The most important piece of poker advice ever

I am a good poker player but I am not a great poker player. Luckily for me, just being good is often all it takes to win money. How do mediocre guys like me win? The answer happens to be the greatest piece of poker wisdom ever. Now pay attention. This is important. Are you ready? Here it is:

Play against people that are worse than you are.

That's right. If you go into a card room with the goal of taking on the best poker sharks you can find just to prove how good you are, well then you are asking for trouble. Sure, playing against top rate opponents is a great way to make you a better player - if you are smart enough to learn from the experience - but you should make your bread and butter against schmucks who bluff too much and chase draws at bad odds.

So if your goal is to prove yourself to be a badass by beating all the other badasses, well have fun and good luck. 

Even if you are just mediocre - like me - you should also keep trying to improve. Remember, the better you get, the easier it will be to find people that are worse than you. Logging the hours in the poker room will also help you identify the players who are better than you. It is fine to sit at a table that has one or two guys that are better than you, you can learn from them without losing money to them. Just make sure that most of the guys at the table are worse than you. Often it takes a while, maybe an hour or two, to really figure out who is good and who is bad, so be very cautious at first. If you discover that there are three or four guys better than you, switch tables or go home. The longer you stay the more likely it is you will lose money. 

Now here is the hard part - do you have the ability to admit that there are better players out there than you? Can you identify them? Can you say to yourself, "Tom is better than me because he mixes up his game better than I do. He switches styles very well and I have trouble guessing what he is doing. I am not going to try to impress all these other guys by standing up to Tom and beating him - screw that. I am going to avoid Tom unless I have the nuts." Can you swallow your ego and do that? If so then you might avoid losing all your chips to Tom, and then when those fish Dick and Harry donk off all their chips you won't be there to collect some of them.

Back in the Saddle

Today's word: Tilt. A player is described as being "on tilt" when they start making reckless decisions. Often an otherwise solid player begins playing a little loose, and then before you know it is chasing draws with bad pot odds, or bluffing far too much. Usually tilt is a term applied to a single session, but a player can go on tilt for days or weeks. Usually tilt is caused by a bad beat. You'll see a guy go all in with pocket aces, lose to some fluky flush or straight, and then just fall apart for the rest of the night.

An essential skill of a successful poker player is avoiding tilt.

I suffered a very big loss ten days ago. It was a huge temptation to go back to the poker table as soon as possible, and to play at a higher limit than I normally do, in order to win back the money I lost as quickly as possible, but instead I took a week off from poker completely. I highly recommend this to any one who has suffered a big loss, or has just been running bad lately. Take a break. Get away from the game and come back with a fresh mind.

When I did hit the tables again yesterday, I deliberately choose to go to a casino where I had enjoyed success (positive feelings are important) and I deliberately played a limit, rather than no-limit, game. I wanted to force myself to think about the fundamentals of the game. When you are running bad, you tend to guess wrong in those big decisions that come up in no-limit, so take the pressure off yourself and play limit hold 'em until you get your mojo back.

So. Long story short, three hours of poker and I only had a $12 gain to show for it. But I feel like the monkey is off my back and I can go back to work again.

More Poker Wisdom

Here are more poker tips that I frequently find myself thinking about.

From Bobby Baldwin: Be Polite.

You want the other players to be enjoying themselves. If you are winning, make sure that you praise the play of your opponents and comment on how lucky you have been. They will naturally want to see themselves as skilled and you as "just lucky", so you don't have to do much to encourage this. The most important thing is that they like playing with you and invite you back. When you see a guy try an obvious bluff, pretend to really deliberate before calling. Praise his courage for trying so gutsy a move as you rake his chips in, shaking your head at yourself while questioning your own recklessness.

From my father: Don't quit while your ahead, or as dad put it, "Cut your losses short and let your profits run." This idea runs counter to many people's instincts. It is natural for one to wish to leave the table when one has a small profit, thus avoiding a turn of fortune that could quickly put one in the negative. But it is often the case that the reason you have a small profit is because you are better that your opponents, and if you are playing against people who are worse than you, then you should continue to play as long as possible. The inverse is also true - if you are losing at a table, it may be that you are not good enough to be there. Don't lose more money trying to get back to even - cut your losses.

From Mike the Poker Pro: Be Patient. In Mike's own words: "I see guys on their last day in Vegas make all kinds of reckless moves. I don't need to play that way. I live in Vegas. I don't have a plane to catch." In other words don't try to win every hand. Sit back, wait for the good cards, and let the other guy take the risks.

From Judi James: Differentiate "leakage" from "performance". Your opponents will be sending you lots of signals to help you interpret their relative strength or weakness. Some signals they are unaware they are sending. You should consider such signals as "leakage", true indications as to how your opponent feels about his or her hand. Other times your opponent will send false signals in an attempt to look weak when strong, or strong when weak. These signals you should consider "performance". Most people have standard moves they repeat when they perform, which you can detect if you pay close attention.

From Doyle Brunson: Pay close attention. Even in hands you are not involved in. If you only watch the other players when you are in a hand, then you are getting far less information on your opponents than you could be.

From I don't know who: Don't go broke with a pair. This is just one of those cardinal rules, which you should remember every time you flop top pair and someone else goes all in. Stop. Think. What is that guy going all-in with? Chances are it's better than a pair.

From Phil Gordon: Drink lots of water.

Bits of Poker Wisdom

I have read quite a few books and blogs about poker and I'd like to share some of the advice that I find particularly compelling.

From Willie Nelson: Perhaps the best piece of advice is to be yourself. If you try to emulate others, you will likely just do a poor job of it. I used to have difficulty when I had a big stack of chips in a tournament. I knew from the books I read that in that position I was supposed to bully the small stacks around, so I tried to do that. But I was not a good bully. Being a bully is unnatural for me, so I am unconvincing and ineffective when I try to play that role. Willie Nelson said something to the effect of "If you are a butterfly, don't try to be an eagle." What he meant was you are always most effective when you are true to own nature. Willie was talking about poker. The great thing about poker is that a smart butterfly can beat a hundred sharks, lions and eagles.

From Chris Ferguson: Never stop learning. The moment you think you have the game figured out is the moment it has passed you by. You can only be your best if your are constantly trying to get better.

From Jennifer Harman: Everybody, even the worst players, does one thing very well. You can learn something from even the worst players.

From Howard Lederer: Be a well-rounded human being. Once you grasp the basics of the game, then understanding human nature is the key to success at the poker table. By sitting in a casino or on an internet poker site for 60 hours a week, you are actually limiting your experiences too much. Read philosophy, do yoga, learn to play the violin. Any number of activities that stretch your mind in different ways will give you insights that your leather-assed opponents may never have.

From Antonio Esfandiari: Think about what your opponent is trying to get you to do, and do the opposite. Usually profitable. It is good to always be asking yourself, "What is he trying to get me to do?" After awhile you will find you can get better at predicting your opponents actions. Of course if you always do the opposite, he's going to catch on.

Also from Antonio Esfandiari: Never tell bad beat stories.

Also from Antonio Esfandiari: Never bet a lot to win a little.

From Mike Caro: Never call "poker-clack." "Poker-clack" is that clucking sound of disapproval people make with their tongues. If someone is raising the pot and they make that sound, fold.

These are just the few that came to my mind this morning. More tomorrow.