Poker mistakes that keep you from winning: Entitlement

The word entitlement embodies the age old question; do people get what they deserve? When we do the right thing we expect to be rewarded: When we do something bad, or foolish, we expect to be punished accordingly. In a fair and just world this is how things should work. However, anyone over the age of 15 can tell you this isn’t the way things work.

If you were to return a lost wallet full of cash you would expect to be rewarded by a grateful person. However, wallets are often returned -contents intact-with the Samaritan receiving nothing more than a curt thank you.

When you were in school you expected to do well on tests you studied for; and conversely, do poorly when you just “winged it”. However, we’ve all aced tests on subjects we knew nothing about, and bombed miserably after putting in hours of study time.

We all feel that hard-work is rewarded with raises and/or promotions. But, we also know that deserving people are passed over for promotions, and the most diligent employee can be laid off, or forced to take a pay cut.

The point is, even though you feel you deserve something; it’s quite possible you may receive something else entirely.

The best example of poker entitlement is Phil Hellmuth. Phil once made the infamous quote: “If it wasn’t for luck, I guess I’d win them all.” Phil believes that playing good solid poker entitles him to win. Now, he’s smart and experienced enough to know that luck is a major factor in a poker game, but there is something in Phil’s DNA that constantly tells him that the best hand should beat inferior hands all the time.

This thinking often blinds Phil to other variables in the game; a perfect example of this is Phil’s tirade directed at Adam “Roothlus” Levy in the 2008 WSOP Main Event. It was fairly early in the tournament, and both players had deep stacks: Phil raised with 99, and Levy called with QTs. As the hand played out, Phil spiked a set on the turn, but the 9 gave Levy the nut straight; after losing a fairly large pot, Phil tore into Levy, and belittled his play. The truth is, Levy played the hand perfectly: Phil was so irate about starting with the best hand and still losing after hitting a set, that he allowed his sense of entitlement to blind him to what was going on in the game.

As I said, both players had deep stacks, Levy had position, and Phil’s table image was quite loose. Phil even remarked after his river bet “Could I be good enough to play QT like this?” Meaning his range could include QT here, yet he calls Levy an idiot for playing QT.

If you want to be a great poker player you need to eliminate any sense of entitlement you might have. In poker, as in life, all you can do is get your money in when you have the best of it, and let the chips fall where they may. From time to time good plays are punished, and poor plays are rewarded, but in the end things will even out.

You are only entitled to one thing at a poker table: You’ll be dealt cards. After that everything that happens depends on your decisions and lady luck. But remember, in the long-run your decisions will determine how much you win: Lady luck just determines when you win.