Archive for August, 2010
We’ve come a long way in these ‘Expanding Your Bankroll’ free poker Articles, and I’m very pleased that you were my guest. I hope some usable information was made available to all of you, and I hope that additional profits will accrue to your benefit.
Plus, in that this is the last Article, I want you to know that I’m intent on bringing home a powerful, profound, and purposeful 3 word message: THINK, THINK, THINK.
To start, please take a few minutes to THINK about these great quotes.
Each was culled from a quality professional poker player or a good published writer.
They sum up some of the interesting and most practical ideas associated with the game of poker….a game that is truly played in a 6 inch chamber; not on a 12 foot table. (Don’t be concerned; we’ll define the 6 inch chamber shortly.)
1. David Sklansky on Poker
“When we play, we must realize, before anything else, that we are out to make money.”
2. From Big Deal by Anthony Holden
Poker is a science, a semblance of warfare, an art form or indeed a way of life – but it is also merely a game, in which money is simply the means of keeping score.”
3. David Mamet on Poker
“Poker reveals to the frank observer something else of import—it will teach him about his own nature. Many bad players do not improve because they cannot bear self-knowledge.”
4. Bobby Baldwin on Poker
“The mark of a top player is not how much he wins when he is winning but how he handles his losses. If you win for thirty days in a row, that makes no difference if on the thirty-first day you have a bad night, go crazy, and throw it all away.”
5. Jack Strauss on Poker
“Limit poker is a science, but no-limit is an art. In limit, you are shooting at a target. In no-limit, the target comes alive and shoots back at you.”
6. From The Gentleman’s Handbook on Poker by William J. Florence
“Never lose your temper, either with those you are playing with or, more particularly, with the cards. There is no sympathy in poker. Always keep cool. If you lose your head, you will lose all your chips.”
7. From A Girlhood Among Gamblers by Katy Lederer
“The cardinal sin in poker, worse than playing bad cards, worse even than figuring your odds incorrectly, is becoming emotionally involved.”
8. Amarillo Slim on Poker
“It never hurts for potential opponents to think you’re more than a little stupid and can hardly count all the money in your hip pocket, much less hold on to it..”
Next, THINK about this: “The Game is Played in a 6 inch chamber”‘
….not said by a poker professional. Rather, it was said by a golf professional….Bobby Jones; and as you may well know, he was a very famous and successful competitor. He dominated the game when he was an active player, and he attributed his near-countless accomplishments to a very simple belief.
That belief, so ardently adhered to throughout his career (in golf and as a lawyer) can be paraphrased as follows: “Competitive golf is not played on a 7,000 yard course, it’s played in a 6 inch chamber”. And, as you might easily conclude, he was making reference to the gray matter between the ears….he was talking about the brain; not just his, but also those belonging to all of his opponents.
And, our game, as skilled as it is, as ‘advantaged’ as it is, always finds us seated at a 12 foot table, more accurately at it’s online equivalent.
Yet, we always play the game within our individual 6 inch chambers….I’ve never been able to come up with an exception to that Bobby Jones ‘piece of wisdom’. He used it for golf (and legal matters), we use it for poker; and, hopefully, we’ll use it elsewhere.
Recognizably, there could be a small number of you who would argue that ‘instinct’, not ‘thought’, often initiate our game play actions.
And, while I’ll not disagree with that point, it’s important to note that ‘instinct’ is akin to, or parallel with, ‘habit’.
Therefore, when we realize that just about all of our game play ‘habits’ are the direct result of what we’ve learned, what we’ve analyzed, we’re back to the ’6 inch’ chamber.
Plus, it’s our ’6 inch’ chamber that competes against everyone else’s ’6 inch’ chamber. Granted, it’s a simple task to overwhelm the ‘Farm Animals’....they’re pretty much lost in any environment where ‘thought’ is a pre-requisite for survival. They, and their play, bring to mind a comedy routine once used by the late George Carlin.
