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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.

Jun 16, 2007

Become a Poker Genius -- Part Five

Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered. -- Aristotle

When Alfred Barrios wrote about the 24 personality characteristics all geniuses have in common, he simplified everything, possibly for the purpose of reprint and distribution. Barrios, who by the way, founded the Self-Programmed Control Center in Los Angeles and might be considered a new age guru, could have stretched things a little bit to make the even two dozen. Or he could have cherry picked the best of the best (smart guys) and found the qualities in them.

Fact is, not all geniuses have all the qualities he considered important. (I've listed them at the end of this article for those who don't want to go back to the first four parts of this series.) I don't recall the great chess genius Bobby Fischer having much of a sense of humor -- one of the 24 characteristics. I've read many books by men of genius but some certainly are not optimistic. Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams, for example, don't exactly want to make you smile with a cheery outlook toward life. The super math head Fermat was described by biographer M. S. Mahoney as "Secretive and taciturn, he did not like to talk about himself and was loath to reveal too much about his thinking." Right then and there this genius knocks off at least three, maybe more, of the 24 characteristics.

And the purpose of these examples? You don't have to possess each and every one of the 24 personality characteristics to be a genius, much less a poker genius. Perfection would perhaps be an ideal goal here but it's not a necessary goal.

So what if you can't be outgoing? You aren't at the table to form close relationships. You're not there to develop casual friendships. You're there to win money, period! Sure, it's nice if you can link up with those who have similar interests but if it's not in the cards, it's not in the cards. You can still be a great player.

Hard as it is to believe (and this is not one of Barrios' list), I once met one successful player who could barely read. I've also met many who could barely write a full sentence without misspelling at least one word.

I rather think that if you want to be successful at your job, you will do what it takes. You might not want to improve or change some of your life and that's fine, as long as the areas you want to ignore aren't essential for success.

If someone told you it was possible to earn really big bucks by pretending to be a caveman who's insulted about an insurance ad, you might dress up like a cave man.

So if someone suggests you should aspire to the 24 characteristics common to all geniuses, maybe it's a good idea.

Here then, in summary, are those 24 characteristics, this time in true alphabetical order.

Go get Ôem.

Ability To Communicate
Ability To Judge.
Adaptability
Courage
Curiosity
Devotion To Goals
Drive
Dynamic Energy
Enterprise
Enthusiasm
Honesty
Idealism
Imagination
Individualism
Knowledge
Optimism
Outgoingness
Patience
Perception
Perfectionism
Persuasion
Sense Of Humor
Versatility
Willingness To Take Chances