On Donkey Play and Relationships to Money
It was suggested to me not long ago (offline) that the primary reason I post hand details of bad plays where I point out donkey plays is that somehow I can't handled the losses and/or variance. The implication seems to be that someone who says boy, what a donkey play I made must be deeply upset over that loss because the money ( Read more... )
On the other hand, if they disclaim themselves before hand, with warnings or excuses, then I start to get worried. My mind starts to wonder if they have emotional insecurities or if they are about to dupe me. :-)
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Indeed. A classic poker scenario is “I know I'm beat, but I'm going
to call”, as if this some how excuses a terrible play. It's about
the psychology of the loser, who can't give up to the idea that they are
being tricked. Good players get tricked sometimes, but better to be
tricked than to do stupid things and excuse it. Call if you think you can
win with the proper odds you're being offered. Fold if you can't.
As for self analysis, I tend to drone on more about my poker mistakes
than most people, but mainly it's because I really want to understand how
to prevent them and figure out why I made them. But, it's true I should
try not rattle on for too long. :)
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Nick, I think you should make this a fresh post in your journal. :)
Meanwhile, I ultimately think it's a bad idea to actually talk about
poker hands at the table with other players. There aren't many games
where this is appropriate, because most people who aren't very good
players are terribly fragile about the whole thing. I see the best way to
do it is to play your game, do so quietly, and then talk later with people
who have a clue about what was right/wrong about what everyone did.
Also, my views on poker are generally changing; I don't actually find
playing as enjoyable as I used to. It's become somewhat of a money thing
- I play to get money, and the enjoyable part is talking about
whether I did the right thing with smart people afterwards. The playing,
in other words, is like the boring data collection phase of an experiment,
and the results and debate of the results are what's interesting.
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So, if I want to win $$$, I need to be willing to play in an environment that is otherwise un-fun. If I want to have fun, I need to have a much lower (or even negative) EV.
Bleh!
(I suppose I could find winning chips fun, but then if all I cared about was money I would work more hours at my job.)
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What? I thought you were a salaried employee. ;) Or, do you mean your
stock options will go up if you work harder? :)
Anyway, in all seriousness, this is precisely why I've mostly given up
on the NYC clubs. The typical NYC club-goer is either (a) unbearable to
be around or (b) a good enough player that there's not tons of EV there.
Casinos are much better because the mix of people includes those who are
just on vacation relaxing in a poker game. Most club goers are loud-mouth
gambling nuts or people who think they are the best poker players ever born.
Also, the other option is just going to games with people and getting
seats nearby them. Most people at the lower limits get no edge from you
if you talk high-minded theory with a friend at the table. Of course, I
realize that if you're going to do this with me, I must learn the proper
volume of speech at a casino. I find it amazingly ironic that I talk too
low, rather than the canonical too loud, with my headphones on. :)
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(Of course I'd prefer to own 50% of the company in a case like that, but I'll take what they're giving me...)
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