Poker players have big egos. They all think that they play better than everyone else, and they all think that their way is the best way. I am as guilty of this as anyone. In fact I don’t just think I play better than everyone else, I also think that everyone else is terrible. I didn’t always think this way.
I used to think that just about everyone played and understood what it meant to be a “poker pro” better than I did. Most of the people with whom I discussed poker (mostly via the 2+2 forums) advocated doing things that I thought were completely terrible, yet they spoke with the utmost confidence. I wasn’t 100% sure that the things I was doing were correct, so I would listen to just about anyone. I solicited the opinions of many different people about a variety of poker-related topics, and the vast majority of time I would disagree with what they had to say. I took this to mean that I didn’t “get it” on some level. After all, these other players do something completely different than I do. What’s more likely, all of them being wrong and me being right, or all of them being right and the one lone guy being wrong?
I have since realized that the overwhelming majority of poker pros are the ones who don’t “get it”, and have come to find great humor in it. (I suppose that it is a bit sick and twisted to take pleasure in watching the inevitable demise of people who have no idea it is coming, but there are few things I (and I suspect many others) enjoy more than watching an egomaniac fall flat on his or her face. It’s like reality TV, only real.)
Today I was talking to a friend who was playing in the $200/$400 game. As I was leaving, another player in the game invited me to stay by saying, “We’ve got a seat open here.” I gave the same sarcastic response I always give when asked to play in an extremely profitable game that is unfortunately too big for my bankroll, “No thanks. I could never beat this game.” (What most,(like this guy) don’t understand is that this game was the best game in the building. These players are simply awful. My buddy called down with Q-high on a J-high board against the preflop 4-bettor and won. The 4-bettor had Q4. My buddy had QT. $2/$4 players don’t play this bad.) After I walked away he said, “That is why I asked him to play.” The player in question has lost over $1,000,000 in the last 3 years. I did not make that number up. He has actually blown over $1,000,000. I have not lost that much. Nor have I ever been in debt. Or broke. Or even close to broke.
Before I started playing $100/$200 at Commerce I asked a lot of “knowledgable” people, including a person who currently runs a poker coaching website and charges up to $500/hour for his poker wisdom, their thoughts on how I’d fare in that game. He told me (free of charge) that I wouldn’t be a winner. His opinion turned out to be worth what I paid for it. I am actually a huge winner in that game, and even uprooted my life and moved across the country to play it. Did I mention that you can pay $500/hour for this poker wisdom? What a bargain.
Another player who for years was worshiped by the 2+2 poker community told me that my approach to the game was too simple minded, and thus as a result my success would be greatly limited. He is no longer playing poker, because “God told me He had something better for me”. Again, I am not making this up. I cannot speak for God, but I suspect that He doled out this divine wisdom after taking a look at this guy’s checking account.
The list of examples of ego run amuck is endless.
A friend of mine who has been a high stakes cash game pro for over 15 years, upon hearing that one well known tournament pro had a nickname, said to me, “His nickname should be ‘busted’, because he is always asking us to borrow money.”
Most of the people you see on TV are stone broke and playing on borrowed money. Throw a rock at a group of people who call themselves “poker professionals” and you’re sure to hit someone who is broke or close to it. Yet all these guys think that they are the best and have it all figured out. Just like I do.
Haha Bob I’m waiting for you to have a Me, Myself, and Irene moment like when Charlie turns into “Hank” and you go on a rampage at Commerce, detailing why everyone’s lives are a giant clutter of stupidity.
“I’m waiting for you to have a Me, Myself, and Irene moment like when Charlie turns into “Hank” and you go on a rampage at Commerce, detailing why everyone’s lives are a giant clutter of stupidity.”
That will never happen, as it would be bad business. Do casino owners tell their patrons that playing slots, roulette, blackjack, pai gao, etc. are equivalent to setting money on fire?
Always worried about the bottom line Bob! Although I think you could have a teachers conference with every gambler, and the likely outcome would either be unchanged or similar to this line: “I’ll show Bob who knows it all(3 bets 94)”. Followed shortly after with, “See you’re not so smart, 9’s full!”
I don’t think all poker players think they play better than everyone else. That’s why they sometimes say, “that’s not a very good game” or pass up a game at stakes they can afford because the lineup is less than ideal. I myself recently admitted to someone I play with that I feel he plays better than I do–who was it? Oh, yeah, it was you!
I do think that a lot of poker players have big egos. A lot of them are misfits outside of the cardroom and all they have to think well of themselves are their poker winnings. You and I play with a player who, by his own admission, is a weak player. He can afford to both lose the money and not have an ego about it because he chairs a NYSE oil company. A lot of egotistical poker players don’t have much of a life once they leave the cardroom.
As for the poker player who found God, he is back playing now. He might have gone through some kind of personal crisis, he might have had family issues, who knows. Perhaps part of his disagreement about your poker playing had to do with the fact that both of you had a kind of in-your-face attitude on 2+2. Perhaps not.
The one thing most of the really successful people I know have in common is self-confidence. They’re not doubters and they have guts. Maybe for every one of them there are a hundred that had the same ego and failed, I dunno.
Anyway, I always enjoy your blog.