Don't Come "Ready to Play"

Yesterday I took a friend to the local card room for the first time. While waiting for our table, we reviewed what to expect when the game starts, and some of the most important strategy tips. The game we selected was limit Texas Hold'em $3/$6, the lowest limit running at the time. We were lucky enough to both be seated at the same time and both started to play.

I struck up a casual conversation with a few players at the table waiting for a premium hand. I also used the opportunity to observe the other players as they got good hands, bad hands, and flops that either helped or hurt their hand. A few of the players were hard for me to read, but a few were open books after about 20 minutes.

While I was waiting, I watched as my friend's chip stack slowly, and sometimes quickly, dwindled. He was engaged in too many hands, playing many of them at least to the flop. He's a smart guy, he knew it on some level. After the game, when we started to debrief what had happened, the first words out of his mouth where "I know, I played too many hands."

Many players come "ready to play." They're at the card table because they are out to have a fun, enjoyable time playing cards. They play hands they really shouldn't because they want to be involved. After all, any starting hand can win. The problem is, most starting hands don't win often enough to make up for all the times they lose.

Come to the table ready to win, not ready to play. Exercise patience. When you're not in the hand, watch how the other's play. Do they get involved with poor starting hands? Do they go too far with their hand just to see the river card? Do they have tells that can tip you off to the strength of their hand? Do these things, and poker is a fun and involving game even when you're not playing a hand.

To quote Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell, "Patience is a virtue."

As for my friend: He's a sharp guy and is studying the game systematically. He'll be a winning player before very long.