Control Your Demons
I think that the best poker players tend to be compulsive gamblers who don’t care about money.
When I played no-limit draw every day, I used to go bust almost like clockwork, but I didn’t care, it didn’t bother me.
I didn’t blow my money off in a game though, I’d spend most it, then end up sitting down with what was left of my money and going bust because I just didn’t have enough money left to withstand the normal swings of the game.
Back then there were afternoon, $10 buy-in, 10-cent ante, no-limit games that I could get into and start over again anytime I busted.
When I play every day, I just start losing perspective on life. Things like money and relationships start to lose value for me.
The fact that the money doesn’t have any value to me does (I think) make me a tough poker player.
I think that to be a tough poker player you either have to have so much money that it doesn’t matter or just not care about the money, then you don’t care about winning.
That’s not true at all though. Winning is what matters to me.
It’s just that winning matters because I like to win, not because I covet the money I’ll get when I do win.
I liked Stu Ungar’s response after his first World Series of Poker win when some idiot reporter asked him what he was going to do with money.
He said something like, “I’m going to invest it for my kids college fund,” then he busted out in a fit of giggles and laughter and said, “I’m gonna piss it away gambling.
What the hell did you think?” What you have to do, I think, is just get used to it.
Know the Players
Of course you want to do more think about yourself. Most of your attention should be devoted to getting to know the other players. Try to learn how they think.
Whenever you see them do something you think is unusual, as yourself why they did it.
One important question to ask yourself about the other players is, “What do they think about me?” knowing the answer will often help you predict how they will react to your different behaviors.
ANALYZE THE RESULTS
I used to play no-limit draw every day. It was a long time ago, but one of the characteristics of no-limit games is that the results for a particular session almost always hinge on the outcome of one or two key hands.
You don’t know ahead of time what hands they’re going to be, but you almost always end up with at least one major situation where you end up with all the money in the pot and you win or lose it.
One mistake, or the failure to exploit an advantage just one time, can make all the difference.
In limit games you don’t get punished that much for a single mistake, but even in a limit game you can often look back at the session and pick out a few key hands that made a difference.
I’ve gotten into the habit of picking out one or two hands and spending an hour or two after a session going over those hands.
I’ll sit down by myself with a pencil and paper and analyze everything I can remember.
I’ll figure out the actual poker odds, try to identify what I did wrong and what I did right.
