Poker Perambulation

There is a lot poker teaches us about life. There are many games of skill. Some include randomness which is also known as luck. Life has that. Poker can but doesn’t always reward our clear thinking.

Most of us lead a varied existance that avoids massive success and huge failures. We can meet or exceed transitional goals or have a bit of setback and game our recovery. Life is played with partners. Poker is more visceral. In some respects, contract bridge might emulate our day to day existence more than poker does. But, poker comes closer to life experience than a non-random game like Chess.

In the games, our success vary. We tend to a range with upper and lower limits. We may have flaws that limit us in those ranges or not have the right concept. In poker, we can improve ourselves on the backs of other – we by a book and try to emulate success as that book defines things. There are any number of good ones out there that have helped. I don’t know about you but I haven’t found a simple book or expert – even during PBS pledge programming – that provides such results.

There is one that I’d like to direct you to for both improving your poker and life. It might not seem there’s poker advice there but trust me that there is. Warren Buffet is a investor. He doesn’t have a huge secret. In fact his knowledge was always based on old stuff. It was stuff that was about as basic as it gets. What he did was remain faithful to the view whether that moment provided success or less. In a word, integrity.

His most recent annual letter is on the internet. In a time fought with volatility and anxiety he plods merrily along. A bad turn here or there is a short term flaw that doesn’t seriously affect the plans. You may want to try to call him a grinder. But, if you look at his success that is unfair. He knows himself; he knows those he can trust; he’s willing to commit to odds that he finds favorable while avoiding playing those weak hands.

We can learn a lot about poker without a book from Doyle, Harrington, or others.

ADDENDUM:

The urinary tract thing continues to improve. Unfortunately, it is an incremental improvement. Every day things seem a bit better. I’m grateful but not overly so. What I note is that things that I’ve been able to depend on throughout life are pointing out that is wrong headed. It has been a humbling experience that has left me grateful for the normal that is so much a part of things. Normal can turn into an upward goal in short order.

——————-

I feel well enough to play a bit. Yesterday, I played some for the first time after. I chose .25-.50 to get my feet again wet and that was a good choice. It was nasty from the cards I got. Any number of nice starting hands failed to improve. My rolled up 6’s got rivered by the third queen. There are days like that my momma said.

But, I had a brief but profitable session at 1-2 today. I played 21 hands in 17 minutes and had a return of 63 BB/Hr or $35.85. Yeah, it was a hit and run. It came in a rush and I decided to take a profit and avoid fatigue. I should do more of that when the opportunity presents itself. Hanging on for a second near double is hardly guaranteed.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 12:46 pm and is filed under Poker Philosophy. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.