When I turned 13, I became a caddie at the Youghiogheny Country Club near McKeesport, PA. I began earning money for toting golf bags around the 18-hole golf course and I even learned to play golf.
Each Monday was Caddies Day at the course. We were permitted to play 18 holes of golf free as long as we had a set of clubs. Some of the caddies had their own golf clubs, but most of us borrowed them from the members who generously gave that favor as long as we cleaned the clubs after use.
One of the things about golf that fascinated me was the handicap system. Each golfer was assigned a number based on his or her ability to play the game. If par, for example, was 72 and you shot eight-over par, your handicap would be eight. The handicap lets the other golfers know how tough you were and worked well in tournaments and other events.
I never shot a game with a lower score than 82. My handicap was 10 or 12, while some of the other caddies had handicaps about half that size.
Just as there are varying degrees of skill on the golf course, there are varying degrees in poker. Players with a 15 handicap often will take on players whose handicaps are one or two and wonder why they are losing their hard-earned money.
My friend Leon is a good example of what I am talking about. Leon earns a good salary working for a computer company, but he gives away a good percentage of his money at the poker table to players who are more skillful than he is. He complained to me one day about losing and I stopped him in the middle of his belly-aching.
'Stop complaining and get smart,' I said. 'Play in a lower limit game.'
He looked at me like I was crazy. He continued playing with his 'friends' and kept losing. I haven't seen him in years and wonder if he gave up poker because it got too expensive for his blood.
I think it would be an excellent idea for a casino to set up a handicapping system for poker players. After assigning the players numbers according to their skills, let the players with lesser skills play against people who are similarly skillful.
This happens, of course, without the handicapping. In every poker room, some games range from $3-6 limit to $3-300, $20-40, or other monetary limits. The higher games attract the better players who have bigger bankrolls. An average player who gets into such a game is swimming in very treacherous waters.
I know I have been taking a beating at a higher limit Omaha High-Low game. I have temporarily stopped playing it and dropped back to a lower limit game, where I am winning. If you are on a losing streak, you should do the same. Good luck. Let the games begin.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
