win247.co.uk

Imagine my surprise last week when I wandered into one of my favorite casinos and saw that there was a table devoted to the classic poker game – seven-card stud! I thought, “Could this be. Could this really be?”
As it turns out, it certainly was the truth. This St. Louis riverfront casino had several tables for $1-$3 and $2-$5 Hold ‘Em, which is necessary to accommodate the still-growing number of players who have jumped on the bandwagon in the past five or six years. But there it was, on the electronic waiting list above the desk – seven-card stud, $2-$6 spread limit.
The next surprise was that there was a waiting list. At a table that usually accommodates seven players there were seven players who did not indicate that they were going to leave their seats any time soon. So, the waiting list had four names on it, including mine as I hurried to get some seven-card stud action, finally!
However, I was disappointed. I bought my chips, had a soft drink, and waited patiently for more than an hour. But there were still two names ahead of me on the list. Finally, wishing to get some card playing in on a rare night away from the salt mines, I asked to be placed on the $1-$3 Hold ‘Em list. I was seated immediately.
What does this all mean? Is there some significance to the re-introduction of seven-card stud in a local casino? Why would it take so long to get a seat at the one table set aside for this classic game?
The first two questions are not so easy to answer. No one, even the best poker player in the world, knows what it “all” means. As for significance in bringing back the seven-card game – I believe this does mean something important. It’s not an earth-shaking discovery, but the re-introduction of seven-card stud is a major concession for poker-room managers and casino operators.
Why? Because Texas Hold ‘Em is a game made for television. It proceeds rather quickly from one hand to another. It has the pace that is just right for players and audiences today. Seven-card stud however, is another story. This game moves more slowly and doesn’t seem to provide the same excitement for players and viewers that Hold ‘Em does.
These are the almost same reasons that Texas Hold ‘Em is the game of choice for poker-room managers and casino operators. It moves quickly, sure, but the real reason it works in live rooms is that it has become wildly popular. Thousands flock to poker rooms to take part in the Hold ‘Em craze. That leads us to the last of the three questions above. Why did it take so long to get a seat at the stud table? Because there was only one table and there will probably be only one table in the near future.
About three years ago, in another casino, in another city, I stood at the registration desk and heard a poker-room manager tell a player that he had not “spread” a seven-card stud game for more than a year. A willing amateur in Las Vegas in 2006 and 2007 would be hard pressed to find a stud game in one of the Strip casinos. In fact, the manager at one such room said seven-card stud “was a dinosaur” they didn’t offer anymore. It was offered at the $20-$40 level in one casino when the professionals were in town for a high-level Hold ‘Em tournament, but that was a rare occurrence.
The lesson to be learned from all this is that players should not expect to walk into their favorite casino and sit down for a game of stud as they would for Hold ‘Em. Not only is it a different game, with different skills required, it is a game from a different time.

Poker is a game of information. This information could come as a hand made up of the cards in the player’s hand and on the table. It could be knowledge about other players gained from paying close attention to actions and facial expressions. But in any case, one of the keys to success at the poker table is not giving others any more information than is necessary according to the rules.
Of course there are situations in which the players are all having fun, joking about each other, laughing off the mistakes etc. Generally these are home games and nickel-dime games played at the kitchen table, however. Letting go of “secrets” in a casino cash game or tournament is a sure way to disaster. Talk too much, make too many telling faces, show disgust at bad hands, and the elite few around the table will surely use that information against you.
In a recent cash game on the St. Louis riverfront, one particular player (call him Andy) gave the appearance of handing out information right and left, sharing with any and all opponents in his unique way. He talked loudly, bet big when he did bet and occasionally showed a card or two when everyone else folded. While all of this might have led to a catastrophic loss of chips, the truth of the matter is this – after two hours of play this fellow had the largest stack of chips.
There were two other players, who played in a manner exactly the opposite of Andy, who went home with as lot more dollars than he walked in with. But their quiet, almost timid play is another story altogether.
Andy blustered and bullied the other seven players, most of whom were there only for recreation. Some gave in to Andy’s requests to show their cards when he did, and in the long run they were left with very short stacks of red, green and black chips. So, if poker is a game designed on protecting information, how did Andy the Loud manage to add so much to his bankroll?
There are probably two or more answers to this question, or at least an answer with a few distinct parts. First of all, Andy was playing his natural style. He was very comfortable with his actions and words, so he could keep track of the game quite well even as he was visiting, talking and bullying. In another sense, he was also selective about the information he gave out. He only exposed a card two or three times during the session, and turned over both cards once. His manner and loud voice made it seem that he had turned himself loose completely, when in fact he was in control of his game most of the time.
There is at least one more part to the answer about Andy’s success. This fellow knew how to play Texas Hold ‘Em. Of course, he was at a $1-$3 table. Most of the bets were in the $30 range or maybe $40 if someone felt particularly strong. Andy himself went “all in” once with about $200 - $300. You may ask, if he knew so much about playing Texas Hold ‘Em why was he at a $1-$3 table? There is a simple answer to that. He played at a comfortable level, against players he could generally beat. This is crucial to poker success. As any pro will say, and as Alan N. Schoonmaker writes in Your Worst Poker Enemy, successful poker demands good decisions, not only during the game, but before the game. Winning players choose the correct table and the correct seat if possible to put themselves in position to win. While Andy seemed to be sharing too much information, he may have been in just the right game.

