Sir Lance

"He'll never last in this town," one noted poker expert stated. He was talking about a fellow named Lance, who moved to Las Vegas to play in the poker games at Bellagio for a living. And the poker expert is probably right. Going broke is what is supposed to happen when you move to Las Vegas to play poker for a living. Almost no one makes it over the long haul. It's a sad sight to see, the death throes of wannabe pros. Often, as the struggle gets intense, they lose not just their money, but their values, their self-respect, and their spirit. Some seem to lose their minds. I've been around this town so long and seen it happen so often that I have become hardened to it, almost indifferent to it. The loss of that compassion is not the best quality within myself.

So, will Lance suddenly disappear into the night, never to be seen again? Most seem to think so. He plays too many hands and plays them out of position, and makes lots of "conventional wisdom" strategy errors. His emotional stability at the poker table is questionable at best. There is some very strange protoplasm upstairs with Lance. However, Lance is much smarter than he looks, and he has many strengths. Those strengths are not visible to those who examine the man only superficially.

One of the most important variables in Lance's life is that he has a very supportive wife who seems to deeply care and supports him personally and emotionally to a very high degree. Having a strong, solid supporting relationship in your life can help you through the bad times in poker in a big way, and can prevent you from going into a "tilt" cycle, from which many never recuperate.

Also, Lance is highly competitive. He comes to play every day! Moreover, he reads players well, and has a high level of understanding of human psychology. The strongest part of Lance's game is that he creates a psychological edge over his opponents with his own behavior. He acts crazy at the table (sometimes I wonder if it is an act), creating confusion and doubt within his opponents' minds that causes them to make errors against him that they would not make against other players.

I have written before that it is not necessarily how well you play, but how well you play in relation to your opponents that is important. If you can somehow make your opponents play poorly, you have gained much in the way of making up for weaknesses within your own game. Even many experienced professional players miss that concept. Lance creates this psychological edge in a way that some players deem inappropriate. When he comes across as being crazy, he constantly goads, challenges egos, and shows bluffs and bad plays. He acts goofy at the table. He often constantly "trash talks" for hours on end. While he is tough to listen to when you have a headache, he can really get a game going at times.

Is "trash talking" part of poker? Should it be acceptable to "needle" the opposition, to purposely goad opponents so that they are less effective against you? Many top-level sports figures such as Muhammad Ali, John McEnroe, Bobby Fisher, and Michael Jordan incorporated psychological warfare into their game-winning strategies. Is poker any different? At some levels I think it is, and at other levels I think it is not.

At the high levels of poker, they are all big boys who are playing for serious money. While I think we owe other humans a given level of respect automatically, there are some arenas that a person enters in which one should expect the atmosphere to be cutthroat. High-limit poker, in my opinion, is one of those arenas. That said, money is a relative thing. One man's fortune is another man's pocket change. The varying level of respect given to specific sums of money is ever present around the poker-playing field. Many players play for social or recreational reasons and just want to have a good time. If the demeanor of those in the game is unpleasant, they don't want to play. Those players provide a substantial portion of the cash flow into the poker world. Poker pros have a level of obligation to do what is good for the game and the poker world as a whole. Plus, it is in their own self-interest to do so!

So, where does one draw the line between what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is inappropriate? Lance is incredibly tough on other local pros, and has been tough on me at times. A player with my level of experience is supposed to be able to handle those types of situations. The truth be told, I enjoy the challenge, and I flip a lot of talk back at Lance. We enjoy the banter, but not all see it that way. Sometimes recreational players are offended by Lance's actions and leave the game.

I think that if psychological tactics used to confuse one's opponents are executed in a playful manner, they are much less damaging to the game than if they become personal issues. In my opinion, creating personal issues with recreational players in social games is not an appropriate strategy in poker, and it hurts a player financially in the long run. It is also bad etiquette. Creating a positive atmosphere within a poker environment is the best strategy any professional player can adopt. Professional players and management need to work together and exercise leadership in this arena in order to maintain a level of respectability within the poker environment. It will be good for all.

So, where will Lance be in a couple of years? At times I have visions of him drooling in an insane asylum. The funny farm sometimes does not appear to be too far away for Lance. At other times I think he has great potential. I think the answer lies within Lance – how he grows and learns, and how he handles the emotional stresses that playing poker for a living places on a person. Actually, I kinda like the guy, although sometimes I wonder about my judgment. One thing's for sure – the game he is in is never a bad one.

Editor's note: Roy Cooke played winning professional poker for 16 years. He is a successful real estate broker/salesperson in Las Vegas – please see his ad below.