Boring Poker
Thursday Night Poker contains an interesting passage which asks why people play poker at low-stakes home games. It can't be to amass wealth or provide a secondary income, since usually the swings up or down are under $100. So what are the elements that make for a fun evening?
The response to that question will be different for every person that answers it. I can only speak for myself of course and have to surmise what others get out of it, and they must get something since people tend to come back and play (when they've been invited).
I like winning. Winning is good. Winning is always better than losing. Always. I like to do things that increase my odds of winning. Not just in poker but in anything I'm going to do. If you're going to keep score, why would you not try your best to do well? Golf, tennis, hockey, games, the principle applies the same in each case. And if I can't win then I like to end an evening knowing I've played well. Does that mean that I've won a lot of money? It can on occasion, although if it's because I've just caught cards and rivered people all over the place with reckless play, it's not as satisfying for me. I know that's the opposite of what some people think but on the occasions where that has happened (let's say pocket fives becomes a boat on the river, beating out what had been top pair the whole hand and a flush on the river) I can enjoy raking the chips into my tray but I realize that I probably had no business being in that hand and that if it played out again ten times, heck, a HUNDRED times, it will happen again once or twice if I'm lucky. In other words, I know in the back of my head I played the hand wrong and have stolen money that probably should have resided in someone else's tray. Playing that way will eventually lead me to lose money and in the long run a lot of money if I'm not careful. And as much as poker is an enjoyable social exercise, capping it off by going home with more cash than what you showed up with makes the evening far more enjoyable.
Some cannot understand that. Playing tight is 'boring'. Now why they would care how someone else plays I have no idea, since it doesn't affect them in the least, but that's another discussion. For them the excitement is the feeling of being in a hand that they have no business being in and catching that miracle card, the bigger the longshot the better, and raking in a big pot that someone with the better hand the whole time was busy pumping up. For them the emotional high of being way up or way down is far more intoxicating than the monotony of folding hand after hand because they're not getting pocket Aces. There is some pleasure taken in 'irking' other people at the table because of the good luck you've received (or the bad luck they've received, depending on how you look at it). You're hoping that luck will catch them out while you have something good.
Insomuch as they can't understand the appeal of playing tight (boring), I think of it as quite the opposite. What fun is it to play every hand, throwing money around willynilly with any two cards, from any position without any thought process? I would think that if you've made up your mind to do that you can certainly put your brain on neutral and coast. That's boring. Play any two cards and eventually you'll hit something that will pay you. It may even pay big. In the meantime you can bemoan how 'lucky' other people are getting when it seems like they keep catching flop after flop, not realising that they're probably playing a fraction of the hands you are.
Poker is one long session. It begins the first time you sit down at a table and ends when someone is delivering the eulogy. Keeping that in mind helps get you through those evenings when nothing comes and you've dropped $80 and helps keep you from getting too full of yourself when you've won $80. I've grown to enjoy the nuances that take place in the game, much of that comes from the cast that participates each week, bringing a different personality and style to the table. I don't think I'd have the same appreciation for those nuances if I played an 'exciting' game. I certainly wouldn't need hour long post-mortems in my office with KK if all I had to contribute was, "Yeah, I played any two cards. I don't know what happened, but they hit and I won." Playing with discipline requires patience and thought, more like chess than the lottery. With rare exceptions I won't be the big winner at the table, but the corollary to that statement is that I've rarely left the table leaving my entire bankroll in other's hands. And when I look at the spreadsheet and see black, and lots of it, I know I've had an exciting time.
The response to that question will be different for every person that answers it. I can only speak for myself of course and have to surmise what others get out of it, and they must get something since people tend to come back and play (when they've been invited).