To begin this piece, I have to give credit to Marian Hurd McNeely, author of the now collectible “The Jumping-Off Place,” written in 1930.1 This wonderful story tells of a family of orphaned children who journey to the Dakota prairie in about 1915 to make a home on land staked for them by their uncle. They overcome the harsh climate and attacks from others who try to steal their claim, and they press on, making a success of it in a world best suited for hardened and less-principled men.

What does this have to do with poker, you may ask? Read that last part again, please. Yes, the part about pressing on and making a success of it in a world best suited for hardened and less-principled men. See what I mean?

The idea of using McNeely’s title was made stronger when, on page 217 of Anthony Holden’s excellent book, “Big Deal,”2 I ran across the phrase as he wrote about the early days of poker on the Mississippi River. Holden, an Englishman with a delightful way of talking to his readers through his books, was telling the story of “the pioneer spirit of the old frontier” and trips down the river to New Orleans. The vagabonds apparently used the Big Easy as their “jumping-off place,” sort of a home base for poker adventures on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and eventually, the card rooms of the western United States. In Holden’s personal story, the New Orleans area was the place from which a number of tournament players jumped off to other places, like Las Vegas, when a Louisiana tournament was canceled at the last minute.

The question is, how many of us have such a place, one that taught us enough so that we thought we could move on to the frontier, to bigger and more rewarding games? And, after making that move, did we find that many of the games we sat in were populated by hardened and less-principled men? Did we, like the children in McNeely’s book, press on? Did we fight off attacks from those trying to steal our claim? Or did we, after a couple of early losses, gather our few pitiful dollars and slink off into the night?

How we answer these questions will go a long way to determining how we fare as a poker player, whether we consider ourselves a professional or a serious amateur. Most of us have read or heard comments from longtime professionals about going broke and having to come up with enough of a bankroll to get in the next game. “Sailor” Roberts, Doyle Brunson and many others have told of times when they were actually victims of robbery after a big win at the tables. Yet, in just about every case, these fellows dove right back into the shark-infested waters, with what they had in their pockets or what they could scrape together from friends, to see if they could survive another round.

My personal opinion? I believe these guys were either crazy or they had a vision (maybe a little bit of both). I think they believed strongly in what they were trying to do, and it was not heroic. For them, getting up, dusting off and getting back into the game was simply necessary, because there was never a question of quitting. In fact, if you are a poker player, there is no quitting until you go to the great tournament in the sky. You see, for the committed player, it’s all one big poker game.

It is difficult, sometimes nearly impossible, to convince yourself that losing is just another step on the way to winning. And, when you are winning, it is just as difficult to believe that the good times are just another step on the way to losing again. And there is the rub (to paraphrase Mr. Shakespeare).

If we truly have reached a jumping off place – a moment in time, a certain town, a special card room  - we will jump off and when we run into terrible weather (bad cards) and those who are trying to steal our claim (the bluffers and bullies) we will press on, knowing from that moment on we have been involved in one long poker game made up of many hands, some good, some not so good. Like those sturdy and stubborn youngsters who dug their heels into the Dakota dirt so many years ago, after we leave our jumping off place, whenever and wherever that may be, we will dig our heels into green felt, stubborn and sturdy and defending our claim to a small piece of this frontier called serious poker.

