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Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

Aug 19, 2006

Comfort Zones: Part Two

Do not listen to those who weep and complain, for their disease is contagious. -- Og Mandino

Last week the question at hand concerned the road to success in poker -- professionally or recreationally -- focusing on how you might handle certain pressure situations.

If you haven't already guessed, you should understand that to succeed in poker you will have to establish a comfort zone that balances anticipation, fear, and doubt. You understand that the hundred bucks you pull out of Firepay or your back pocket is not going to make you rich. In fact, the chances of losing it are fairly high. If you choose the baby games, you'll get eaten up by a combination of people who never fold and the rake. Your experience will count for something in the future, but it might be something like having a root canal without Novocain.

If you choose to play tournaments, you also will be entering the lower limits and facing some of the same problems -- people who play any ace, people who are just having fun, people who end up taking your money because they've unconsciously ganged up on you.

Those are just some of the potholes on this toll road. You can't dodge all of them but you can avoid a significant number if you understand your comfort zone.

But it's important to start at those lower levels. By mixing it up with the rest of the novices you will get a sense of how everything works. This is important. In public cardrooms, you can learn how to handle chips, how to bet in turn, how to rate others, how to play your position. At this level you can't hope to win much money but you will earn confidence.

In the online version of novice poker you'll quickly learn to handle the speed of the game, how to read the board quickly, how to evaluate your opponent's position and bankroll. But having these concepts established, you'll be more confident when you get to the serious monetary levels.

It should go without saying but I'll use the example anyhow. No NASCAR driver every started out at Daytona with a car full of sponsor stickers and a place at the head of the starting line.

True, a poker player could, conceivably, go on an amazing streak and flop the perfect hand or ride the river to a million-dollar victory but it's not likely and it's not how you can expect to succeed at poker.

Climb the ladder slowly, deliberately, with dedicated purpose. Be confident but not overconfident.

Now when you arrive at a place where you are comfortable with your surroundings, understand them, and are not overwhelmed any longer, it's time to think about other potential stumbling blocks in the form of your opponents.

Surely you won't rush right over to Phil Hellmuth's table on ultimatebet.com or be foolish enough to step up to the high-limit area at The Wynn. No matter how big your ego is, the presence of champions will be intimidating. And if presence alone doesn't make it hard for you to swallow without making noise, their experience at shaking people up with a word, a look or a move will do the trick.

Before you put a single chip into the pot, take stock of the players at your table and immediately find something you can focus on and use to your advantage.

If your opponent is not exactly a specimen of beautiful humanity, picture him disco dancing in his boxers. Don't laugh. The scenario could be hilarious but the purpose is obvious. You are trying to diffuse your own jitters by subconsciously letting yourself believe the guy hiding behind that castle of cheques is just human, just an average Joe, just a neighbor. Maybe he's smarter; maybe he's cleverer. None of that matters because he has no control over the next card so his only hold over you is his name recognition. And that doesn't mean much when he's stripped down.

If you are up against a trash-talking fool who tries to unnerve you, don't throw it back in his face. Smile and picture him wearing his wife's false teeth. See him changing a baby's diaper or getting a speeding ticket on his way to the poker game. Don't ask him if he would like a mint to freshen up his bad breath, just offer it to him with a smile. It's tough to ignore a guy like this so you have to find a way to diffuse him without interfering with your game. If you're online, turn off the chat option because players will often use this to trash type.

No matter how your opponent tries to get under your skin, keep your mouth shut. Glance at him if you must, shake your head and smile. Maybe you might even mutter a prayer, asking some spiritual being why you've been made to suffer fools. Tell you opponent someone once cursed you with the Chinese proverb and that you are now living in interesting times.

That's the ticket. Start on your toes with your eyes and ears wide open. Observe everything. Beware of traps. Zero in on whatever whomever is messing with your head and turn it upside down, inside out, and toss it to the universe where it can come back to haunt him. Skirt the edges of your comfort level but don't step too far outside.

In the long run, you'll enjoy your overall poker experience more than the guys who are trying to crush you.