The Courage to Execute

I was playing $15-$30 hold'em and was next to last to act. I held the 3™ 2™, and with two callers already in, I saw the flop and prayed for hearts. Dieter, a strong aggressive player, had the button and limped in behind me. With both blinds in, we saw the flop sixhanded.

The flop came 10-8-4, with two hearts. Katie acted first and bet. She is a weak player, and since I know she never bluffs or even semibluffs, I put her on top pair. All of the players in front of me folded, I called, and Dieter called behind me.

I knew that if Dieter had a 10 in his hand, he definitely would have raised, and if he didn't have a legitimate hand, he would have folded. His calling told me that he, too, probably had a flush draw, which meant that I might be drawing dead (oh, joy). I told myself that even if a heart came on the turn, I would fold if Dieter bet. For all intents and purposes, I had moved on to the next hand.

The next card was the Q´ and Katie checked. I still put her on a 10, and figured the overcard scared her. I checked, and Dieter checked behind me. I was all but certain that Dieter had a flush draw. He certainly wasn't sitting back with a powerhouse, because he would have bet it by now. In fact, since both Katie and I had checked, I was surprised that Dieter hadn't bet to try to take the pot right there.

The last card was the Au. I never fold out of turn, but if there was ever a time that it seemed appropriate, this was it. Katie checked, I checked, and Dieter bet. Katie thought for a long time and finally folded. My decision was easy – fold, right? Even if Dieter were bluffing, there was no possible hand that I could beat with 3 high.

Keep in mind that there was $165 in the pot. All along, I thought Dieter had a flush draw. I didn't put him on an ace because I don't think he would have just limped in before the flop with an ace in his hand. I also didn't put him on a straight, because he's the type of player who definitely would have bet the turn if he had an open-end straight draw. I also knew that he would tend to bluff in this situation. But with the worst possible hand, calling his bluff was pointless. I did the only thing I could do – I raised.

That's right. I threw in $60, and before my chips hit the pot, Dieter folded in disgust. As I said, I knew that he had a flush draw and that he was bluffing, so I risked $60 to win $165, thinking that there was a better than 2-to-1 chance that he was bluffing.

When I tell poker players this story, most are unimpressed. "You made a read and made a play – what's the big deal?" they'll say. The point is that it's not a big deal when you take the time to think through a hand; it's just that very few people are able to remove themselves emotionally from a hand, analyze it, and most importantly, have the courage to execute.

As a business consultant, I find that most entrepreneurs spend hours racking their brains for the next great idea. I tell them that it's not so much the thought that counts as it is acting on the thought. McDonald's sells burgers and shakes; Starbucks sells flavored water; and Intel makes computer chips. Great ideas? No. Great companies? Absolutely – because they know how to execute.

When John Robinson was the football coach at USC, his favorite play was nicknamed "student body right." Even when other teams knew the play was coming, they couldn't stop it. The Washington Redskins, coached by Joe Gibbs, used to run "Counter Tray Right" over and over, but teams still couldn't find a way to fight through "The Hogs" and bring down John Riggins. While other coaches were drawing up X's and O's trying to find the next great play, Robinson and Gibbs concentrated on executing the plays their teams ran best.

Being an effective CEO is no different from being a coach, and the good ones know how to divide time between thinking and doing. For a business to remain competitive, it needs a visionary leader who can think about the future. At the same time, that leader must stay focused on getting the job done every day. Great ideas that are never put in motion are worth about as much as that 12-team parlay ticket you just bought.

You'll often hear some older poker players making fun of the "techno-kids" who run computer simulations and know all of the percentages, but who lack "the feel" for the game. The truth be told, the true pros, at any age, possess both: "feel," which can't be taught, and knowledge, which can. Ultimately, poker and business are about knowing the right thing to do and having the courage to execute.

Greg Dinkin is the author of The Finance Doctor. He is also the co-founder of Venture Literary, where he works with authors to find publishers for their books and producers for their films. He can be reached via E-mail at [email protected].