1McNeely, Marian Hurd, “The Jumping Off Place,” Cadmus Books/E.M. Hale and Company, 1930.

2Holden, Anthony, “Big Deal: A Year as a Professional Poker Player,” Penguin Books, 1990.

Disclaimer: This is a very simple example meant only as a starting point for the subject of card odds. Entire books have been written on the subject.

A player who understands the basics of pot odds will have made a giant step toward good decisions that are crucial when investing in a hand of poker.  If the player has a good hand (three of a kind for instance), and sees that there is $20 in the pot, it is probably a good idea to invest another $4 when someone has bet that amount. After all, this 5 to 1 ratio at the time of the first bet means there will be $20 in the pot when our player calls. So, for that last investment of $4, the player can get back $20, plus the $4 that he puts in.

But what are the chances of winning that money?

That’s where the connection between pot odds and card odds comes into play.  What are card odds?  Quite simply, the player must have some idea of his or her chances of getting the card needed to make a winning hand.  This is good information to have when deciding whether to put more money in the middle.

Lou Krieger and Sheree Bykofsky have this to say about this relationship in their fine book “Secrets The Pros Won’t Tell You About Winning Hold ‘Em Poker” (Kensington Publishing Corp. 2006).

“The relationship between the pot’s size and your chances of making the winning hand threads its way through every form of poker you might play.”

The amateur might ask, “Really?” The pro will answer, “Absolutely.”  We’ve seen that if the pot contains $20 and the player must put in $4 to call a bet, the odds are 5 to 1.  That is basic pot odds calculation.  But the player should also have some idea of his or her chances to win the hand if the $4 is invested.

How does the player come up with some idea of the chances of winning?  This subject has spawned books and videos, CDs and online education, so it would be difficult to answer the question thoroughly in limited space.  For basic learning, let’s assume that our player is holding two Spades in Hold ‘Em and the flop (first three cards) on the table includes two more spades.  That means our player will need one more Spade in the last two community cards to make a flush.  (It is sometimes hard to make money with a flush, unless you hold the Ace or King, for example.  But that is another poker lesson in itself.)

There are 13 cards of each suit in the deck.  Four Spades are known – two in the player’s hand and two on the table so far.  That leaves nine Spades available to make a flush for our player (13 – 4 = 9). Our player can see five cards of the 52 in the deck.  That leaves 47 cards unknown, nine of them Spades.  So, nine cards will help our player’s hand, 38 won’t (47 – 9 = 38).

Our player has 38 to 9 (4.22 to 1) odds against making a flush and a possible winning hand.  But pot odds are 5 to 1. The relationship between those numbers is at the heart of this very basic decision in poker. Since there is more than four times as much in the pot as it costs to call, the player may want to continue. It’s a close call in this case.

Not many poker players take time to understand the fundamental theory behind gambling. Of course, many players have learned how to figure their odds. They have come to understand a few of the basic “tells” that other players provide in live games. However, with the massive amounts of money available in the Texas Hold ‘Em world today, most players learn the game at the “University of Experience.”

Theirs is absolutely nothing wrong with learning the game through experience. In fact, it’s part of the “best way” to become a solid poker player. But there are an elite few among poker professionals who not only have extensive experience in the game, but also bring another key factor to the table. This one piece of the puzzle often separates them from others who have similar experience.

One of the best books on this subject comes from Mason Malmuth. While his ideas are sometimes a bit complex for many amateurs, getting a grip on just the basics of what he has to offer might push some players to another level. In “Gambling Theory and Other Topics” (Two Plus Two Publishing, Henderson, NV 2004) Malmuth makes a key statement that should be taken to heart by anyone who wants to visit their favorite poker room.

“Most people who gamble are attracted by the action and excitement that this form of entertainment offers. But a small number of people are actually quite successful at gambling.”

Amateurs who want to knock down the other nine players at a $50 sit-and-go could benefit from reading just the introduction to Malmuth’s book. On one page he lays out four basic ideas that can be valuable to the poker player. He asks what separates the successful player from the mass of other people, then answers by saying:

1. They have a “thorough understanding of gambling theory.” This information has to be “specific knowledge in the appropriate game or area of interest.”
2. They have a “logical thought process” and employ “new gambling ideas.”
3. They realize they are involved in something that takes a 24-hour-per-day commitment.
4. They are willing to take calculated risks.

