poker philosophy 101
poker has become so national, transgenerational and multi-racial in the last 6 years it seems like everywhere i go people of all stripes are talking poker with "expert" opinions bandied about by one and all or so it seems. all of it, of course, centers around no limit and no limit tournaments and everyone is going to turn pro. to hear everyone talk, they are all winners and on the days they did just happened to lose it was because "some idiot" drew out on them. the "bad beat" stories abound.
one of the things that i have noticed in vegas and atlantic city where i have been playing for years is that the men and women who were good limit players are now winning at no limit and the ones who struggled at limit are losing even more at their adventure into no limit. the qualities that the good limit players brought to the no limit tables are discipline and patience. these two things will insure profit over the long run and failure at these two will bring long term losses regardless of how tricky and clever the player may be. one time rhonda and i were hanging out with a real good player and he asked her what is the single most important thing in hold-em and she said, of course, "big cards." right, big cards win more than little cards but then my friend, jake, said to her, "do you think that all the losing players you see know this?" and she answered that she thought they did. jake said, "right, they all know it, they just don't have the discipline to ALWAYS PLAY CORRECTLY." they, the losing players, know what to do they just don't do it. you can read all the books, you can analyze until your head explodes but until you have the discipline to wait and wait and wait some more until you get the right cards in the right position with the right amount of money in the pot before you risk one single dollar of your stack you won't win.
you want to be able to play poker for the rest of your life and each and every year bring home a profit? toughen up that butt, buddy. learn to be able to sit for hours if necessary before the cards come your way. your biggest enemy is boredom and the lack of focus it brings. so, before you learn to become johnny chan or phil or daniel or any of the others on tv, you have to learn to be a rock. once you can be a rock then you can learn to be tricky and clever and devolope some moves but only after rockdum is conquered.
i am far from being any kind of expert at no limit hold-em but i know enough that i am thousands of dollars ahead this year. not as much as i normally would be at this time in the year if i had been playing limit but enough to pay our house not for about 5 months. i know discipline, patience and big cards. i will learn the rest.
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so, kiddipoos, learn to wait for big cards and play them aggressively. may all your flops be good.
one of the things that i have noticed in vegas and atlantic city where i have been playing for years is that the men and women who were good limit players are now winning at no limit and the ones who struggled at limit are losing even more at their adventure into no limit. the qualities that the good limit players brought to the no limit tables are discipline and patience. these two things will insure profit over the long run and failure at these two will bring long term losses regardless of how tricky and clever the player may be. one time rhonda and i were hanging out with a real good player and he asked her what is the single most important thing in hold-em and she said, of course, "big cards." right, big cards win more than little cards but then my friend, jake, said to her, "do you think that all the losing players you see know this?" and she answered that she thought they did. jake said, "right, they all know it, they just don't have the discipline to ALWAYS PLAY CORRECTLY." they, the losing players, know what to do they just don't do it. you can read all the books, you can analyze until your head explodes but until you have the discipline to wait and wait and wait some more until you get the right cards in the right position with the right amount of money in the pot before you risk one single dollar of your stack you won't win.
you want to be able to play poker for the rest of your life and each and every year bring home a profit? toughen up that butt, buddy. learn to be able to sit for hours if necessary before the cards come your way. your biggest enemy is boredom and the lack of focus it brings. so, before you learn to become johnny chan or phil or daniel or any of the others on tv, you have to learn to be a rock. once you can be a rock then you can learn to be tricky and clever and devolope some moves but only after rockdum is conquered.
i am far from being any kind of expert at no limit hold-em but i know enough that i am thousands of dollars ahead this year. not as much as i normally would be at this time in the year if i had been playing limit but enough to pay our house not for about 5 months. i know discipline, patience and big cards. i will learn the rest.
-
so, kiddipoos, learn to wait for big cards and play them aggressively. may all your flops be good.
posted by Ron Shock | 11:15 PM
4 Comments:
One other thing I would add to your list of poker essentials is having an adequate bankroll for the games you are playing in. Surviving the statistical swings in poker takes patience and discipline, yes, but you also don't want to be playing with scared money. Then you become too cautious, fold too easily, and avoid playing aggressively when you should.
ab so fucking lutly!! couldn't agree more.
Hey Ron. I am going to try to catch up with you in arlington. hyenas is about 2 miles from where i work. It has been a while. Mike Clark
mike,
of mike and trish? that is the only mike clark i can remember but my memory has never been good. lol. if so, it will be a pleasure to see you again.
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