Are You a Winner?

Joe poker player says to his buddy Al poker player, "How'd you do in Atlantic City?"



Al replies, "I won a few bucks."



A week later, it's Al's turn to ask Joe, "How was your trip to Vegas? Did you visit any of the new poker rooms?"



Joe replies, "I had a great time and won some money."



Joe and Al are very competitive with each other in everything they do, including playing softball and golf, as well as poker. Whenever they talk about poker (or other forms of gambling), they always recall the times that they won. It seems like they always win – as you never hear about the times they lose. Wonderful winning memories are to be savored, but if you spend a lot of time and money playing poker, it's probably a good idea to review the times you lost, and learn from them as well. If your commitment is big enough, you may even want to consider keeping records. It's one thing to exaggerate to your competitive buddy, but if you make a major investment of time and money in playing poker, the only way to be honest with yourself is by maintaining accurate records.



A long time ago, I was involved in a great little weekly home game of dealer's choice poker with an eclectic group of people from around the country who at the time worked on Wall Street. Today, everybody just wants to play hold'em, but back then, nobody ever called hold'em when it was his turn to deal. Hold'em was considered too boring. Instead, we played poker games (and some that weren't really poker games) like anaconda 3-2-1, Texas sevens with Mexican sweat, baseball, bingo, Chicago, queens and followers, crisscross, butcher, 2-22, 7-27, low card in the hole wild, five-card high-low stud with two buys, wild-card games, match the pot games, and lots of other fun games. These are great games, and could make for volatile ups and downs, especially every time people learned a new game. I held my own, had my ups and downs, and figured I was always close to net even over the long haul.



One day in my little home game, I lost more than $1,000, but that was OK because I had been winning the previous few weeks. The next week, I again lost more than $1,000 and figured that I was really unlucky. When I lost more than $1,000 for a third week in a row, I stopped to do some hard thinking. I was now losing more money playing poker than I was getting from my base salary. I reflected on the games and tried to analyze the hands with which I lost the most money. Did I play those hands correctly? Did I play them too aggressively? Should I have folded them earlier? Should I have folded more hands? Was I losing my money in a particular game? Was I just on a little losing streak? As I tried to figure out whether I had played poorly or was just on a losing streak, I realized that regardless of the answer, I couldn't afford to keep losing at that rate. What was I to do? I loved to play poker, but I decided to quit playing poker for one year!



Since I was the game secretary and everyone else was too busy or too lazy to organize our game, there was no home game. After about a year had passed and I had gotten a nice bonus from my job, I decided to see if the guys had any interest in starting up the game again. Sure enough, people were very eager to do so, although it became more like a monthly thing. Instead of keeping records, I decided to just keep a running total from game to game of my net results, kind of like a lifetime batting average, from that point on. By keeping track of just one number, my net running total, I felt very comfortable of where I stood and how I was doing over time. I wasn't as concerned when I had losing streaks and I never again lost so much in our home game that I thought I might go broke. Since then, I have gone through both longer losing streaks and longer winning streaks, but I always know where I stand in the big picture.



Poker can be a streaky game at times, even for great players. I've heard many stories about solid players with healthy bankrolls hitting nasty losing streaks. Whether you make a living from poker or not, if you go through a losing streak, I think it's a good idea to stop and take some time off from playing poker. Do some reflecting and studying of your recent play, then don't play any poker for a while. How long you take off obviously depends on your personal situation.



If you keep detailed records, hopefully you'll find a pattern that will tell you what or when to play or not to play. When you do resume, I think it's worthwhile to change the casino where you play, your game, and your stakes, and start fresh, especially if you don't find any obvious patterns.



In poker, as in life, it's important to be honest with yourself through some form of self-reflection. Otherwise, how can you honestly answer the question, are you a winner?

Robert is the 2002 World Series of Poker champion and the instructor on the WiseGuys on Texas Hold'em videos, starring some famous actors from the Sopranos.