Winners Act Decisively

This series of columns is based on this succinct statement found in Gambling Theory and Other Topics (Page 8): "The key to successful gambling is simply to 'get the best of it' and then to 'make the most of it.'"



"Getting the best of it" means discovering or creating situations that give you an edge. My previous columns (available at CardPlayer.com) have shown how winners get the best of it by being brutally realistic, focusing on the long term, acting deceptively, and so on.



"Making the most of it" means getting the full value of that edge by acting decisively.



These two abilities are fairly independent of each other. One is primarily intellectual, while the other has a strong emotional component. Some losers seem to act decisively, but are really just impulsive. They bet and raise without thinking clearly. Acting decisively means taking resolute action after carefully analyzing the situation.



The opposite tendency has been called "analysis paralysis." Some losers know what to do, but don't do it. For example, you have heard them say, "I knew I should have raised, but I just called." They don't have enough confidence in their analysis to make the essential commitment.



Acting decisively is easiest to see in the play of a hand, but it also applies to many other choices, such as:



• Game selection

• Seat selection

• Quitting

• Talking



In Advanced Limit Hold'em Strategies (Page 72), Barry Tanenbaum says that being indecisive "is akin to standing in the middle of the street because you can't decide whether to go right or left."



Winners act decisively by:



• Being selectively aggressive

• Pushing when they are winning

• Adjusting effectively to changes

• Paying their dues

• Working on their self-development



This column will summarize them. Future columns will discuss each one.



Being Selectively Aggressive



Winners wait until they have an edge, and then push hard to make the most of it. Some losers are indecisive: They play too many hands and/or they play them too passively, checking when they should bet, calling when they should raise or fold. Other losers are promiscuously aggressive: They bet and raise with hands they should fold.



Television has greatly increased promiscuous aggression. Some players apply techniques without understanding the difference between their own situation and the ones on TV. At tournament final tables, the blinds and antes are huge, making fold equity extremely valuable. It is much less valuable in the early stages of tournaments and in all cash games.



Selective aggression is always essential, but it is especially important in no-limit hold'em. On my radio show, I asked Sam O'Connor, author of How to DOMINATE $1 and $2 No Limit Hold'em, "What's the best advice you can give our listeners?"



He said, "Lose the little pots, but win the big ones."



Pushing When They are Winning



Losing and winning change the way that many people play, and these changes may violate or apply the selective-aggression principle. Losers push at the wrong time. If they get ahead, they "hit and run." If they get behind, they play on and on, and may even play more loosely and aggressively, hoping to get even. Many good players have gone broke because they could not walk away from a losing session. They turned an objectively acceptable loss into a devastating one.



Pushing when winning is a form of selective aggression because:



1. Winning suggests, but certainly does not prove, that the winners have an edge against their opponents.



2. Winning creates a strong, even frightening image. If opponents think you are stronger (or luckier) than they are, they will react less aggressively and effectively, which will increase your edge.



Winners exploit both that fear and their edge by pushing harder.



Adjusting Effectively to Changes



This ability is essential because poker constantly changes. One card can convert a winning hand to a loser, and vice versa. Position changes every hand in flop games, and it can change several times in one stud hand. An unexpected bet or raise suggests that you misread the situation. A game's style may shift completely when a rock is replaced by a maniac.



Longer-term changes are even more dramatic. In just a few years, seven-card stud – which was once the most popular game – has nearly disappeared, and the few remaining games are tough, because the weaker players are playing hold'em. And many hold'em games have gotten tougher because there are so many books, DVDs, coaches, hand-tracking software, and instructional websites available.



Adjusting to changes is unnatural and uncomfortable. It's more natural and comfortable to continue to act in the same habitual way, but it's a prescription for failure. Winners do everything they can to learn how their situation is shifting, then alter their strategies to whatever the new circumstances require.



Paying Their Dues



Winners accept an unpleasant reality that some losers reject or ignore: You're not entitled to win. In fact, if you don't pay your dues, you're probably going to lose.



That harsh position directly contradicts the emphasis in modern American schools and workplaces. Because they have gotten good grades, promotions, and other rewards without working for them, some people think they are entitled to win at poker. So, they don't pay their dues and get exactly what they deserve: failure.



Winners work, study, and sacrifice. It isn't easy to pay all those dues, but I never said that winning was easy. The choice is yours. You can deny reality, pretend that you're entitled to win, and end up disappointed. Or, you can accept reality, pay your dues, and become a winner.



Working on Their Self-Development



Many poker writers naively assume that merely telling people how they should play will cause them to play well. But hardly anyone plays the way the books recommend. There are no solid studies of the success rate of poker improvement programs, but hundreds of well-controlled studies of other self-improvement programs are extremely depressing. Hardly anyone sticks to diet, exercise, and other self-improvement programs.



You've certainly heard the term "comfort zone." When poker writers use it, they usually refer to the stakes, but it applies to everything, especially your playing style. You play a certain way because it's comfortable to you, and until you understand why you play that way and decide to suffer the discomfort of changing, you will probably continue to make the same mistakes.



When I make that point to poker writers, they insist that poker is different. Nonsense! Since dieting, exercise, and other self-improvement plans can save their lives, improve their health, or make them more successful at work, it is naïve to assume that people place a higher value on their poker chips.



Future columns will analyze the forces that have created your comfort zone, and will tell you how to break out of it. Hopefully, they will help you to make the changes needed to become a winner.



Dr. Schoonmaker ([email protected]) coaches only on psychology issues, such as controlling impulses, coping with losing streaks, going on tilt, and planning your self-development. You can buy his books, Your Worst Poker Enemy and Your Best Poker Friend, at CardPlayer.com.