I like winning. Winning is good. Winning is always better than losing. Always. I like to do things that increase my odds of winning. Not just in poker but in anything I'm going to do. If you're going to keep score, why would you not try your best to do well? Golf, tennis, hockey, games, the principle applies the same in each case. And if I can't win then I like to end an evening knowing I've played well. Does that mean that I've won a lot of money? It can on occasion, although if it's because I've just caught cards and rivered people all over the place with reckless play, it's not as satisfying for me. I know that's the opposite of what some people think but on the occasions where that has happened (let's say pocket fives becomes a boat on the river, beating out what had been top pair the whole hand and a flush on the river) I can enjoy raking the chips into my tray but I realize that I probably had no business being in that hand and that if it played out again ten times, heck, a HUNDRED times, it will happen again once or twice if I'm lucky. In other words, I know in the back of my head I played the hand wrong and have stolen money that probably should have resided in someone else's tray. Playing that way will eventually lead me to lose money and in the long run a lot of money if I'm not careful. And as much as poker is an enjoyable social exercise, capping it off by going home with more cash than what you showed up with makes the evening far more enjoyable.
Some cannot understand that. Playing tight is 'boring'. Now why they would care how someone else plays I have no idea, since it doesn't affect them in the least, but that's another discussion. For them the excitement is the feeling of being in a hand that they have no business being in and catching that miracle card, the bigger the longshot the better, and raking in a big pot that someone with the better hand the whole time was busy pumping up. For them the emotional high of being way up or way down is far more intoxicating than the monotony of folding hand after hand because they're not getting pocket Aces. There is some pleasure taken in 'irking' other people at the table because of the good luck you've received (or the bad luck they've received, depending on how you look at it). You're hoping that luck will catch them out while you have something good.
Insomuch as they can't understand the appeal of playing tight (boring), I think of it as quite the opposite. What fun is it to play every hand, throwing money around willynilly with any two cards, from any position without any thought process? I would think that if you've made up your mind to do that you can certainly put your brain on neutral and coast. That's boring. Play any two cards and eventually you'll hit something that will pay you. It may even pay big. In the meantime you can bemoan how 'lucky' other people are getting when it seems like they keep catching flop after flop, not realising that they're probably playing a fraction of the hands you are.
Poker is one long session. It begins the first time you sit down at a table and ends when someone is delivering the eulogy. Keeping that in mind helps get you through those evenings when nothing comes and you've dropped $80 and helps keep you from getting too full of yourself when you've won $80. I've grown to enjoy the nuances that take place in the game, much of that comes from the cast that participates each week, bringing a different personality and style to the table. I don't think I'd have the same appreciation for those nuances if I played an 'exciting' game. I certainly wouldn't need hour long post-mortems in my office with KK if all I had to contribute was, "Yeah, I played any two cards. I don't know what happened, but they hit and I won." Playing with discipline requires patience and thought, more like chess than the lottery. With rare exceptions I won't be the big winner at the table, but the corollary to that statement is that I've rarely left the table leaving my entire bankroll in other's hands. And when I look at the spreadsheet and see black, and lots of it, I know I've had an exciting time.
posted by Mr. Hand at 10:27 PM
3 Comments:
Everyone has a different style of play that comes out over time, something that suits their personality and character. After having read Phil Helmuth's book on hold'em I attempted to incorporate some of his philosophy into my play and was promptly trounced three weeks in a row. It was alien to me and I couldn't make it work. If everyone did play the same it probably would be boring. I just can't play super-aggressive and reckless. It's not something I'm comfortable with. That doesn't make playing that way wrong, it just isn't for me.
And no I don't take particular joy out of beating anyone, all it means is I happened to outplay them for that hand or got cards that worked out for me. The very next hand everything is reset to zero and starts all over again.
I believe that if you could play every hand perfectly you could probably play every hand and be a winner every night.
Its just that some cards are harder to play than others and should be left to those who are very good at the game.
:)
I don't think so. Perfectly played hands get beat all the time. That's part of the game.
Avoiding the hard cards makes it easier to win though, or at least puts the odds more in your favor.
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