While these are not the only factors, they may well be the fundamentals that ensure some level of success at the table.

But what about the bad players who know nothing about theory and may not even understand card odds or pot odds. Is it possible to stay calm and keep playing even when this type of player seems to be taking home the money?

Malmuth’s answer is: Yes!

Keeping our introduction to theory in mind, let’s take a look at one situation that occurred in a Mississippi River casino recently.

The game was $3-$6 Limit Hold ‘Em. One player, who sat at the end of the table to the dealer’s left, was fairly well versed in card odds, pot odds and the basics of theory (Player 1). Another player, who sat at the end of the table to the dealer’s right, was an older gentleman who wore an expensive gold watch and dressed in top-shelf clothing, though his appearance was somewhat casual on this particular day (Player 2).

In one specific hand, Player 1 held pocket Jacks and the flop came out with a Jack and two unsuited cards – a 5 and an 8. Player 1 bet as much as he could, trying not to run everyone out of the hand. Only Player 2 called, sliding his chips to the center while looking around the poker room as if he wasn’t interested. The turn brought a Ace, also unsuited. Player 1 bets again and Player 2 calls casually.

On the river, a 3 comes out, making the board Jack, 5, 8, Ace, 3. Now, Player 1, using logic and his ability to read hands, feels that he has the best of it with a set of Jacks and bets again. Player 2 calls with little interest again. When the cards are finally shown, Player 2 takes the pot because he has been putting money in the middle with an unsuited 2 – 4 in his hand. He has the small straight!

Player 1 didn’t win, but he made the right play. The moral of the story is best indicated by stating that, as Player 1 watched Player 2 closely for the rest of the day, it was obvious our older gentleman was there to pass the time and chase his small straight. He had plenty of money and truly was not that interested.

As for Player 1, he ran into the same situation a few months later in a No-Limit tournament, won the hand and finished second in the tournament. In the long run, logic and statistics will pay off.

In all life situations, there are a few basic rules or building blocks that should be placed before the rest of the project can continue. The obvious example would be constructing a home. There must be a solid foundation, one that the builders can trust to support the rest of the house. When the family moves in, they also can rely on the foundation to provide a solid base for their activities in the rest of the house.

Most of the foundations that we need for our other activities, both work and play, also have some foundation pieces that need to be in place for the project to succeed. Unfortunately, these aren’t as tangible as the concrete that is used to support a building. They are, however, just as crucial to success.

When we sit down at a poker table or pull a chair up to the computer desk, to play a few hands at one of the online sites, we should have some fundamental pieces in place. But too often, poker play is “built” on a foundation no stronger than a little bit of experience and memories of some good luck. Tip: There is much more to poker success than remembering a few exciting and profitable hands from the past.

Here’s what one pro has to say about being prepared. The business is betting. It’s not gambling. That’s right; this is a business that must be started with a plan and the right foundation. One semi-professional player states it this way: Good poker players are not gambling. For them, poker is a matter of informed speculation.

Sure, they are taking some risks. This is what makes the game so exciting. Risks can sometimes lead to major disappointment. But in the long run, all successful players have done their homework, fine-tuned their game and are mentally prepared well before they sit down at the table. They do this so to give themselves as much of an edge as possible against the players who haven’t prepared at all. There are no guarantees, but a good foundation makes success much more likely.

So, what are some of the fundamentals, the factors that need to be in place before we can expect to be successful at poker? The simple answer is this: They are the same fundamentals that successful players use in betting the horses or any other “game.” These basics are laid out for poker players in dozens of books, videos and “boot camps” that have exploded onto the scene in the last decade (with the amazing popularity of Texas Hold ‘Em.)

First of all, a player who expects to win must approach the game with the correct attitude. This starts with the idea that we are in the business of betting, and continues with staying calm and making good decisions. It probably wouldn’t hurt some regular poker players (even a few pros) to look into the ideas behind Tao and Zen. A good second step involves gathering as much information as possible. While it doesn’t pay to overload our minds with too many numbers and too much advice, every successful bettor advises the amateur to learn as much as possible before starting, then continue to learn, always. Be sure to understand and use pot odds, card odds, tells, etc.

