Be Grateful for Bad Players and Hope They Never Run Out of Money

Hi. Come on in. I haven't made meatloaf for a long time. It's my grandma's recipe. Dig in.

Even with a wealth of instructional information available about poker that could turn them into winners, why do bad players continue to play badly? This puzzled me for many years until I came upon the answer in a brilliant flash of revelation. (This is a secret, so don't blab it around.) They stay on a losing or break-even track because bad players believe, much more than good players, the poker axiom that states, "The best hand doesn't always hold up." I very much dislike that old axiom, but I must be grateful for its truth. Without it, the game of poker would die tomorrow.

So, let's talk about poker players – good players, bad players, and gamblers. While we often criticize bad players and gamblers, we must also remember to be grateful for them; otherwise, there would be no game.

Gamblers are attracted to the game by its uncertainty. It's that uncertainty that makes people gamble even when they know they have the worst of it. Many players are willing to consistently take a small pair against a bigger pair only because they know the best hand doesn't always hold up. Their big mistake is in not knowing the odds they are bucking with such a play. It can be a short-term winner – but it's a long-term loser. But gamblers don't play for the long run; they play just for today.

When the gamblers do win by outrunning the best hand, they tend to remember it and forget all about the times they lost. That's why bad players keep playing badly, sometimes even when they do know better. They came to play poker, not to win money. They came to gamble. They are willing to go against probability, but not against a sure loss, which would be the case if the best hand always held up.

There would be no game if in every hand of poker someone didn't take the worst hand against the best hand.

If you are a player who is willing to consistently take the worst hand against the best hand, you are making a large mistake, while keeping the game of poker alive. (Thank you.) You are gambling with the worst of it – which is OK. Don't get me wrong, if you want to be that kind of gambler, fine, it's your money.

Please don't tell me, "I play to get the money." You don't. You play to play – to gamble. And please don't tell me any bad-beat stories. They won't be bad-beat stories. They'll just be stories about a losing player who is crying over his losses, when the way he plays is the reason for those losses. I find that most bad-beat stories are told by players who probably shouldn't have been in the hand in the first place.

Be grateful for bad players – and hope they never run out of money.

Change of subject (sort of): I keep hearing players say that it's tougher to win at poker today because there are so many more good players now than there were 15 years ago. I disagree. While it is true there are more good players today, it's also true that there are more bad players today.

It isn't that there are the same number of players and lots of them have become good players. The proportion is about the same: 85 percent to 90 percent bad players and 10 percent to 15 percent good players. There are just many more players, so perhaps the 10 percent to 15 percent seems larger.

So, why is it tougher to win today? Because there are now more tight players, which doesn't necessarily mean the same as good players. With more tight players, there is less action – less money in each pot, and smaller wins from the same size game compared to 15 years ago.

Now I have for you a million dollars worth of poker advice. (Don't pass it around.) If you want to increase your poker wins, study and learn to increase your ability to play against tight players. Got it? Good!

Great meatloaf. Norwegian recipe. Next time I'll do Italian. Take a half-pound and kill the light on your way out.

Editor's note: Roy West, author of the bestseller 7 Card Stud, the Complete Course in Winning (available from Card Player), continues to give his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas to both tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome. Call 1-800-548-6177 Ext. 03.