First of all, this is NOT a New Years Resolutions list. Those things are lame and outdated, no-one has the will-power to follow them and even if they did, the resolve for the life changes noted in any list has the approximate shelf-life of a molecular quark: Which is to say…not long at all.
What I DO want to enumerate herein are some of the subjects covered in past articles, some of the awareness’s I wish to enhance while I play poker and a few goals for the coming 365 planetary rotations. I also want to play with verbal descriptions for what I intend to do and thus pontificate effusively on the matters of game theory, personal game theory management and the art of scooping in all the chips on the table.
Zuerst (German for “First of all”), I want to enhance the ability to exercise patience in the choice of playable hands. In the past, after doing this for what geologically-speaking is an eye-blink but chronologically is measured in minutes, I would lose focus and begin to think even hands like Q-10s looked good from early position. I want to develop a good feel for starting hands using the mantra “Patience, Position & Power.”
Waiting – the patience part – for good and I do mean good, starting hand is one of the keys to winning poker. Written about by any number of poker authors, the reverse of that coin is that often, players get bored and then too many marginal hands begin to look playable when they in fact are not. We came to play, and throwing away hand after hand for round after round just doesn’t fit our desire to mix it up. Our competitive natures just do not go along with essentially sitting on the sidelines waiting for the coach (Hey, nothin’ personal, coach) to call our number to get into the game. We came to play…I wanna play…and this patience part just doesn’t jive with that part within that wants to kill. I’ll joke about waiting by saying to myself, “Self, I want patience, and I want it NOW.”
The second part of the mantra is “Position.” Hand-in-hand with patience goes an appreciation of the strengths inherent in position. Hands playable in late position cannot stand to even call the blinds in early position, and I want to be much more cognizant of that. A good position on the opposition is just as effective – or even more so – as having strong cards with which to play. Good position forces the opponent(s) to act first without the necessary intel about your hand and/or what you intend to do. Good position is like where the Union forces found themselves on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Robert E. Lee had attacked the Union left and then the right; his last option was to force the center. He marshaled his men under General George Pickett a mile in front of the Union lines and gave the order to advance. The Union forces saw what was happening, knew what was going to occur and the rest, as they say, is history. Pickett’s Charge was turned back – after a valiant effort by the southerners – because the Union had position. They saw what was being planned and the actions taken and were able to create defenses that thwarted the opposition. Poker can be just like that; without the Minnie Balls, smoke and shell-fire but just as effective in decimating an opponent’s wallet.
The third part of this equation is “Power.” This refers to the choice of a powerful hand, e.g. a primo starting hand, something that if and when it fits with the flop will be just about unbeatable. One does not have to wait for pocket Aces before entering a pot, because even Pocket Rockets – unimproved – will win but 30 percent of the time. But in conjunction with position, and the ability to wait (patience) until a good, powerful, playable hand shows up in the correct position to play it, the combination of “Patience, Position & Power” can become a force against which few can stand up against for very long. It is something that every thinking, non-recreational poker player can add to the arsenal and then, when times demand it, can be pulled out as the proverbial secret weapon and thereby level the opposition. I sure like the sound of that.
Miscellaneous thoughts:
I want to play more tournaments; good experience can be had from even the small and local $60 mid-day buy-ins. It’s mileage, it’s time in the arena, it’s the opportunity to practice the skills required for the bigger tourneys downstream.
And speaking of bigger tournaments…I’m going to go to the WSOP in 2011. Play in a few of the smaller buy-in tourneys. If I can cash in one – or some of those – I’ll share with you my experiences when I play in “The Big One.” I plan to bring home at least one bracelet. There is only one other player from Colorado of whom I am aware who owns a bracelet from the WSOP, and he got that in 7-card Stud years ago. Time for a Mile High Stater to bring another one home.
