Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Fish Are Friends, Not Food

You know that sinking feeling you get when you make a call even though you know you’re behind. It’s the same feeling as when you push all-in with pocket 7’s only to see you opponent hit one of his two over cards on the river. That decision is the difference between making a run for the final table and getting eliminated early. The angst we experience when we lose that final battle rips at our being, especially when we are playing our A game. But we come back for more

We come back for more because we know that the lemmings, donkeys, fish, and any other derogatory name we can think of will be back playing in the same tournament tomorrow. But is there a chance that we are fulfilling a role in the grand scheme of things?

I don’t profess to be a great poker player. I think it would be a stretch to say I’m an average player but I play the game because I enjoy the challenge and want to get better. I think we all have forgotten that though we want to feed off of the fish we also need to remember we were also, at one time, that same little guppy in the lake of poker. Even the best players are fish food at times not because of skill but because of variance and dumb luck.

So our role as a player is to win money from other players. End of story? I’m not sure it is. You see as we play we have losing sessions. These losing sessions encourage the less skilled by letting them borrow from our bankroll and spread that wealth among the other players in our realm. This money will eventually find its way back into our accounts, with interest, if we continue to play our advantages over the long haul. It’s really an investment in our future in that if they don’t get paid off once in a while they will quit. If they quit the talent pool becomes harder to beat.


Encourage thy enemy when he hits his 2 outer. Praise her for the fabulous call when the gut shot hits on the river. Type” nice hand” to the idiot who calls your re-raise with 54 off suit and turns a strait, because they are your friend. Invite them to play with you in future events because they will pay you back.

2 comments:

TripJax said...

Great, great post. Well said, erm, written.

Heavy Critters said...

Tru dat.