REAL POKER: Professionalism At The Table

I was planning on waiting until I suffered a brutal downswing in my regular $4/8 kill limit holdem game before posting a new blog here. You know, so I could vent and try to carve out some wisdom about how to deal with a frozen wave of cards like you fuckin' read about. But this hasn't happened yet, and I'm mildly inspired to rant about a completely different topic: professionalism at the poker table.

Before discussing my main topic I'll recap my results of late: My bankroll stands at $6750. My rate stands at $21.57/hr for my first 195 hours of 4/8 kill. So, I'm actually making MORE money in that game than I was when I last posted. I've considered playing more small stakes NL, or PLO, or this juicy $4/8 kill Omaha high/pineapple they've got here. But really limit holdem is my best game, and my philosophy comin' back has been if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Also, I get to look over at the goings on of the local $20/40 kill game and scope out when the game is best, who's winning, and when I'll want to schedule my sessions once I get my roll back up to snuff for that game (10-12k). It's especially tough playing low (lower than I've ever played before by a longshot) when there's a great $20/40 game right there on the next table. But getting in the hours has certainly been made much easier by my stellar results.

On a sidenote, this may come off as cocky, but I feel like sticking a disclaimer out there for any new or young players out there who think that they're hot shit or what not: I'm a battle-hardened $20-40 to $40-80 limit holdem winner (with hundreds of +EV hours logged in bigger limit games, and mid stakes NL as well), and I'm winning this much money in the small game because I have a lot of experience. I don't want some 21 year old kid who plays a bit of poker thinking that they suck if they can't make $20/hr in a friggin' $4/8 game! It's bloody hard to do it, and I'm also convinced I've received above average cards. For a serious noob, to earn $6-8/hr in a $4/8 in the long run (what with the brutal rake effect and all), would be both a great accomplishment, and a result indicative of an adequate skill level to play higher (like say $8/16 or $10/20). Personally, I'd be stoked if I could maintain a rate of 2 big bets per hour in the long run at $4/8.

Why does professionalism matter at the poker table? 

I can see the gears clicking in a lot of 20something players' heads when they see me cavort and constantly shoot the shit with all of the other players. They must think: why the fuck is that guy being so social?! Afterall, they've come up playing online poker (and can still play here in Canada because we've yet to suffer the repercussions of an overly self-interested government like you unfortunate suckers in the US), and consequentially many have a poor understanding of the social aspects of the game, or the reasons behind keeping the mood light and fun at the table. In fact, many of the young players I've encountered lately lack any sense poker etiquette or respect for the game. Even experienced players who know that a happy game is a good game for all, often still miss the point because they too have little respect for the game itself. If you truly understand poker, and love the game, then you'll never berate a player again for drawing out, or making a funky play that beats you, or anything like that. In fact, you'll do your absolute best to be as courteous and entertaining as possible to every player in your game at all times, no matter how many tough beats they deliver to you. This is in part because as a pro, before you ever snap and/or tilt, you'll just leave the game. Part of being professional is striving to play your absolute best in every pot, and recognizing that when you can't do this anymore it's time to take some rest.

But enough with the obvious stuff. So a game where the players are talking and having fun while they're gambling is more profitable for a pro, duh. And by chatting with players you can get a read on them and figure out some subtleties about the way they think and in turn use this information against them in the betting, duh. And we all know that letting your opponents see your frustration only works to your detriment because it instill them with confidence as it builds up the idea that you're unlucky and/or playing worse, DUH. This stuff is really just the tip of the iceberg:

Poker is a beautiful and complex game that's still got a bit of a bad name. Online poker companies and the newfangled "poker media" have fueled all sorts of lies about how anyone can become a champ overnight and win a bunch of money. In reality most unskilled gamblers honestly have a WAY BETTER chance of turning a significant profit by playing slot machines then they do at this game of skill. Yes I said it, poker is a game of virtually pure SKILL. Obviously there are a few oddball cases of rank amateurs who make big money in the game ("God Bless Chris Moneymaker" - M.Matusow 2003 ), but over time there's a very small percentage of players in the overall poker economy, likely only the top 5-10% of them (with the top 1% making a majority of the money) that end up with almost all of the money. Also, I have personally known 2 20something poker millionaires who have blown their bankrolls. One of whom literally went from a 2.2 million USD bankroll, a 150k sports car, and a penthouse apartment just off the Las Vegas strip, to living in his parent's basement, completely busted. Now if the house rakes were lower, there would be a greater chance for a higher percentage of players to be winners. Alas, casinos must charge something, and this 'something' makes a lot of decent and otherwise small winning players into small losers. But I digress, my point is just that poker is a skill game that in the end has a very strong tendency to reward the players with the highest levels of intellect, heart, and perseverance. 

Poker's just like any other sport or skill game, and I wish that the poker media industry would work harder on billing the game for what it truly is. Misrepresenting the game is very unprofessional and passé, and I'm anxious for the day when the same will be said about poker tournaments as well. In my opinion, they are a whole load of silliness, and they diminish the relevance of many of the skills a true pro must possess in order to thrive. In poker we keep score mostly in private, in dollars, not in trophies. Your score is for you to ponder. A heroic triumph or an epic fail are only measurable in metrics that you construct for yourself. Being a tournament winner means little, being a winner in life means everything. And if you don't believe me that tournament players are generally weak, just go ask ANY group of high stakes cash players if they'd like to see a "tournament superstar" added to the roster of their poker game. They'll be licking their chops at the prospect. And the reason for that is because they know that they are more skilled at poker, plain and simple. Take those same cash pros and put them in tournaments and they'll utterly dominate, the whole time wondering what's going on in the real games in the next room. Poker tournaments are to poker as mini-golf is to golf. They just don't encompass the true spirit of the game.

So I've tried to elaborate on why it's important to be polite at the table, and I've given some comments on poker in general. It's time to talk about professionalism in it's purest form. There are tens of millions of poker players, and they're all supposed to be allowed to play the game however they want, and that's the beauty of the game of poker. Let that sink in for a moment. Now, let's talk about "the pros". Are you really a true professional if you somehow try to infringe on another player's right to play however they want to play, to gamble however they want to gamble? Obviously, if they play poorly then it's money in your pocket, we covered that earlier, duh. So the very thought of being aggravated by another's play is a complete waste of mental energy. Also, displaying such aggravation immediately shows that you're an amateur, a pretender, or quite new to the game. If you happen to berate another player for a play they make, sure, you're obviously directly costing yourself a little bit of money, but also you're disgracing the game you're supposed to love. If you can't keep it together and focus only on playing your best and being cordial, then you aren't a pro and you need wisen up. Otherwise you'll always be just a donkey in a horserace, staring at what were your chips as they now sit in the stack of a smiling professional.