Poker News

Tom ‘Time’ Leonard

Continuing on our quest to examine all elements of our game in order to find possible weaknesses to improve upon, let’s discuss egos today. Egos are a curious part of our makeup. They may be inflated, bruised, overactive or any number of other things but we all have them. Do you keep yours in check when playing poker? You really should check it at the door or leave it in the car! Have you ever witnessed someone win a big pot with ugly hole cards and then hear that individual explain to the table that he was in the big blind. Why is this explanation necessary? It’s not, but many people don’t like to feel foolish or be thought of by others as not being astute enough to have mucked a hand that ugly. The irony is why these players are so concerned about what their opponents think of them when, in fact, they would be better off if their opponents thought they didn’t have a clue. This fairly prevalent behavior is proof positive of how strong and domineering the ego can be in some people.

Another example of an ego on the loose is demonstrated by the chowder heads that insist upon giving strategy lessons at the table. This is normally witnessed after the “Strategy Professor” has incurred what he believes to be a bad beat. Fueled by anger and frustration he launches into a dissertation on how the winner of the pot totally misplayed his hand. We’ve all seen it and I still have trouble understanding how anyone would indulge himself in this manner Oh, I forgot……It’s that run amok ego again! Don’t you be guilty of this poor etiquette and, more importantly, it is giving away information that will work against your success for two reasons. First, it may well chase away an inferior player due to possible embarrassment and secondly, it will tend to make your other opponents strive to play a more disciplined, insightful game. How’s that for a negative double whammy!!

Here is a ploy you might consider to ferret out which of your opponents knows the odds and which of them can’t control his ego driven desire to be looked upon with favor by strangers. Try stating an odds statistic incorrectly. As an example, knowing that the odds of flopping a set when dealt a pocket pair are 7.5 to 1, make a statement such as, “Gosh, I never seem to be able to flop a set and the odds are only 3 to 1″. Then observe what kind of reaction you garner by verbalizing this error. Many knowledgeable players have egos that just won’t allow a statement such as that hang in the air. They will be very quick to correct your mistaken 3 to 1 odds to demonstrate to you and others how “knowledgeable” they are. The smarter ones don’t respond, they just take their mental notes and log in the free information from all parties Of course, you can only try this ploy if your own ego permits you to verbalize a mistake.

Let’s set three goals regarding our egos and strategy for this session. One, never discuss strategy at the table…….ever! Two, listen closely to those who do. You’ll gain valuable insights into their level of knowledge of the game and also their apparent emotional needs. And three, which is an offshoot of both one and two, don’t give information away……….. rather glean it from others. This is analogous to our strategy on the internet where we watch the chat box to glean information but don’t offer any free insights ourselves.

See you next ‘TIME’.

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