Be Not Afraid What if you were never afraid of being check-raised? Can you even imagine how awesome that would be? What if you had no fear of being felted, or looking stupid, or playing too long? When we’re afraid, it’s always something specific we’re afraid of. By naming and knowing our knots of fear,
Impatience is a trifecta of troubles. It’s a form of anguish. It makes us behave immaturely. And at poker, impatience costs us money when we make inferior plays that we would not otherwise make, but for the impatience. With those three ugly strikes against it, why are we not dedicating our lives to its good
Equanimity is a state of steadiness that’s impervious to external conditions. Equanimity is calmness and composure, even in the face of difficulty. Equanimity is the acceptance of whatever is, on an ongoing basis. That sounds to me like a dandy way to play poker. My exposure to this word comes from Buddhist teachings. In Buddhism,
When the voice speaks, heed it. The opinionless voice. The quiet voice. The voice of inner wisdom. The voice that knows when it’s time to quit, or change seats, or add on, etc. The voice is your only advocate. But it’s easily drowned out by the loudmouths and bullies in your head who don’t really
In 1972, the rock world was dizzy with euphoria after Led Zep IV came out, and I was dizzy from smoking pot for the first time, in the back seat of a parked car. The seat was black vinyl. I remember that much. I don’t recall which liquified first, me or the vinyl. I do
Downloadable audio: Print: Streamable audio: Let’s talk about secretly supercharging yourself right in the middle of your poker sessions so that you’ll feel better, and therefore play better, and therefore feel even better. It’s simple to
What if there was one guy in your game who had position on you every time the two of you played a pot? You dread playing against him because hand after hand, when the flop hits the table, you have to go first. Turn and river, same drill. He gets to see what you do
My image at the poker table, so I’m told, is that of an old tight-ass. Maybe because of hands like this: Playing no-limit holdem, I had AK in the big blind. Everyone folded to the button who opened to 4x. The small blind folded. I called in the big blind, which is my standard play
Have you ever played a hand so atrociously poorly that you just can’t let it go? During the session you keep thinking about it. The next day you keep thinking about it. It’s an itch. In your mind. That just keeps coming back. It’s like those trick birthday candles. You blow out the flames, but then
