Some Call it Heart - I Call it Courage

Hi. Come on in. I fired up my crockpot last night and simmered us some split pea soup, with all of the goodie additives, of course. The sourdough bread is there on the counter. Dig in. Hold it -- put your bib on first.

Many knowledgeable poker players would be winning regularly, but they lack playing courage. So, today let's talk about courage. You can read Card Player and all of the poker books ever written to get poker knowledge, but courage can't be bought, and it's difficult to win without it.

When you go to the poker table, you're not there -- or shouldn't be there -- just to keep from losing. A lack of courage is most often mixed in with a fear of losing money. Just breaking even is no big thing -- as you were even when you walked into the poker room.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the object of the game is to win money, not just to play the game, unless you're playing strictly for social reasons. Then, breaking even might be acceptable. But for most players, breaking even isn't enough. So I'm going to assume that you are among those who actually play to win. To accomplish that, you must be prepared to back the good hands that you do receive, risking the loss of chips when you're holding a probable winner. But, don't have so much courage that you're not willing to back off when you aren't among the favorites to win -- better yet, the favorite.

(In today's game, in the midst of the "poker explosion," many players have too much courage -- too much gamble. They have no patience and want to play every hand, looking for the "miracle draw." Some days, you will get into a game at a table that's full of these players, and then it's "no-fold'em hold'em" time. That game calls for a different strategy.)

Whatever type of game you're playing in your everyday play, you'll be at a disadvantage if you lack sufficient courage. An opponent bets aggressively and your first reaction is one of fear. You check when you should bet and fold when you should call. This will practically guarantee that you will not win enough with your good hands and will lose too much with your fair hands. (I remind you here that the reason for learning poker skills, instead of relying on luck, is to win more money with your winning hands than other players would have won with the same hands -- and to lose less with your losing hands than other players would have lost with those hands.)

I've seen players change from winners to break-even players, with no way to account for it other than a loss of courage after a series of losing days or weeks. I could drag you around town and point out -- discreetly, of course -- knowledgeable poker players who used to be consistent winners, but have lost their courage and thus have become break-even players.

These players know when and how to be aggressive, but are now "playing it safe." One player in this category freely admitted, "Now I don't win much, but I don't lose much, either." But it's rather tough to make your mortgage payment if you just "don't lose much." If the money is important to you from the standpoint of not having enough for the mortgage payment or an occasional cheeseburger, you're playing too high, or shouldn't be playing at all.

If you do have enough money to pay your rent and enjoy your cheeseburgers with the expense of added bacon, but are still shaky about losing chunks of it at the poker table, you need either more knowledge or more courage -- and probably both.

For those players who are concerned about going off for too much money, my recommendation is to set aside a specific amount that they can lose and not have it affect their lifestyle, and play that bankroll as if it were an unlimited supply. That is, play with all of the courage and selective aggressiveness you can muster. If you lose that money, quit the game. But while you're still in the game and are playing with courage, you'll be at the top of your game and will have a chance to build on your short bankroll and put together another stake, from which you don't have to pay your rent.

An ancient poker axiom states: "Don't play wth the rent money or you'll probably be sleeping in the park." Too much pressure and too little courage usually result from a short bankroll, and the loss of even that short bankroll is likely. With no bankroll, there's no poker playing; you'll be out of action and standing on the rail trying to borrow money. Then, you not only won't have the rent money, you'll owe money to people whom you'll be ducking when you see them coming. It's a miserable life, and I've seen too many people leading it.

To get through life -- and to win at poker -- you've got to have courage.

Now I'm going to take a courageous nap. Take a baggie of soup for your breakfast and kill the light on your way out.

Roy West, poker author and teacher, continues giving his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas for tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome.