Comments on: Poker Professionals http://www.billrini.com/2004/11/28/poker-professionals/ Bill Rini's Poker Weblog Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:59:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: hdouble http://www.billrini.com/2004/11/28/poker-professionals/#comment-191 hdouble Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.billrini.com/?p=188#comment-191 I still believe that most of the money that poker pros win is from those who are still tied to results-oriented thinking. We're so hard-wired (especially Americans) to judge our performance on results that it's extremely difficult to think that bad beats mean we are playing badly. The successful pros learn to ignore the results and focus on performance, and collect a lot of big bets from other players who are on tilt. This goes back to your post about beginning players not understanding gambling theory. Have you ever seen a card counter whine to the dealer after losing to a 5 card 21 when the deck is heavily in their favor? No, because they understand the theory behind the game. Understanding the odds is a big help in preventing tilt. Unfortunately, knowing the odds cold also eliminates much of the thrill of gambling. Ignorance may be bliss, but it's certainly unprofitable. I still believe that most of the money that poker pros win is from those who are still tied to results-oriented thinking. We’re so hard-wired (especially Americans) to judge our performance on results that it’s extremely difficult to think that bad beats mean we are playing badly. The successful pros learn to ignore the results and focus on performance, and collect a lot of big bets from other players who are on tilt.

This goes back to your post about beginning players not understanding gambling theory. Have you ever seen a card counter whine to the dealer after losing to a 5 card 21 when the deck is heavily in their favor? No, because they understand the theory behind the game.

Understanding the odds is a big help in preventing tilt. Unfortunately, knowing the odds cold also eliminates much of the thrill of gambling. Ignorance may be bliss, but it’s certainly unprofitable.

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