This and That About Poker

Hi. Come on in. I had the Chinese place send over some cashew shrimp and chicken fried rice. I'll brew some tea.

It's time we discussed a couple more of Roy's Rules. The first one up today is actually Roy's Law of Time and Distance. According to this rule/law, the closer a poker player lives to the game, the less "gambling" he is likely to do. A player who lives a few miles or a few minutes from a public poker room can afford to be more patient than a tourist. If the games are not to his liking, he can come back the next day or later that same day. But, if he must drive 55 miles through heavy freeway traffic, or fly 2,000 miles, he suffers a loss of patience.

Now, how far do you live from the poker room?

Another of Roy's Rules: Don't try impressing other players with your skill and knowledge at the poker table. Did you do all that studying so that you could show off? Or, did you do it so that you could play solid, winning poker? Forget about impressing your opponents with fancy moves and bright poker talk. Impress them instead with your stacks of chips. Remember, 90 percent of your opponents are not good poker players. So, no matter what you do, they'll think you just got lucky. Let them keep thinking that!

You don't need to do anything fancy, just play solid, disciplined, mistake-free poker.

Change of subject: Being a professional poker player in Las Vegas and other areas of the country is really a neat deal when you consider your "business overhead." The casino supplies you an "office," which is the poker room. It supplies the equipment: tables, chairs, lighting, cards, chips, and so on. It provides the personnel: dealers, waitresses, brushmen, and so on. You get free parking, the use of a telephone, and even free food. What a sweet deal! Why would anyone choose any other profession?

Changing the subject once more: I have some valuable information for you about your opponents. First, we'll take a survey. You can pick the location; make it any public poker room in the entire country. That's a good choice. Follow me.

Before asking our survey question, we have to get everyone's attention. That done, we ask everyone at once, "How many here came to win money?" Look, every hand in the place went up – 100 percent. OK, tell them they can resume playing. We'll now stroll among them and observe their techniques and strategies for winning money. You check out the players over on that side of the room and I'll observe this side. We'll meet back here in a few moments.

A few moments pass. We meet.

Given a chance to closely observe all of these players (awful, wasn't it), it becomes painfully apparent that 90 percent of them are not equipped with sufficient poker knowledge to achieve their goal of consistent winning. Yet, 100 percent of them said they came here to win. What's up with that? The plain and simple fact is – most poker players come to the poker room to play poker, not to win money.

That is important enough that I'll say it again. Most poker players come to the poker room to play poker, not to win money. They say they're here to win money, and might even believe it. Certainly, they would prefer to win money. But they're not willing to do what it takes to win the money!

They don't study. They don't get books, take lessons, or view video tapes. If they do look at instructional materials, it's a quick read-through as though they're hoping to assimilate the information by the process of osmosis. They don't have time to study because that would take away from their playing time.

So, now my question to you is, "Why do YOU come to the poker room?" Think about it.

While you're thinking, I'll be napping. Finish off those shrimp and kill the light on your way out.

Editor's note: Roy West, the author of the bestseller 7 Card Stud, the Complete Course in Winning, available from Card Player, has a toll-free number and continues to give his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas to both tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome. See his ad on Page 104.