Posted in Poker February 9th, 2010
Good Poker: Talent or Discipline?
What is talent, anyway? Not an easy question. A person sets a goal and his talent potential may be determined by how successful he is in reaching it. However, relying on talent to get to that goal will not work unless the bar was set very low. The greatest players in any discipline use their open mind to discover their good points and the tenacity to train themselves make the most of them. This is not for the person who wishes to remain in a familiar zone, never breaking out of it.
The professional player does not dwell on talent and will not be afraid to exert himself. They are self-critical and act on what they find to minimize their weak points and maximize their strong ones. Everyone needs, whether beginning or expert, a general idea of what talented play looks like at today\’s poker tables. The pro will take this further and attain the discipline required to understand the game and its strategies, no matter the type of poker.
The successful player gains experience by playing the game constantly and learning from all those hands. This is how they develop the best methods of play in many different situations.
Undisciplined talent relies on luck. Amateur players rely on luck. They play for the thrill of a game of chance. The disciplined talent is determined to reduce chance to the minimum. The professional is not interested in simple thrills, with occasional gain. The good player\’s purpose is to empty your pockets every time, regardless of whether you are an amateur or a pro. Pro\’s pitch themselves against Chance and against another pro\’s proven method.
A pro\’s methodology starts with a study in self-awareness. Those who undergo self-criticism, find weak spots and ignore them will never seek out another activity that they just might be good at. They may even deny that poker is not for them and create a wonderful fantasy poker life for themselves – every professional\’s dream opponent.
A professional poker player will start out by determining which poker to play. Limit poker is far more challenging than no-limit poker. Limit poker, to be played successfully, calls on a player\’s patience and cautiousness. It requires time to gain experience to gradually build knowledge and strategies of play in many situations. No-limit poker is the antithesis, requiring seemingly random bouts of aggressive behavior while maintaining control and playing in a cool, calculated manner.
The \”talented\” non-pro is unable to put constraints on himself, a very common shortcoming. Their focus is on how well they play poker completely ignoring the strategic advantage of getting out when all the signals are there for them to observe and act upon. A good player will not dwell on his \”goodness\” but will nonetheless maintain a constant winning track record. Being no narcissists, they will know when to fold and do so immediately.
Everyone will find themselves in hot water on occasion, the pro clearly identifies the situation and will get out before the water becomes even hotter. The last of his worries is losing face.
The author of this article plays online poker and gets Rakeback at Virgin Poker where they offer the highest Virgin Poker Rakeback.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 8:17 pm and is filed under Poker. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