He would say that there was “a worst doctor in the world, and a number of people have appointments with him right now”. And, when we transfix the words ‘worst doctor’ with the words ‘worst poker players‘, we don’t need to look very far to find them. You play with them everytime you visit the NoPayPOKER site.
They don’t use their ’6 inch’ chamber; many of them do not believe that the gray matter existing within that chamber was meant to be used; with the singular exception that it’s intended purpose was to formulate sounds; like “Moooooooooooooooooo”….the bellow noise that emanates from the pastures.
However, the existence of one or more opponents at any 6 inch table who possess the ability to think is a reality that we need to deal with on an every day basis….even at NoPay. Don’t ever underestimate the talent of the ‘better’ players on the site; they know the game, they win money.
And, in non-gratuitous fashion, let me point out that there are many ‘solid’ players on the site; along with a few of NoPay members, who, if properly taught, if ‘risk-tolerance’ is not an issue, could become very profitable Brick and Mortar cash game players. In all candor, I’d thoroughly enjoy an opportunity to get the latter group in a classroom setting.
Therefore, it would be a mistake to play the game at NoPay with the belief that you’re always ‘underwhelmed’ by your competition.
And, that being true, it would be a marked signature of your intelligent approach to NoPay game play to adhere to the ‘advantaged’ tactic of identifying table targets….where the ‘better’ players are not targeted; at least not until you’ve surpassed the bubble, and you’re assured of a money payout.
Finally, to conclude this free poker Article, take a moment to THINK about some etiquette, a few rules, and a bit of protocol.
Poker, like most games, has it’s own forum of etiquette. It has grown up around the game, and it’s something everyone learns when they begin to play regularly. And, since we all behave differently, dependent on circumstances and environment, it’s important to know that what’s okay in one sport may be considered rude in another.
For example, you’re expected to yell and scream at a horse race or a football game, but maintain complete silence when you’re standing at a golf green. Both are forms of etiquette, it’s what’s expected of us, contingent on the unwritten code of conduct that’s grown up around the event. And poker has a set of rules all it’s own….it’s own code of conduct.
Most of pokers rules and protocols exist to speed things up and to keep things honest. The rules and etiquette are a part and parcel of poker….just like the cards and the chips.
In fact, after you first ventured into a game at NoPay, poker’s protocols and etiquette probably became vividly clear in a very short period of time.
Here, then, is a summary of some of the most important rules regarding online play:
- Discussing your hand with others at the table, even if you have mucked the cards, may yield information that provides an opponent with an edge. Don’t do it.
- Sending IM’s to a friend who’s also in the game, or colluding via telephone, is not just stepping outside the rules and protocol, you’re cheating. Don’t do it.
- Everyone wants a speedy game. Sure, you’ll see poker pro’s on television taking a long time to act. But, online, it’s both annoying and rude. Don’t do it.
- Never make fun of other players….especially those who have made what you would define as a ‘Farm Animal’ mistake. Don’t do it.
- Whine when you lose! Never….we all fell prey to an impossible draw against long odds. It’s poker, ‘stuff happens’, whining shouldn’t be a part of your game. Don’t do it.
- Poker’s defining rule: no advice to an active player during the playing of a hand, and no advice after the hand has finished. Don’t do it.
- Patterns of culture vary from society to society, and, while talking trash at the table in the US is generally the accepted rule, it’s not the rule internationally. Don’t do it.
- Don’t ever ‘slow-roll’. In online poker that would be described as taking an inordinate amount of time to call an ‘all-in’ bet when you hold the ‘nuts’ hand. Don’t do it.
In parting, I know we’re all familiar with real estate’s ‘rule of thumb’, “location, location, location. And, I know that each of you are aware of my poker ‘rule of thumb’, “patience, patience, patience”.
But let’s now add a competitive ‘rule of thumb’, a business ‘rule of thumb’, a relationship ‘rule of thumb’, a family ‘rule of thumb’, a friendship ‘rule of thumb’, and a decision making ‘rule of thumb’….”THINK, THINK, THINK”.
Best of Luck at The Tables.
D. Michael
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