I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now: Final Thoughts

I have often been asked during the past decade, what makes somebody the best? Unfortunately I cannot teach that, but the best poker players are the greatest at intangibles of the game. We’ve discussed in much depth the fundamentals of bankroll management, life balance, and game selection. We’ve talked about the specific games and their technical aspects. Fundamental concepts are enough to make most players winners at smaller stakes, but, at higher stakes, the game of people becomes paramount.

Guys like Phil Hellmuth, commonly perceived as having terrible fundamentals, have the best results in the world due to their superb ability to perceive not only that their hand is a call in a given spot, but when that same hand should actually be a fold due to translucent information from their opponents. If you’re 60 percent versus your opponent’s range, then you call, unless there’s enough evidence to convince you that this time, right now, my opponent has the other side of the range that actually beats me, which means I should fold.

This stuff is un-teachable. I would be lying if I said I could pull it off. Yeah, there have been times when I just knew that things were going this way or that, but those times are rare. I’m pretty good at reading people, and for me it’s pretty rare that I read somebody well enough that I just know. Usually I can only skew my ranges by a few percent based on the read that I’m getting off my opponent. No matter what, at it’s core, poker is a game of people. The cards do things based on math, but people drive those chips and cards, and people do things for reasons that are inexplicable.
In the past six months I’ve covered many topics discussing the subtler side of poker. Fundamentals are pretty well covered and written about, but the art of poker is still an unexplored frontier.

Poker is a game of people. People have trust issues. People also fear change and uncertainty. People’s limbic brains are hard-wired with instincts that root deep in the days of our ancestors, with instinctual responses revolving around mechanisms of freezing, fighting, or fleeing. If an opponent moves closer to the table and the pot in a hand, it probably means they are not afraid of it. The best poker players understand the math, but most importantly they understand the people.

Tournament poker introduces a whole new element to the equation, and that is the opportunity for a reclusive poker player to be thrust into the limelight, turned into a public ambassador of the game. With this spot comes passive income in the form of endorsements and doing things like writing articles for Card Player magazine. With it also comes a responsibility to the game of poker and the people within the community.

It is important to do everything with a smile. First, being a happy person will make others around you happy, and then they will make you happier in return. A happy game is a good game. If you’re smiling, you can get away with anything. People will gravitate toward happy people. Early in my career, one of the biggest fish in town said to me that they always like playing in my game, because I make it fun. It was a great compliment and great lesson.

As a professional poker player, you owe it to yourself to play well, and you owe it to your customers to make their game fun. As an amateur, you owe it to yourself to have fun playing poker. If either of y’all aren’t, then you’re doing it wrong. If you’re an amateur and not having fun, then why are you playing? If you are a professional and your customers aren’t having fun, then you will not have customers very long.

Success in tournament poker leads to some spotlight. Wear the limelight well. Do everything with a smile. Always be gracious. Don’t ever forget the fact that live tournament poker is incredibly high in variance. It’s very easy to win everything for a year and then lose everything for the next two, as I’m exhibiting right now. Be humble and gracious in victory. Be congratulatory in defeat. Graciously accept all your success, confident in the knowledge that you are good enough to win this tournament but also that you ran super hot to win too. While in the spotlight, do everything you can to attract others to this game of poker, because it’s good for business and good for the game.

Don’t punt, in tournaments or cash games. Always play your best, and always strive to become better. Your opponents are always getting better. I used to be lazy, figuring that the game would always be good. For a period it was. Now I wish that I had worked harder when the game was great, because I surely doubt there will ever be an era in poker like the 2003-to-2006 period. If I had been more focused on the game and less focused on rock climbing, then I would most likely have been richer now. You can’t just play poker though, because without balance you are nothing. There has to be a point to what you’re doing otherwise you won’t do it well or with joy.

I’ve enjoyed doing this series, I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now. I appreciate all the feedback I’ve received over the past year, reminiscing on a decade as a professional. If you take one thing only away from this series, don’t ever forget that poker is so much more than a game of cards. Losing sight of the people and lives involved in the game is the worst thing any player of the game can do. Losing a healthy self awareness is a path to destruction. Take life and the game seriously. Don’t take yourself seriously. Treat others with excellence, and you shall be excellent.

Next issue I will launch my next series titled “Irrefutable Southern Logic.” Please feel free to contact me via Twitter @devopoker for feedback. Anything constructive is welcome. ♠

Bryan Devonshire has been a professional poker player for nearly a decade. With over $2m in tournament earnings, he also plays high stakes mixed games against the best players in the world. Follow him on Twitter @devopoker.