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| I was playing in a six-handed 10-20 holdem game online tonight while I wound down for bed. Seat one was a revolving door-- about half a dozen players came through it during the 150 or so hands that I played. In seat two we find perhaps the second worst poker player in existence. He was very passive, his raises were reliable, and he was more than a little bit optimistic about his cards. In fact, he called more than a telemarketer. Seats three and four were relatively solid players. I was in seat five. Seat six was the only guy on the planet who could play worse than seat two. He would reraise preflop with hands like 84-offsuit, three bet with J8, call with anything and nothing (including drawing dead), always raised and often capped with his draws on the flop, and was just generally hemorrhaging money. Six kept sucking out on me for a while, but eventually I got back to even and then ahead a few hundred bucks. Three was making money, though Two drew out on him a few times. Every time he did, Three would start swearing at him. "Stupid fucker. Your going to lose all your money. Fucking moron." Two never said anything the whole time. Four was fairly quiet, though he would occasionally make a comment like, "very nice hand". Six, however, was cheerful even after he was stuck over $800. When he started getting close to the felt, he quipped, "I'm going for broke." I suggested that I would support him in that endeavor, and that it wasn't personal-- it was merely my job as his opponent. I would expect the same from him. He laughed and agreed. I told him, "you're an unusual player, and I mean that in a good way. Most players get cranky and nasty when the cards don't fall their way, but you're still joking and laughing. I respect that." "Losing all your money isn't the worst thing that can happen to you. I lost three friends today. They were killed in a fire." His hometown was listed as Staten Island. I made a quick trip to Google news and discovered that three NY firefighters were killed in a blaze today. "Are you a firefighter?" "Yes." I was stunned, and made the best sympathetic noises that I could muster, followed by, "I respect that job-- my hat's off to you." "Are you wearing a hat?" "No, but I could go grab one just so I could take it off-- I collect them." We spent a couple minutes discussing which hat would be best for me to take off to him, and finally decided on the leather top hat. The contrast between this guy and Three was huge. Three was being a flaming asshole because he lost a single pot, even though he was well ahead of the game overall. Six was being extraordinarily pleasant and social and never said a bad word to anyone even while he was nearly four figures in the red, not to mention three friends. I'm sure Three finished the session with more money than Six, but if I had to pick winners and losers, I'd score it the other way. (crossposted to the poker community) | ||||||
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Patti - Winners and Losers
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January 24th, 2005
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| They call poker a "social game," but so few are social. One of the reasons I prefer live games to online is the restraint eople need to use in person, in licensed casinos, around other people. It won't make a lamb out of a louse, but puts the brakes on. Online, it's terrible. But where there's emotion in poker, there's opportunity. I've played a lot of games with people like your Seat Three, and it's easy to take money from them. They seem happier to tilt themselves than actually win pots. I'm very like your Seat Six. I prefer to have fun playing the game, since I don't do it for a living, and as a result I never a) take losses personally, b) play with money I can't afford to laugh off. My favorite is when people comment on the quality of play. "That was a terrible play!" they yell at me when I call a three-bet with KQ. "You're the worst poker player in the world! I'll take all your money if you keep playing like that!" I don't claim to be a master of the game, but what these people are forgetting is that poker is a game against people. The odds, the draw, position--these are the framework of the game. But if I get a read on someone, or if the pot odds demand it, or if I know my opponent is on a move, I'm going to "make stupid calls" and play where "any sane player would throw 'em away." For me, this is the glory of poker. Any computer can calculate exactly when the odds are right, when it's best to call or fold or raise. A computer can even be taught how to recognize the proper conditions for a bluff. But in poker, that's just the science. The art is where it gets fun, for me--which is why I play No Limit, where the control you have over your bet can be used like a language. So when I meet a Seat Three like yours, Whipartist, I'm happy. I don't know if I'll win, I don't know if I'll lose, but I know how s/he'll play and that's a delicious edge. When I meet someone like your Seat Six, I'm doubly happy, because I can enjoy the social aspects of the game. When I meet someone like Seat Five--YOU--I'm triply happy. Because now I'm playing someone who knows what they're doing, and then things get REALLY interesting. --Axiom | ||||||||
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| Maybe it's that I'm not trying to make a living at playing, but I've never quite understood people like your Seat Three. (I'm far more like Seat Six, I think.) I've made more than one player furious with me because I don't fold when they think I should have and I end up winning. Sometimes it's a mistake because I'm new. Sometimes it's a feeling I get that keeps me in. Sometimes it's because I know it will make the Seat Threes of the world start to get worked up, and when they do, they start playing stupid. I've run into several men that are furious when I beat them. Not because I had a bad hand...but simply because I'm a woman. It's a game. Yes, you can make a living off of it. But, in the end, it's called gambling for a reason. It's *not* just all odds and percentages. I'll just sit and smile when people start swearing at me because I know in the long run it will work in my favor. I've had other players wonder how I can be so calm when I lose or how I can take what some of the others are saying. I've also found that a lot of the guys are great and are more than happy to give tips to the "young lady" just starting out. In the tournament this weekend, the gentleman sitting next to me (when we weren't in the same hand) kept showing his cards to me and asking what I had....so he knew what to root for when I was in the hand. I'm finding that poker players are a very interesting bunch of people. :) | ||||||
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| steer a few pots his way and show him to the headsup table. | ||||||||
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Patti - Winners and Losers
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