When I enter a new casino, I like to walk around the place to get acquainted with the atmosphere. I want to know how the players think, act and dress.
While most books on strategy do not deal with clothing, I believe what you wear sometimes affects the way you play. And your body language to others also has an effect on them as well as on how you react to hands at the table.
Remember the movie 'Walking Tall,' the true story of a Southern sheriff who was determined to end the corruption of organized crime in his county. The sheriff dressed for action. He had a determined look when he went about his business and imposed that look on the criminal element.
When a poker player sits down at a table, he can either come as a quiet milquetoast of a man or he can have a certain swagger that warns the other players he means action.
I like to dress like a gambler. It makes the other players think about me and about how I play. And when you make other players think, you are one step ahead of the game.
Establishing authority over the table is the object of every poker player who is serious about winning. You can do this through raising, check-raising, or setting traps for the other aggressive players who are trying to run the table.
You need to act tough and be tough to win at poker. While there is nothing wrong with being nice, when push comes to crunch, you need to be in the driver's seat.
Check out the players at a table. Who are the aggressors, who are the calling stations, who are the players who don't push good hands to get more money into the pot and who miss golden opportunities to make big wins?
Now I have seen some players go overboard on this macho thing. Don't worry about the player who calls or raises every pot. Players who do that rarely win. They can make the game lively and exciting and can even pile up substantial chips during a brief rush, but their success will not last. It can't. The cards favor nobody in the long run. Every player over a period of time will receive a certain number of quality hands. It is how he plays those good hands as well as the bad hands that determine the outcome of the game.
Sometimes I will take a bathroom break, refresh myself with cold water, and even do a few pushups on the floor of the men's room. It gets the oxygen flowing through my veins and gets my heart pumping. The physical activity wakes me up. When I leave the bathroom, I am walking tall, feeling aggressive, and ready to meet the foe.
Right now I am putting together a new outfit for Talking Stick Casino near Scottsdale, AZ. It's one of my favorite casinos and has proven to be a winner for me over the yeas.
The games are good, the food is good, the casino management is generous with its comp system. In the snack shop, they also offer the best home-baked fruit pastries with kiwi, Mandarin oranges, strawberries and blackberries. The kind of food that provides energy to a player.
Walk tall. Dress like a gambler. And be aggressive. This is a formula for success at poker and life.
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 ).
