Mind Over Poker

I recently read Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker, the excellent historical treatise of the game of poker by James McManus. In examining our innate competitive urge, McManus quotes from Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene. Specifically, in discussing how mammals viciously compete for scarce resources, they “should give no inkling of when they are going to give up. Anybody who betrayed, by the merest flicker of a whisker, that he was beginning to think of throwing in the sponge, would be at an instant disadvantage … Natural selection would instantly penalize whisker-flickering and any analogous betrayals of future behavior. The poker face would evolve.”

What was your initial thought upon reading that sentence? Did you automatically think of a moment or moments when you have shown weakness? Or, did you salivate when reflecting on times that you pounced on the weakness of others? You most likely had a reaction that was either offensive or defensive in nature. That could prove telling about your game. If you’re worried that you are flickering your whiskers too much, you probably are. Just as importantly, you’re probably not exploiting the weaknesses of others as often as you should. If you started thumping your chest after reading the above, you may be playing overly aggressively without enough contemplation of strategic thought.

Now, what if you read the above passage and had no reaction? Or, perhaps you read it and thought the application to poker was a bit of a stretch. After all, we’re not fighting over life’s necessities on the felt. Well, even if you’re a recreational player and not playing for your livelihood, you have to tap into your “selfish gene” when you step into the poker room.

In many pots, poker is a game of chicken. The first one to blink loses. Of course, you can’t be blindly aggressive. To be the most successful competitor, you must start by tapping into that selfish gene. When you walk into that poker room, leave the comforts of home behind. Realize that those people at the table are going to be trying to exploit every weakness and vulnerability that you reveal. Your thieving opponents want to take what is yours.

However, keep in mind that poker is a thinking man’s game. It requires a lot of skill. You’re not in a fistfight over food or shelter. You are not there to trade blows until one of you cries uncle. An unchecked selfish gene will surely lead you to tilt and ultimate disaster. Rather, to harness the full effect of that primitive gene in today’s world, you must layer all of your experience and strategic thinking on top. The best thing that selfish gene can do for you is heighten your survival senses. You’ll be finely tuned to the whisker flickers of others, and will be sure to keep your whiskers under control.

David Apostolico is the author of Compete, Play, Win: Finding Your Best Competitive Self. You can contact him at [email protected].