The Concept of learning poker part seven

Much of the so called expert Holdem poker advice actually seems valid on the surface and especially at first glance. But once you start to analyse and examine it then much of it falls short or is nowhere near extensive enough to be worth anything. The big stack myth is one such piece of advice.

If another big stack has signalled their intention to attack you repeatedly then the rules of the game have changed. If two big stacks have some sort of unwritten unspoken agreement to leave each other alone then I can possibly understand it. But if the other big stack opens up and commence hostilities towards you then what are you going to do about it?

Are you going to sit there releasing blind after blind and hand after hand all because you fear a confrontation with another big stack? Are you going to miss opportunity after opportunity because the other big stack opposite you also fears a confrontation with you? All this does not make sense and you must treat each separate situation entirely on its merits and it is a gross mistake to generalise.

Generic poker advice is fine for novices who need a broad track to run on and a few tips and strategies that they can learn and master as quickly as possible in order to limit the damage. But having set rules and conditions and systems is fine to a point but there must come a time when you must leave them behind if you desire to push on into achieving true expertise.

A rubber inflatable ring will prevent a non swimmer from drowning but if that person has hopes of ever becoming a competitive swimmer then there has to come a time when they have to discard that ring.

I see this all too often with the people who come to me for poker coaching or to learn how to play poker and it is also apparent on many poker forums. Many people simply ask the wrong types of questions in poker and if you ask the wrong questions then how in heavens name can you get the right answers? When someone asks “how do you play A-J in early position in a full nine handed ring game?” then just how do you go about answering a question like this?

Do you simply give him what he wants to hear and tell him some generic basic way to play the game or do you tell him that “it all depends on the situation and a whole bunch of factors”. Because I will bet you a pound to a penny that if you give him the latter answer that he will not be happy with that.

But yet the variables in poker are as close to infinite as you can probably get. Just how in heavens name can you replicate the same combination of table limits, players, stack sizes, player moods, game history and all the rest of it that combines together in order to decide on the correct course of action?

Poker is a game where you have to be a flexible situational thinker if you desire to play or understand the game to a high level. I truly believe that in order to be really successful in poker then you have to be totally in love with the game. That means that you must get immense satisfaction with learning and studying the game and also that you must be in no big hurry to start earning money.

This last point is crucial to success. The hype and accounts of players winning six and seven figure sums will be incredibly alluring but you must resist the temptation to become involved until you are absolutely one hundred percent ready. Would a sophisticated army or a country go into a war without being entirely ready if they had a choice? Some have in the past and suffered defeat because of it.

But let those words echo in your ear one last time…..evolution not revolution because I will end this chapter with another of my favourite quotes and yes, I have a few…… “fail to prepare, prepare to fail”…….need I say more?

Carl “The Dean” Sampson
Author – “Winning Cash Game Poker”