A Strange Way to Declare a Champion

To really succeed in poker you have to being able to think differently than everyone else: Not to outsmart, but to understand the inner workings of the game itself! I am certain poker was devised by someone who thought very differently from his or her peers, and this thinking was used to separate people from their money.

Here are two examples of how poker tosses aside our typical logic like a crumpled up piece of paper:

Situation 1:

Imagine the following scenario: The New York Yankees are once again playing the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. But, instead of the usual Best-Of-7 style series, the powers that be have decided to change the playoff format so that after seven games the team with the higher run differential will be declared the American League Champions! Imagine the Yankees winning six of the seven games by a single run each, but the Red Sox’s lone win was by 10 runs: Thus the Red Sox win the ALCS, having a 10 to 6 advantage in run differential.

Sound strange? Well this is exactly how poker keeps track of winners and losers. It doesn’t matter how many hands you win or what percentage of sessions you come out on top, the only thing that matters is how much your wins equal compared to how much your losses are.

In order to play perfect poker you must understand this aspect of the game, poker is unlike any competitive activity you have ever taken part in. As Yoda tells Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, “You must unlearn what you have learned.”

Of course, trying to change everything you know about competition is incredibly difficult -which could explain why young poker players take to the game so easily, since they have less exposure to the mainstream point of view on what makes someone a winner.

Situation 2:

Now imagine this scenario: The New England Patriots take over at their own 5-yard line clinging to 3-point lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers. On first down the Patriots line up in punt formation and inexplicably kick the ball back to the Steelers! With long-shot odds on moving the ball and scoring, the Patriots opt to just concede this set of downs to the Steelers.

In football, the coach would immediately be fired and the team would be making public apologies to the fans: However, in poker, quitters are typically winners! There is no “college try” in poker if you are an underdog typically your best option is to just opt out of playing altogether. In sports we cheer for players who are the underdog, and applaud their efforts win or lose. But in poker, the player who finishes second is the biggest loser: The longer you try to gut out a win, the more money you are going to lose!

Here is another way in which poker bucks our traditional beliefs; poker players need to understand that there is a time to compete, and there is a time to concede. Poker punishes players who cannot let go of a hand, and decimates players who enter the pot as underdogs.

So, if you are using typical logic to try to beat the game of poker you are likely going to fail: In order to beat the game, you have to fall into the poker mentality.