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June 17, 2004
How To Win Friends And Influence People
If you are ever talking to some friends who are knowledgeable about poker and a subject comes up which you know nothing about there is an easy way to find an informed opinion in a matter of minutes. Simply search for the topic on RGP, figure out what the general consensus of its denizens happens to be, and adopt the opposite stance. This is not only effective when speaking of how hands should be played (though it is highly useful there), but also about such things as politics, religion, and simple multiplication. In fact it has gotten to the point where this strategy will work in just about any situation. If you went through life simply plucking your opinions from the inverse of the ones on that mailing list you would be thought of as a well spoken, well educated individual. People would often express amazement about how knowledgeable you are and how well reasoned every opinion you have is, because I assure you that 99% of what is said on there is quite the opposite.
Take for instance the Thursday morning water cooler discussion about the previous night’s WPT. This would be your time to shine. When people say things like “I like Moneymakers’ shove with JJ there because it was definitely the best hand” you can respond with something more educated. Try “Just because he has the best hand does not mean a shove is necessarily correct. In this case he should maybe just call and see if an ace or king flops and Phil bets, because if so he will know he is beaten (due to the fact that Phil would not bluff with an all-in player) and be able to escape with half of his stack. If the flop comes and Phil checks he can then bet all in, possibly saving him from an ace beating him on the turn or river and winning him the pot whereas he may have lost it if he went all in. In his situation winning the pot is the most important consideration, not making the extra 200 thousand chips when his hand holds up.” Now your coworkers will be amazed at your intellect.
Also should one of them ever say something like “I don’t know how he called 1/8th of his stack with just Ace high on the river, no matter how big the pot is” you can respond with “Well, if he thought there was a reasonable chance his opponent was bluffing and the pot was substantially large then he is risking little to gain quite a bit. He is not that much worse off with 1/8th of his stack gone, but winning the pot would almost double him, putting him in much better shape and greatly increasing his chances of winning the tournament.”
And when your opponents say “that Chris Hinchcliffe must be a great player to get 3rd in that event and second in a WSOP event” you could respond with “Short term results do not indicate skill. Any monkey that was as aggressive as he is could have that much success. The only indication of his skill level is the fact that he grossly misplayed every single hand at the final table and needlessly blew an overwhelming chip lead, which suggests that he in fact has the poker skill of the average cantaloupe.”
So go out, take my advice, and use it to win friends and influence people. Coming up with well reasoned opinions on your own is hard work. You must not only be able to apply correct logical thinking to a situation, but also have the motivation to do so. Being able to do so puts you in a very small minority amongst poker players, but even if you are able why go through all of the work when there are a wealth of opinions by people with the IQ of a typewriter (and not the electric variety) who pieced their argument together solely to hear themselves type without any logical process involved? Also should that well run dry (and if that happens I will likely have to seek employment) try the 2+2 forums instead. Those people actually attempt to reason out most of their arguments though so it requires a little extra work, but in a pinch it will do.
Posted by themaroon at June 17, 2004 11:11 AM
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