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“He’ll
never last in this town,” one noted poker expert stated.
He was talking about a fellow named Lance, who moved to
Las Vegas to play in the poker games at Bellagio for a
living. And the poker expert is probably right. Going
broke is what is supposed to happen when you move to Las
Vegas to play poker for a living. Almost no one makes it
over the long haul. It’s a sad sight to see, the death
throes of wannabe pros. Often, as the struggle gets
intense, they lose not just their money, but their
values, their self-respect, and their spirit. Some seem
to lose their minds. I’ve been around this town so long
and seen it happen so often that I have become hardened
to it, almost indifferent to it. The loss of that
compassion is not the best quality within myself.
So,
will Lance suddenly disappear into the night, never to
be seen again? Most seem to think so. He plays too many
hands and plays them out of position, and makes lots of
“conventional wisdom” strategy errors. His emotional
stability at the poker table is questionable at best.
There is some very strange protoplasm upstairs with
Lance. However, Lance is much smarter than he looks, and
he has many strengths. Those strengths are not visible
to those who examine the man only superficially.
One
of the most important variables in Lance’s life is that
he has a very supportive wife who seems to deeply care
and supports him personally and emotionally to a very
high degree. Having a strong, solid supporting
relationship in your life can help you through the bad
times in poker in a big way, and can prevent you from
going into a “tilt” cycle, from which many never
recuperate.
Also, Lance is highly competitive. He comes to play
every day! Moreover, he reads players well, and has a
high level of understanding of human psychology. The
strongest part of Lance’s game is that he creates a
psychological edge over his opponents with his own
behavior. He acts crazy at the table (sometimes I wonder
if it is an act), creating confusion and doubt within
his opponents’ minds that causes them to make errors
against him that they would not make against other
players.
I
have written before that it is not necessarily how well
you play, but how well you play in relation to your
opponents that is important. If you can somehow make
your opponents play poorly, you have gained much in the
way of making up for weaknesses within your own game.
Even many experienced professional players miss that
concept. Lance creates this psychological edge in a way
that some players deem inappropriate. When he comes
across as being crazy, he constantly goads, challenges
egos, and shows bluffs and bad plays. He acts goofy at
the table. He often constantly “trash talks” for hours
on end. While he is tough to listen to when you have a
headache, he can really get a game going at times.
Is
“trash talking” part of poker? Should it be acceptable
to “needle” the opposition, to purposely goad opponents
so that they are less effective against you? Many
top-level sports figures such as Muhammad Ali, John
McEnroe, Bobby Fisher, and Michael Jordan incorporated
psychological warfare into their game-winning
strategies. Is poker any different? At some levels I
think it is, and at other levels I think it is not.
At
the high levels of poker, they are all big boys who are
playing for serious money. While I think we owe other
humans a given level of respect automatically, there are
some arenas that a person enters in which one should
expect the atmosphere to be cutthroat. High-limit poker,
in my opinion, is one of those arenas. That said, money
is a relative thing. One man’s fortune is another man’s
pocket change. The varying level of respect given to
specific sums of money is ever present around the
poker-playing field. Many players play for social or
recreational reasons and just want to have a good time.
If the demeanor of those in the game is unpleasant, they
don’t want to play. Those players provide a substantial
portion of the cash flow into the poker world. Poker
pros have a level of obligation to do what is good for
the game and the poker world as a whole. Plus, it is in
their own self-interest to do so!
So,
where does one draw the line between what behavior is
acceptable and what behavior is inappropriate? Lance is
incredibly tough on other local pros, and has been tough
on me at times. A player with my level of experience is
supposed to be able to handle those types of situations.
The truth be told, I enjoy the challenge, and I flip a
lot of talk back at Lance. We enjoy the banter, but not
all see it that way. Sometimes recreational players are
offended by Lance’s actions and leave the game.
I
think that if psychological tactics used to confuse
one’s opponents are executed in a playful manner, they
are much less damaging to the game than if they become
personal issues. In my opinion, creating personal issues
with recreational players in social games is not an
appropriate strategy in poker, and it hurts a player
financially in the long run. It is also bad etiquette.
Creating a positive atmosphere within a poker
environment is the best strategy any professional player
can adopt. Professional players and management need to
work together and exercise leadership in this arena in
order to maintain a level of respectability within the
poker environment. It will be good for all.
So,
where will Lance be in a couple of years? At times I
have visions of him drooling in an insane asylum. The
funny farm sometimes does not appear to be too far away
for Lance. At other times I think he has great
potential. I think the answer lies within Lance — how he
grows and learns, and how he handles the emotional
stresses that playing poker for a living places on a
person. Actually, I kinda like the guy, although
sometimes I wonder about my judgment. One thing’s for
sure — the game he is in is never a bad one.
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