After winning a major poker tournament at the World Poker Open in Tunica, MS. some years ago, I decided I wanted to spend some quality time with my family. I drove back to my home town of Sutersville in Western Pennsylvania and began looking up old friends as well as relatives.
Everybody was interested in hearing about the tournament I had won. One of my cousins suggested we play poker that evening 'so you can show us what you learned.'
While I agreed to the no stakes poker game, it was b-o-r-I-n-g.
We played for a couple of hours, but we couldn't really get into it. My mother finally figured out what the problem was.
'You're not playing for real money,' she said. 'Right?'
I agreed she was absolutely correct.
Like it or night, the truth is that people's fascination has to do with the money. The action is fine, but the end game boils down to the question of 'How much money can I win for my efforts?' If the answer is little or nothing, the interest in playing poker quickly evaporates.
My late parents were euchre players. This was a game they devoured passionately. They played it nearly every Saturday night at the Moose Club where they were members. Now I enjoyed Euchre and I could play those small weekly tournaments with their small entry fees. Hey, we were playing for money and that, to me, was what cards were all about.
Like Doyle Brunson said in an interview, 'Few people realize how intensely competitive you must be in order to become a good poker player.' Doyle agrees that he could not play poker just for fun and he thinks most of the top professionals would agree with him.
Poker players -- the good ones -- always play to win. They use the games to eliminate their bad habits and to perfect their game.
When I first started playing poker, I worked hard to develop a tough competitive nature. I would talk to myself and mutter things against the other players: 'You wouldn't dare raise me. I would tell them beneath my breath. I would even silently or perhaps out loud attack the other players for 'trying to steal food from my children.' That was a motivation that made me play poker with a killer instinct.
Players must use their best game against anybody they play. That is why I don't like to play against relatives or friends.
Many of the top professionals are good friends, but they rarely give each other a break in a game. They will literally cut each other's throat. Afterwards they can joke with one another and if one of them needs a loan will often help that person out. And they will often break a best friend at the table.
The top pros call it 'alligator blood.'
What this means is a top pro will do nearly anything to win -- but it must be within the rules.
You can set traps, make slow calls when you have the best hand, and pull off a sheer bluff. Alligator blood is powerful.
A poker pro goes into a game with the idea of destroying it. They can switch gears with the speed of a lightning bolt. Play with those changed gears until the other players catch on, then change those gears again, especially if you are playing against people who know you.
A rule of thumb is to play tight in a loose game, and loose in a tight game.
Mostly.
The fun part of poker is to change gears when people least expect it.
If I am losing, I play tighter and if I am winning, I tend to play looser.
Remember that poker is more art than science. The odds never change but the way a person plays his cards can change from hand to hand. And no poker hand is ever played the same.
Over a long period of time, the worst players will catch as many good cards as the best players. It's what they do with them that counts.
Remember that in any poker game you play, it takes a stronger hand to call a raise than to raise the pot yourself.
There is a huge amount of bluffing that takes place in no-limit poker --- and considerably less bluffing in limit. That is why it takes more skill to win at no-limit than at limit.
A top no-limit player can and often does last at limit poker. But when that same person is playing no-limit, watch out. The house could be on fire.
Develop your competitive spirit. Practice playing by dealing hands to yourself until you can face someone in a live game and think, 'You wouldn't dare raise me with a pat straight...' and mean it.
If you do decide to play no-limit, try to have as many chips in front of you as anyone at the table. It protects you in the long run.
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 ).
