Friday, November 21, 2008

Poker Pearl #7

John Juanda recently captured the WSOP Europe ME title. Besides being a great poker player, he is respected for his demeanor. He doesn't yell and scream and flap his arms like so many of the other yahoos do. When he speaks at all, he speaks softly and is a gentleman. John isn't just a poker bum, he has an MBA,

The following is from his interview in Card Player magazine, Nov. 19, casino edition:

Have self-control:
Avoid going on tilt, never play when tired
or when in a negative frame of mind.

Pay attention:
Poker is such a complex game. There are so
many variables and so many things you have
to think about.

In a tournament, you have to consider what
the stack sizes are, who you think is
desperate, who you think will be aggressive,
who the suckers are. Even when you are not
in a hand, you have to play attention to
each player's style, so that you can pick
up on anything that might help you in a
future situation.

If you preoccupy your mind with bad beats
and feel sorry for your bad luck, your
judgment will be clouded and your
decision-making will be poor.

Money Management:
When things are going your way, there
is nothing wrong with moving up in limits
and taking a shot. But . . . there's
nothing to be ashamed of by moving down
a level or two. You have to throw your
ego out the door. When you are running
badly, you are not playing with confidence,
and your decisions reflect this. Move down
to a softer game, and rebuild your
confidence. When you're making good
decisions, move back up again.

4 comments:

  1. I voted in your poll and I don't know a darn thing about playing any card games, but thanks for visiting my blog!!

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  2. When I was mentioning blogs with great photos, I forgot about Lisa. She lives in Colorado so has a head start on the rest of us, for sure. Try this one if you think mountain scenery is cool:

    http://telluridedailyphoto.blogspot.com/2008/11/reflection.html

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  3. Or this one:

    http://telluridedailyphoto.blogspot.com/2008/11/snowy-birdhouses.html

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  4. Lisa has a second blog called "Mountains Rule" and it is terrific. This one is a sensational mountain shot:

    http://mtsrool.blogspot.com/2008/11/snow-hike.html

    It's got reflections of the mountain in the water, strong diagonal lines, and two hikers. Your eye simply doesn't know where to go when you first see it.

    ReplyDelete