I was listening to a radio talk show the other day while I was reading an article from a Texas Hold'em Website.
The talk show host mentioned someone being a coward and a bully - and it hit me that a winning hold'em player is, by defintion, a coward and a bully.
A coward is a being who will run at every threat - the dictionary definition of coward is: One who shows ignoble fear in the face of danger or pain.
A bully is a being who will pick on those who are weaker - the dictionary definition of bully: A person who is habitually cruel or overbearing, especially to smaller or weaker people.
When a winner has a bad hand, like a coward, he'll fold - he won't challenge or try to stand up to stronger hands. He'll get out before anyone can beat up on him or his bankroll.
When a winner has a good hand, he'll raise and re-raise, he'll try to limit the weaker, more diverse hands through tactics of intimidation by raising and challenging all of the other players - he'll try to bully them into submission.
He'll hesitate when the flop, turn or river go against him, and when he calculates that another player might have a better hand than his - he'll quickly become the intimidated coward and he'll fold faster than an origami flower.
I find it interesting that those characteristics that we would find morally repugnant under other circumstances are the very characteristicsa we'll emulate to become winners in a card game.
The talk show host mentioned someone being a coward and a bully - and it hit me that a winning hold'em player is, by defintion, a coward and a bully.
A coward is a being who will run at every threat - the dictionary definition of coward is: One who shows ignoble fear in the face of danger or pain.
A bully is a being who will pick on those who are weaker - the dictionary definition of bully: A person who is habitually cruel or overbearing, especially to smaller or weaker people.
When a winner has a bad hand, like a coward, he'll fold - he won't challenge or try to stand up to stronger hands. He'll get out before anyone can beat up on him or his bankroll.
When a winner has a good hand, he'll raise and re-raise, he'll try to limit the weaker, more diverse hands through tactics of intimidation by raising and challenging all of the other players - he'll try to bully them into submission.
He'll hesitate when the flop, turn or river go against him, and when he calculates that another player might have a better hand than his - he'll quickly become the intimidated coward and he'll fold faster than an origami flower.
I find it interesting that those characteristics that we would find morally repugnant under other circumstances are the very characteristicsa we'll emulate to become winners in a card game.
