The Patient Pokerista

Ah yes, patience. One cannot over-emphasize how important it is to have it during a night of poker. At this stage of our poker skills, and with our years of experience I cannot help but think that it is patience, more than anything else that separates 1st and last place in our rankings. As skillful a poker player as I think Keith is, the one thing that I see that really makes him stand out is his patience. If he is not getting dealt good cards he will patiently continue to fold until he’s got something to play with, which obviously makes him very dangerous to play against. I see that quality in Paul as well, which explains why he’s gotten so good in such a short period of time. He currently leads all players in money earned by a wide margin, and I don’t see him giving up that lead very easily. These two guys are finesse players.

On the other hand, you’ve got bludgeoners like Alex and Bob. These two are classic take-no-prisoners, lop your head off with a sledgehammer type players. They will try and beat you into submission. They’re kinda like: “you like your cards? Let’s see how much you like ’em after I raise you $30”. While not as successful as the finesse players, they can make some big money as we have all seen, but they can lose some big coin as well. They are successful through intimidation and they have proven that bullying can be a very useful tool for winning at poker.

Into that mix you can throw in plodders like Dave and Jack. These two guys are proof that chasers and never-met-a-hand-you-didn’t-like type players can have success as well. While Dave has been playing well this year so far, it’s Jack that impresses me the most with this style of play. I’m constantly surprised at how well he does playing this style of poker. Then again, he does have decades of experience playing cards with the big boys, and that’s gotta count for something. I’m not sure where the rest of us fall in, probably a little of all of these styles. But one thing is for sure, if I could choose which style to emulate and to strive for, it would be the patient style of Keith and Paul.

I set off this week to play with more patience and to some degree it worked. I know I still lost, but only $11. I could have finished positive but for one lapse in which I lost approx. $30 in one hand. Why? I lost my patience, simple as that. I tried to force a win and I got bitten in the ass because of it. In a year when winning doesn’t come so easy, patience is the only thing that will keep you afloat. Well, I’d like to hear what you all have to say about this, as well as adding any of your own thoughts to it. Let me know what you think.

As always, The Stats: POKER 2014

Next game will be at Ken Lum’s House of Mild Discomfort. Don’t forget our new $2 rule for all non-hosting players. Did Eric take his Jesus picture home? Dude, at this point you need something, anything, to dig yourself outta the hole you’re in, so don’t turn your back on THE LORD!! In keeping with the biggest sporting event in the world starting this week, I bring you Babes of the World Cup:

Eel out.