There is an interesting twist in this information game, however. It came up in the field of betting on thoroughbreds, just as it does now in the world of Hold ‘Em poker. As time passes, good information that makes success possible is going to be adopted and used by an increasing number of players. This has certainly happened with horse racing, as items such as speed figures, pace figures and trainer percentages became the standards.

It’s happening now with poker, as thousands have discovered the game through Texas Hold ‘Em because of television coverage. A few years ago, there were just a handful of players who knew about, and understood, tells, card odds and pot odds. The number of players using this information is now in the thousands. So, what’s a player to do?

Prepare! Build that foundation and then continue to make good decisions. In addition, always be ready to adapt to new situations.

This is the story of a player we’ll call “the dreamer.” He tells me he’s been playing some form of poker for many years, but since last summer he’s focused entirely on getting better at Texas Hold ‘Em.

As we sat side by side in a recent home game, betting a dollar or two each time, I remarked that I had just finished reading a classic of poker literature, The Biggest Game in Town by A. Alvarez.1 This excellent portrait of high stakes Las Vegas poker is the story of one man’s visit to the World Series of Poker at Binion’s in 1981.

The dreamer announced, “I hit town in 1981,” meaning that he arrived in Sin City at that time as a 30-year-old, single vagabond, ready to work a little and play a lot. He worked at various jobs, such as delivering pizza, during the late afternoon and early evening, but spent a lot of time in the casinos, trying his hand at a game he didn’t recognize.

“They were playing Hold “Em, and I said to myself, ‘What the hell is this?’ I didn’t know the game. Back home we always played five card or seven-card stud, maybe draw. I had to watch for a while to get the basics. But the more I played, the more I understood and liked the game.”

The years flew by for the dreamer, 25 years to be exact. He worked a few odd jobs, played some cards, met some women, lost his parents and eventually returned home. He now lives in the family house, comfortable with the resources his folks left him. In 2006, he sits down at a small stakes game, dressed in black, with flashy rings on each finger and a huge wad of bills wrapped in rubber bands in his pocket.

To his credit, the dreamer doesn’t often dip into this stack. He can buy $20 or $40 worth of chips and play a kitchen-table game for a few hours, then leave with about $20 of someone else’s money. And, during the time that he is patiently winning selected hands, he is visiting, joking and being his mildly rude self.

For those of us who play poker with him, and see him in his natural setting, it doesn’t seem that he wants to be anywhere but here. So why do I call him a dreamer? Are we calling him this because it’s the opposite of what he really is, as we jokingly call the slowest runner “speedy?”

At first I thought he was completely satisfied with his place in life and had no need to dream. He does, after all, own a new truck, as well as a Corvette and acres of farmland. He has no major debts and isn’t sad about not having a wife or steady girlfriend. That I know. He can do just about anything he wants, when he wants.

So, why the nickname?

I believe that, behind the joking, devil-may-care exterior, beneath the all-black clothes and glitz of diamond rings, there is still some part of the young man who landed in the desert in 1981 with thoughts of wine, women and winning at poker. Oh, I’m sure our dreamer is closer than most of us to knowing exactly who he is. He probably doesn’t struggle much with what the late, great Puggy Pearson called “mistaken identity.”

But do we ever really leave those youthful dreams behind. If we are playing the same games at 56 that we played at 16 or 26, aren’t we still dreaming, at least a bit?

I’m not saying it’s wrong to hold on to our dreams. In this mixed up, violent world, this may be one of the few signs of sanity. But we have to be sure that these visions, these dreams of winning a big tournament, are positive motivations. As the legend writes in Poker Wisdom of a Champion, you have to leave your personal woes at home. “When a man’s got something heavy on his mind besides poker, he’s got no business playing.2
Doyle Brunson was writing about things like real financial problems and fights with the wife. But sometimes trying to live our youth again, or continuing to live our youth long after it’s gone – these can be just as heavy as other problems we might bring to the felt.

I think one of the most important factors in poker playing success is motivation, which may be part of what Pearson called “mistaken identity.” I don’t really know if my poker pal is a dreamer. Maybe I’m the one who is mistaken. We might all be better off if we knew more about that.

1A. Alvarez, The Biggest Game in Town, Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1983.
2Doyle Brunson, Poker Wisdom of a Champion, Cardoza Publishing   2003.

