Stay Young; Play Poker - Part IV

While writing this article, I had lunch with three friends who were 56 or older. One had quit poker because he believed there were only two ways to play. If he tried to win money, he was bored. If he tried to have fun, he lost money.

But there’s a third way that’s enjoyable and profitable. It will also help anyone to stay young. Parts I-III applied five principles to preparing to play and choosing games and seats:

1. Emphasize poker’s mental stimulation and social interaction.
2. Be active, both mentally and socially.
3. Emphasize novelty.
4. Optimize stress.
5. Create a score-keeping system.

This one will apply those principles to playing hands. Most people — especially the losers — either yield to impulses or play on auto-pilot. The impulse players lose the most. They want to have fun, and it’s much more enjoyable to do whatever they wish than to play patient, disciplined poker. That’s how my friend had fun, but it cost him money.

Auto-pilot players have formulas. With these cards they play one way. With those cards they play another way. If they have good formulas and the discipline to stick to them, they can win. In fact, against impulsive players, they can win most of the time. But it’s boring.

It’s so boring that most players — even ones who know how to play well — yield to impulses. The undisciplined ones yield frequently. The disciplined ones yield less often, and they often rationalize, giving good reasons for their bad decisions:

• “I wanted to exploit my tight image.”
• “I had to be creative because I’d been card dead.”
• “After all the bad hands I’ve had, queen-ten looked pretty good.”
• “I thought I could outplay him after the flop.”

These “explanations” are often partly true, but they hide the primary driving force: boredom. We need to play disciplined, solid poker that’s not boring. It’s easier than you think.

Regard Hands as Puzzles.

Hands are challenging puzzles that are fun to solve. Instead of playing your cards formulaically, emphasize:

• Reading your opponents’ cards.
• Predicting what they will do.
• Understanding their motives, thinking patterns, and emotions.

When I’ve made that recommendation, the most common reaction is, “I already do that.” It’s another rationalization. Most players may half-heartedly “put people on hands,” but they rarely analyze players or situations deeply. They essentially guess. If an opponent shows down a surprising hand, they hardly ever ask themselves, “Why did I make such a stupid mistake?”

They don’t accept that the surprise means they have misunderstood this opponent, and their next task is to correct that misunderstanding. Instead, they just forget the hand and play the next one. That’s the kind of thinking we’re trying to correct.
Learn Actively by Proposing and Testing Hypotheses.

The more you propose and test hypotheses, the better you will play, and the more stimulating the game will be. Instead of formulaically playing your cards or passively observing what opponents do, make specific statements about what they have and predict what they will do:

• “He’s got a big pocket pair.”
• “He will check/fold.”
• “He’s on a flush draw and raised to get a free card. If I check, he will check behind me.”

Predicting what they will do is much more stimulating and educational than the more common attempts to put them on hands. If you predict that someone will check, bet, call, or raise, you get immediate feedback. He either does or doesn’t do what you predicted. You can then analyze why you were right or wrong.

If you put someone on a hand, you usually don’t know whether you were right or wrong because you don’t see the hole cards. This problem is much greater in no-limit hold’em because so few hands are shown down.

Many people kid themselves about their card-reading skill. They insist, “I knew he had a set (or whatever),” even when they don’t see the hand. Maybe they were right, maybe not, but it’s arrogant to believe you know something you can’t confirm.

Fast feedback dramatically speeds up learning and creates a “score-keeping system.” Instead of just counting your chips, keep track of how often you’re right or wrong and how much you make from good reads and lose from bad ones.

Hardly anyone keeps good records of their decisions. They really don’t want to know how often they’re right or wrong. They would rather build their egos by remembering a few great reads and ignoring their mistakes.

But, if you don’t remember your mistakes, you’ll repeat them. Conversely, if you record your mistakes, you can learn from them. You’ll also see where you’re making progress and what you should do to improve. This information will reduce boredom by keeping you motivated and stimulated.

Try to Get “Into Their Heads.”

Go beyond trying to read what they have and predict what they will do. Try to figure out why they check, bet, raise, and so on.

It’s the most difficult and challenging part of the puzzle. If you sincerely try to get into their heads, I’ll guarantee two things.

• You’ll often be wrong.
• You’ll certainly improve your ability to read cards and players.

It’s so difficult that — despite being a psychologist for decades — I often make extreme mistakes. I just don’t understand why someone makes certain decisions. Again and again, I have drawn conclusions about opponents, told them to my friends, and then learned that I was way off base.

So what? It was a little embarrassing, of course, but that’s a small price to pay for improving this critically important skill. And I learned from every mistake I admitted.

Try New Plays

You’ve certainly considered new plays, but didn’t do them because they looked too uncomfortable or risky. Force yourself to make them. Some of them will fail, of course, costing you money. But that old rule, “no pain, no gain,” applies here.

You must take risks and feel the pain of losing money to develop skills you’ll need later. And every time you try a new play you stimulate your mind and slow down aging.
But Won’t These Changes Increase Stress?

I ended Part III with a similar question, and the answer remains the same. Of course they will. That’s why I recommended them. You need the right amounts of the right kinds of stress to slow down aging, relieve boredom, and develop your skills.

You also need the right stresses to balance boredom and profits. If you’re too bored, you can’t play your best. Nor can you play well if the stress is too high. If you feel overwhelmed, you’ll try to relieve stress, not understand and react rationally to the situation’s demands.

Try to optimize stress. Play your hands in ways that are demanding and novel enough to motivate and stimulate you to play well, enjoy the game, and slow down aging. But don’t go too far. It won’t be easy to find the right balance, but it’s worth the effort.

Do you often wonder, “Why are my results so disappointing?” Ask Dr. Al, [email protected]. He’s David Sklansky’s co-author for DUCY? and the sole author of five poker psychology books.