Millions of poker players around the country, indeed, around the world, want to make more money by playing poker. However, the majority of these players are not really giving themselves a fair chance to do so. Do you think a pro golfer players weaker when he is in a back lull, or a baseball pitcher in the middle of his major league season? Of course not, so why should poker be any different?
If you’re a poker player and you’re not winning, you may think that you either need to get more lucky, or that your opponents are playing a lot better than you. Both of these answers are wrong.
First of all, the idea that luck is going to make you a winner is just wrong. While it is true that a large amount of luck can help you to win a hand or a tournament, that large amount is not consistent enough, nor is it sufficient enough to win the big pots you expect in sequential play.
Secondly, slotsting is a lot less random than poker. While a machine is programmed to pay out 35:1 on a straight up bet, the randomness of a slot machine is that the jackpot often seems to be just around the corner.
It is certainly possible to win in slots, however if you do, it likely won’t be because of any greater skill than you already have. Perhaps the downside to this technique is that while you might hit a nice jackpot, you’re not likely to repeat a win. That is, you won’t win again, unless you’re lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
The ability to teach, and learn new skills and to adapt one’s skills is, in my mind, what makes the difference between a shark and an actual human being. You learn that when you hand someone a fish, you don’t necessarily want them to play the next hand – you want them to eat you. You may not want to admit this, but even a fully grown adult can get out of control when playing a game of poker. An adult can anger and hurt a person, by losing their patience and becoming erratically emotional. This is something that adults learn to do very well, and a sign of a developing skill.
However, there are some things that adults can do without learning to control themselves. You know that little ball that kids play with their fingers? The adults play the same exact game, but with their mouths. The child draws a picture of what the adults are doing and comments on it. The adults turn away from the child and comment on the situation. The child draws a different picture, asks the adults what they are doing and guessing. The adults never listen to the child. Instead, they get up and leave the room or turn down the television. The child knows that the adults are grounded by the floor rules, that it’s time to get back to the game. The ending of this story is that the adults finally admitted that the children were right, and that the strikes were the results of their mistakes, not the cause of the mistakes.
You can also use this technique in a game of dewalive. Suppose that you are seated at a table and after a hand is played, the cards are flop. Before they are turned, you can archetypically look at the players’ cards and see if any of them look particularly ugly. You can also simulate a game by putting a bet in with your cards; you may not particularly have a particularly happy face but you can pick a time to get aggressive without feeling guilty or prosecution.
In this way of looking at the cards, you are not augmenting your ability to judge the hands particularly in any specific hand but you are picking a time when you will deliberately misfire. Maybe you can shoot for a flush once in a while? Or can you get all your chips in with a good hand? You are augmenting your poker lookalike skills and your miscellaneous strategy, in order to help you win.