poker and lessons of life
have been playing poker to make some money since neither rhonda nor i are working. i have only been able to play for the last two weeks and have been playing 2-4 hours per day but have made over 1600 dollars during that time. i am playing a 200 dollar buy-in no limit game at mandalay bay. over the years i have always been a limit player and have made steady money at that. but no limit is the game, not only of the now but of the future and i have set out to master it as well.
most people, contrary to what they will tell you, are losing poker players mainly because they make a common and costly mistake: they try to win. they want to win. they dream about winning. by going at it this way, they almost insure they will lose. doesn't make sense? let me explain: instead of trying to "win" what i concentrate on is "playing well" and avoiding stupid mistakes and then let the chips fall where they may, so to speak. as in life, it is doing the right thing for the right motive. another example of this philosophy is: when i got into comedy, it was not to be a star, nor to be on tv, nor to make a lot of money; it was to be a good comic, to be funny, to be an artist of the comedy stage, to do what i do--well. not to be funnier than someone else, not to get "ahead", not for ego's sake, but for the sake of making people laugh.
competitiveness will set you back in life. (actually, the word, 'compete' comes from a latin word that means "to bring together.") when you are competing against another person you are overlooking your real 'enemy' which is yourself. concentrate, instead, on being the best YOU can be and forget about how other people are doing. you are only responsible for your own actions in life. (you are responsible for the actions of your children up to a certain point but that is another post.)
wanting to be YOUR best is a main ingredient of "doing well" regardless of what it is you are "doing." another ingredient is enthusiasm, which comes from the greek, en theos. the ancient greeks believed when a person displayed what we now call enthusiasm for something they did it well, so they believed there was a small god within that person that was awakened by this feeling; hence the en theos or GOD WITHIN. i love comedy and i love poker. i am enthusiastic about both. my time on stage is one of the best times of my life. i feel at home at a poker table and enjoy it immensely.
back to poker: for those of you who enjoy the game and would like to have discussions with me about it either write me at the hrshock address on this web site or you can post comments on this blog whenever i do write about the all american game of texas hold-em poker and i will give you my thoughts. what i think about poker is not dogma it is just my thoughts, be they as they will. over the next couple of posts, i will describe some hands and how i played them. for instance, yesterday i made a horrible mistake that ended up making me hundreds of dollars and i will detail that hand on my next post. in the meantime, may all your flops be good.
most people, contrary to what they will tell you, are losing poker players mainly because they make a common and costly mistake: they try to win. they want to win. they dream about winning. by going at it this way, they almost insure they will lose. doesn't make sense? let me explain: instead of trying to "win" what i concentrate on is "playing well" and avoiding stupid mistakes and then let the chips fall where they may, so to speak. as in life, it is doing the right thing for the right motive. another example of this philosophy is: when i got into comedy, it was not to be a star, nor to be on tv, nor to make a lot of money; it was to be a good comic, to be funny, to be an artist of the comedy stage, to do what i do--well. not to be funnier than someone else, not to get "ahead", not for ego's sake, but for the sake of making people laugh.
competitiveness will set you back in life. (actually, the word, 'compete' comes from a latin word that means "to bring together.") when you are competing against another person you are overlooking your real 'enemy' which is yourself. concentrate, instead, on being the best YOU can be and forget about how other people are doing. you are only responsible for your own actions in life. (you are responsible for the actions of your children up to a certain point but that is another post.)
wanting to be YOUR best is a main ingredient of "doing well" regardless of what it is you are "doing." another ingredient is enthusiasm, which comes from the greek, en theos. the ancient greeks believed when a person displayed what we now call enthusiasm for something they did it well, so they believed there was a small god within that person that was awakened by this feeling; hence the en theos or GOD WITHIN. i love comedy and i love poker. i am enthusiastic about both. my time on stage is one of the best times of my life. i feel at home at a poker table and enjoy it immensely.
back to poker: for those of you who enjoy the game and would like to have discussions with me about it either write me at the hrshock address on this web site or you can post comments on this blog whenever i do write about the all american game of texas hold-em poker and i will give you my thoughts. what i think about poker is not dogma it is just my thoughts, be they as they will. over the next couple of posts, i will describe some hands and how i played them. for instance, yesterday i made a horrible mistake that ended up making me hundreds of dollars and i will detail that hand on my next post. in the meantime, may all your flops be good.
posted by Ron Shock | 9:10 AM
3 Comments:
The profit in poker is in playing your odds perfectly MORE OFTEN than the others at the table.
If you make the optimum play of your hand 9 times out of every 10 ...
... and you're at a table where everyone else is making their optimum plays 7 times out of every 10 (and in Vegas, that's fucking GENEROUS) ...
... over time, you're going to have a healthy profit margin. That's a statement of statistical fact.
However, I'm proof that's easier said than done.
limit is the more math game than no limit. no limit is more about playing the people and proper amount to bet to make the math always on your side. for instance, if i have top pair with top kicker and the board contains two of a suit giving a flush draw, since a flush is a 4-1 underdog to be made i bet enough that i make my opponent either throw it away or pay way too much for his draw. either way i win. even if he hits his draw. (if he pays 100 to win 150 and hits it over the course of a year they will only hit it i out 5 times so in the long run, it is a profitable thing for me and un for them) the game goes on forever and no one hand can be used as axiom.
damned if that doesn't make sense.
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