you like and skittle alley is another game that gives you the chance to master ball control and aggression, as well as hone your powers of body language interpretation. So if you’ve read the bowling section above, skip straight to the next bar game every poker player should try.

However, if you’d like to read more about skittles, well ...

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Pool

Pool tables are a staple in bars around the globe, although their popularity varies from country to country. In the UK a pool table is a nice touch, but ultimately just a fancy place to lean your John Smith while you down a few car bombs.

Head over to the States, however, and a bar without a pool table is like a hooker working for an hourly rate.

Once again pool, like poker, is a skill game with a significant element of luck. You can pot all the balls you like but if the cue ball bounces off your intended cushion and rolls lazily toward the pocket you just missed, then all you’ve got is a sad look and visions of all the money you’re about to lose.

Still, it’s a fantastic game for honing your stick work and bank account management skills.

Position is Key in Both Games

Good position is key to success in both bar games every poker player should try.

Anyone who has played both poker and pool will tell you that the most important aspect of both games is position. In poker getting in early means you can make informed decisions based on the actions of your opponents.

Sure, you might call a raise with the worst hand in the pot, but at least you didn’t have to pay big blind and/or a couple of bets along the way. Being in early position allows you to conserve chips and pick your spots.

Similarly, in pool getting position on your balls is crucial to making that all-important eight. Obviously you want to pot the object ball, but you also want to leave yourself in a good position to clean up.

This means not leaving your other balls clustered in the middle of the table, or behind the white where you’ll have to perform an impossible bank off the jaws to make the solid. Get position on your balls and you greatly improve your chances of success.

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Bankroll Management is Crucial in Both Games

Another skill applicable to both games is bank roll management. Now, technically you don’t actually shoot pool for money that much these days – at least not in the UK, where I’m based.

Every now and then you’ll see two ne’er-do-wells throwing down for a few quid but, for the most part, pool tables are for show in British boozers. They’re there so drunken revellers have somewhere nice to balance their pints while they down each other’s pub games of choice.

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Nevertheless, the principle of sound bankroll management applies regardless of the size of the denominations in play. It takes exactly the same amount of skill to pot that final yellow when £5,000,00,00 is riding on it compared to a fiver. So it’s important to play within yourself, protect your stack/bankroll and not take foolish risks.

Plus, of course, when you do pull off a stunning long pot to set up a four-ball plant on the black, the satisfaction is quadrupled when four pairs of eyes regard you in stunned admiration.

Yeah, buddy. It feels good.

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Position Play and Pseudo-Range Reading in Pool

Many of the new wave of poker players weened on online rather than live games have never had the pleasure of standing at the rail and watching a live game. Unless you’ve spent some time observing real cards and actual felt it’s tough to fully grasp the importance of reading other players.

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Watching poker will quickly teach you that simply observing a player’s face, posture and clothing for tells is largely a waste of time. Unless the guy’s having some sort of physical seizure, twitching every time he holds AKsuited, you’re never going to reliably read a player through his gestures alone.

No, range reading is a far more reliable method of deciding whether or not to hammer that raise by the guy with the comb-over. Basically range reading means figuring out, by observation, what kind of starting hands the raiser is likely to shove with.

Now, obviously, without the benefit of seeing thousands of hands this is an impossible chore. However, human beings are creatures of habit and if you watch a player for even a short period you can generally determine what kind of starting hands he’s likely to raise with.

Is he a tight rock? Does he shove American Airlines and any king from early position? Can you target his raising range with a three-bet? These are all critical pieces of information in today’s game of innuendo.

Believe it or not, position play and pseudo-range reading are also applicable to pool. Now, it’s never possible to get a true read on an opponent in pool - although I once knew a guy who would change his game according to how much hustle money his mark was putting down - but you can get a general idea of someone’s skill level simply by playing position.

Basically, if you notice someone attempting the same trick shot over and over again - and failing miserably every time - you know they’re not a very strong player. Almost like that guy who keeps raising with T-9 offsuit, eh?

Try This At Home: Stand at the rail of your local pool hall and watch people play. Don’t stare, or leer, or follow anyone home. Just observe people’s games casually and see if you can figure out their relative skill levels. Believe it or not this is an excellent way to get a handle on the finer points of range reading.

Video Poker

Video poker machines can be found in bars and casinos around the world and every poker player should try to become a champion at the one-armed bandits. Not only is it a fun diversion from the felt it’s an excellent way to maintain and improve your poker skills.

The most obvious reason why video poker is one of the best bar games every poker player should try is that it’s poker. Although the social aspect is absent - aside from the odd “hey man, did you flip up a royal?” - there’s no denying you’re playing a variant of the game when you jam another dollar into Jackpot Poker.

Video Poker Keeps Your Poker Skills Sharp

How many times have you taken a bad beat at the table and thought "that wouldn't have happened if he had the proper respect for my pair of aces?" OK, maybe that’s a hypothetical question, but bear with me.

The point is, when you’re on a heater in video poker nothing brings you back to Earth faster than trying to gamble a huge hand, only to make the wrong decision and lose it all.

You’d be surprised how rusty your poker skills can get when you’re sitting at home all the time. Even if you’re playing live poker every week videos provide an opportunity to brush up on the finer points of poker reasoning.

And although it’s not quite the same as value towning a slow player with third pair on the turn, correctly turning out right after you dumped a bucketful of coins punishing that double bonus wild royal flush is pretty satisfying indeed.

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Video Poker is Like Sit and Goes

Like sit-and-go tournaments video poker provides a quick fix in a short period of time, which is essential when you’re looking for a poker substitute in bar form. You can sit down and play 50 hands of video poker in the time it takes the darts to finish their match, whereas poker usually involves drawn-out sessions that require a fair investment of time.

Not only are sits a good way to get in several hands without a huge commitment, but they also help you hone your short-term decision making skills. Because you’re only playing for a few minutes at a time you’re forced to make snap decisions without taking the time to analyze every aspect of a hand.

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Later, when you apply these skills to a session of Hold’em, you’ll find it easier to make fast folds and other snap judgments. Plus, of course, when you flip over pockets Rockets in the first two seconds of play you’ll already have one massive rush under your belt.

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Final Thoughts On Bar Games for Poker Players

OK, that’s about it for our roundup of the best bar games every poker player should try. We’ve tried to cover a wide selection of games that will teach you new skills, complement your existing poker aptitude and generally provide hours of enjoyable entertainment during your drinking hours.

As mentioned above, video poker is perhaps the best of the bunch as it’s pure poker in a convenient, condensed form. But there’s nothing like getting up and moving around so if you feel the urge to throw a few darts or sink a few ninepins, by all means go right ahead.

Just remember to keep your betting units separate, concentrate on having fun and always tip the cocktail waitress. She works hard for her San Miguel.

Whatever games you choose to play in bars we hope you get a chance to sample some alternative poker this summer and hone your skills outside the online realm. And hey, if you take up darts seriously enough you could always get a call-up for the next PDC World Championship.

Nothing would make our reporter Dan Williams happier.

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• 1 Comments

  1. Great blog... Lots of good memories brought back.... Especially the video poker tips. Keep em comin.