As the popularity of Texas Hold ‘Em grew over the past decade or so, the great game of poker has attracted thousands of new players.  Television coverage put Texas Hold ‘Em in front of viewers around the world. Many people who had never played the game became poker players, joining a mass migration to the world of green felt and the click of chips.

Some got their poker education the old-fashioned way – they paid for it in money losses, but learned enough to break even or win a few dollars.  Others have taken a more organized route, attending poker “camps” and group lessons, in which professionals players shared their ideas and challenged the beginners.

Yet another segment of the poker playing public learn the game and how to calculate odds by using one of the many online or CD software tools.  The presence of online “casinos” and “poker rooms” has allowed players from around the world to compete against each other. In addition, the explosion of Web information sources has led many to use Web or CD-based programs to get more accurate figures for pot odds, card odds and more.  As one online site states, odds and probability are extremely important if the player is to make good decisions on when to bet, call or fold.

One type of online odds calculator includes professional advice, patented odds calculation software and online technology.  Players who will commit to the time and effort it takes can learn about the intricacies of odds, probability and implied odds.  The great feature with the newest odds calculator technology is real-time calculation and tips using “live” actual games in which the “student” is involved.

In 2009, the newest poker calculation software goes beyond classic hand history percentages and statistics based on game simulations, a method that served thousands well because of the speed at which numbers and percentages are available.  However, true calculation of pot odds, card odds and so on are a reality, with such new technology as Pokerbility a patented and unusual way to become more successful at poker through regular use of odds figures.

Even the most advanced poker calculators, whether purchased as a package from a supplier or downloaded from the Web, are only as good as the effort applied by the learning player.  But several of the newer programs work “live” with dozens of online poker rooms to allow calculations to be made while the online player is actually engaged in a game.  As another example, one company is offering Tournament Indicator intended specifically for online tournament play (Texas Hold ‘Em).  The nuances of this product are designed to assist with the decisions of tournament play, which can be quite different from tournament play.  This new calculator offering takes in the MZone concept introduced by poker pro Dan Harrington.  MZone, put simply, deals with the ratio of chip stack to the mandatory blinds and antes. Players can learn more about this concept in Harrington on Hold ‘Em Volume II: The Endgame.  Of course, this and most other successful odds calculator programs include excellent methods for comparing pot odds to the chances of making a particular hand and winning.

Tell yourself again (and again) that we’re not supposed to take tough poker losses personally. Losing ten times in a month is hard when you have the nuts or when you feel you’ve made all the correct decisions.

How about ten times consecutively, in less than two weeks?

It happened recently to a close friend I’ll call Kartenspiel (German for card game) who plays at the local cash tables, as well as online and in the Mississippi River casinos around St. Louis. This particular stretch of gut-wrenching action began with a heads-up situation in Hold ‘Em, after our hero worked his way through eight players to find himself against Gene, the elder statesman in the single-table scene.

Kartenspiel was short-stacked and, holding a pair of 8s, he looked at the flop to see an 8 and two diamonds. He put his last 400 chips in and Gene called, showing one diamond in his hand. I’m sure you can guess what the turn and river brought. Yep, running diamonds for a flush. Gene took home the $500. Kartenspiel finished second (no money in the winner-take-all contest.)

To avoid boring you with excruciating detail about the next nine hands that took old K”s breath away, I’ll explain one more hand and then give a simple list. I’m sure you’ll get the idea.

In the local $2/$4 cash game:
Kartenspiel’s hand – 3, 10 in one of the blinds, so he limped in.
Opponent’s hand – 7, 7. He called.

The flop was 3, 3, 10. This gave K a full house and great expectations. The opponent has a pair of 7s, with the 3s on the board, and no other draw worth chasing. He calls with two little pairs when K bets half the pot.

Can you guess what the turn and river revealed?  No, not a 7 for a bigger full house. Worse than that. How about running 7s for four of a kind and “Lucky” is once again, well, not lucky.

In the next eight games our hero lost with pocket Aces twice, once playing them hard by going all in and once slow playing. An opponent called the all-in with pocket 9s and hit a nine on the river! In the next instance, K’s opponent caught K, Q on the turn and river to make two pair and beat the Aces.

Then there is the Ace high straight that beat his set of 10s, with the King falling on the river. Add trip 9s (9 on the river) to bust “Lucky’s” pocket Kings and a handful of other river disasters and you begin to get the idea that our hero is making his way to the stomach medicine on a regular basis.

