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The
Quotable Lou Krieger
In
poker, as in life, intuition can be a valuable attribute,
but temper it with thought and logic. And don't follow it
blindly. If you persist in doing so, magicians will fool you,
con men will swindle you, and good poker players will take
your money.
Not
only is poker good for you, it's the American way - where
winners play fair, have the right stuff, and nothing else
matters - except, perhaps, a bit of luck every now and then.
There's
opportunity in poker…If Horace Greeley were alive today, his
advice wouldn't be "Go West, young man, and grow up with the
country." Instead, he'd point to that deck of cards on table
and say, "Shuffle up and deal."
I'm a poker player. Some might call me a gambler, but I draw
a distinction. A gambler plays even when the odds are immutable
and against him. I don't. That's why there is a large coterie
of professional poker players, but not a single, solitary,
professional roulette or craps player.
In
poker, good players win and poor players lose.
Poker
is a microcosm of all we admire and disdain about capitalism
and democracy. It can be rough-hewn or polished, warm or cold,
charitable and caring, or hard and impersonal, fickle and
elusive, but ultimately it is fair, and right, and just.
I
believe in poker the way I believe in the American Dream.
Poker is good for you. It enriches the soul, sharpens the
intellect, heals the spirit, and - when played well, nourishes
the wallet.
Some 250 years ago, Jonathan Swift said, "Satire is a sort
of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's
face but their own." The analogy also holds true for losing
poker players. They see flaws in everyone's play but their
own.
Most
of the money you'll win at poker comes not from the brilliance
of your own play, but from the ineptitude of your opponents.
In
poker, position means power. It is always advantageous to
act after you've had the benefit of seeing what your opponents
do.
I
believe the single most important decision in any form of
poker is game selection; determining which cards to enter
a hand with runs a close second.
Whenever
you're inclined to call a bet, ask yourself this: Instead
of calling, is it better to raise or would folding be the
best decision? Many players look for reasons to call. While
calling can be almost automatic in certain situations, raising
or folding is frequently a better choice.
You
will succumb to all your flaws as a poker player during the
period you are struggling, growing and reaching for a higher
level of skill. Just because you've read all the books by
all the experts, don't deceive yourself into believing that
you're going to play as well as they do.The
best poker books will teach you how to talk the talk. You'll
have to learn to walk the walk on your own!
You
have it in your power to turn a bad beat around simply by
realizing this simple truth: The more bad beats you encounter,
the luckier you are. It's a sign that you are playing
against opponents who continually take the worst of it, and
if you can't beat someone who always takes the worst of it,
you can't beat anyone.
If
you are not a winning player, your bankroll will never be
large enough. To completely eliminate the possibilities of
ever going broke, losing players need a big enough bankroll
to outlast their life expectancy.
A professional poker player should realize that every dollar
he wins will not be added to his bankroll. After all, he has
to pay rent and buy groceries just like anyone else. Reducing
one's bankroll converts capital into income - and the distinction
is an important one. Change too much capital into income and
you've eaten your seed corn.
Limit
poker is like a job. As long as you're a winning player, the
more hours you put in, the more money you'll earn.
Forget
about money management. Forget
about quitting when you're ahead or quitting once you've lost
some predetermined amount of money. If the game is good and
you're ahead, why not keep playing? Chances are you'll win
even more money. If you're losing, but haven't let your losses
get the better of your emotions and you're still making good
decisions at the table, there is absolutely no reason to quit.
On the other hand, if the game is bad you should quit or look
for a softer game regardless of whether you're winning or
losing.
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