I’ll just come out and say it: I play poker to win money.
Just like any other poker player, I will take money from my friends, my enemies, my neighbor, the fathers of my son’s pre-school friends and even my wife. Hell, if my grandmother would sit down with me I would try my darnedest to take her money as well.
In order to win more money at poker, I have done what any true poker player does: study.
I study a lot.
I buy the books: Sit ‘n Go Strategy, Harrington on Hold ‘em, Online Ace, etc. I underline important parts, take notes and implement the techniques.
I take internet courses:Â Deepstacks University, the online interactive course endorsed by Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. (great site by the way!)
I have discussions with fellow poker players about strategy, odds, etc.
You’d think with all this diligent work my results would be better. Online I am a break even player. Home games:winner. Casino games: loser. To be honest, I am an overall loser in poker. Not huge numbers, but enough to irk me. Make me want to crack the nut.
After all this studying, practicing and playing, I have come to realize there is only one REAL winning formula for poker: Play against players that are worse than you are. Sounds simple, but it’s true. This is a predatory sport and the strong feast on the weak.
You want to beat the game, look for the table full of losers.
Top 10 Traits of a Losing Poker Player:
10. He has a short stack. A good player knows that to win, his stack has to be replenished. Otherwise he’s not playing poker. It’s called playing bingo.
9. A big talker, giving lessons = BIG LOSER.
8. Looks like he’s been up all night. Probably trying to get even. Winners go home when they are losing and cut their losses.
7. Complains about back beats.
6. Goes to the ATM. Definitely means he is going beyond his intended budget and probably not using good bankroll management.
5. Plays almost every hand: loser
4. Tries to verbally intimidate the other players. LOSER!
3. Talks about how much he won last night. LOOOOOOO-SER!
2. Throws his cards at the dealer.
1. Makes quick over-sized bets.
I am probably not telling you anything new. But how many of us truly abide by these rules. It ain’t rocket science, but it works. In fact, it works way better than reading, studying or talking about poker. To paraphrase Texas Dolly: Poker is a game of people played with cards.
I play poker to win money from the weak.
Why do you play? Let me know at stories@whydoiplaypoker.net