These instances may not qualify as world-class bad beats. However, to a local player with a small bankroll, the frustration is real and the economic impact is huge.

Larry Phillips writes, in “Zen and the Art of Poker,”1 that we shouldn’t take these tough losses personally. But the experience can cause us to question the ultimate plan for an otherwise promising poker career.

Specifically, Phillips tells us that the poker gods are not out to destroy us alone, though it sometimes seems that way. He adds that everyone “gets his” at one time or another. It’s just so hard to remember this when nearly 50 percent of your bankroll is gone and it just doesn’t seem to be your fault.

In the same vein, Mike Caro writes that poker players don’t get paid to win pots. They get paid to make the right decisions. Caro, writing in Doyle’ Brunson’s “Super System 2”2 notes that you make money even when you make the correct decision to fold a hand. He goes so far as to state that he is happy when an opponent goes against the odds and wins, because the poorer they’re playing, the more money he wins eventually.

People of all ages rightly claim that they have been playing poker for many years. Many will gladly inform you that they learned the game at the kitchen table, adding, “I’ve been playing all my life.”

I’m one of those who, when asked, will say that I have been playing seven-card stud, five-card draw and other games since I was 14. Our local games sometimes included a hand or two of Texas Hold ‘Em (but just a few hands in the dealer’s choice games).

In the past couple of years, this writer has made an effort to learn the game that the legendary Doyle Brunson calls “the Cadillac of poker.” I have become proficient enough to win $100 or so in low-limit cash games and finish in the final 20 of a few live tournaments.

However, experiences I’ve had in recent months make me long for the good old days of poker. You know what I’m referring to – BTV – Before Television.
Of course the good old days didn’t really exist, I learned a long time ago not to yearn for the past, because it’s misleading to do that. We quickly forget what the old days were really like and only remember the good stuff.

There have always been talkers, whiners, braggers and intimidators. Reading Brunson’s “Poker Wisdom of a Champion” convinced me of that. It’s just that now we see all the unsavory characters live and in color nearly every day of the week, on our television screens. They’re known to a much wider audience than when Brunson, Pearson, Amarillo Slim and Johnny Moss were young.

I noticed a young fellow’s hair as I played a couple of seats away from him at a riverboat casino tournament in 2008. He was a tall, rather thin guy, about 25 years old. He was conservatively dressed, but his hairstyle separated him from the shaved heads and gray hair around the table.

This guy was loud, using a couple of classic four-letter words and jumping up from his seat, hollering with delight when he took a medium sized pot and howling when things didn’t go his way. Then it hit me. The hair!! It was greased in little ringlets or curls, exactly like Mike Matusow!

I watched this imitator for a couple of hands, just long enough to watch him lose to a straight on the river. His medium two pair came in second best to the hand of a strong player to my right. When the river card hit, “imitation Mike” jumped up, practically ran about five steps from the table and hollered the dreaded “f” word. Very loudly.
It was then that the poker-room manager came onto the scene, warning him to watch his language if he stayed to watch the rest of the tournament. The remaining nine players at the table were showing their pleasure with quiet smiles. I would guess that no one was surprised at “Mikey’s” early exit.

I know not everyone who plays poker in public is going to be the quiet, gentle giant that Brunson is. We will never see a roomful of Howard Lederer types or 8,000 Phil Ivey’s in Las Vegas for the WSOP. What really disappoints me is that this young fellow was suffering from what the late Puggy Pearson called “mistaken identity.” Pearson said one of the first things a gambler has to do is make friends with himself.

One of the true strengths of a successful poker player is to be comfortable in his or her own skin, to be himself or herself and no other, at the table and away from it. I think one of the reasons this is good advice is that it allows more mental and physical energy to be directed to the poker game. Acting like someone is not the same as having a table image. Committing yourself to acting like the person you are is the first step to that image.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I may not be a fan of Mike Matusow’s actions and words. They are a bit over the edge for me. But I will be the first to admit that he is and always will be a formidable opponent at the table. A recent telecast that included Matusow clearly showed that he can play the game at a high level and be his usual, loud self, or he can eliminate several other pros and not say a word.

The young want-to-be who left the tournament early had Matusow’s hair, his actions and even a bit of his mouth. But he lacked one important ingredient.
He didn’t have Mike’s game.