Ace On The River

AC trip report is on hold for a little bit. I don't feel like typing it all up. The more I put it off, the less I'm going to remember. I had about 2k fpp's left on stars after I played all the Sunday Million Sats, so I decided to get Barry Greenstein's book Ace On The River. I Ordered it on Thursday the 14th and it arrived today(19th). Pretty darn good turnaround. I'm not much of a reader, but I found this book quite good so far. I just got to Chapter 5 and came to an interesting test.

"How you handle issues in your life mirrors how you play poker", Barry states. " If you read all the poker books and become a technical expert on which hands to play and how to play them, you are still likely to end up broke. You must learn how to make money and how to hold on to it. Most people do not have the appropriate character qualities to become good players. Take this personality assessment test and see how you fare."

I'm going to put the questions down and write my responses to them. These are answers that I said back to myself before I looked at the next page. I'll have the answers at the end here, but go through each question and see what you would have said.

1) When a car swerves into your lane, do you yell at the other driver?

All the time. Unless I'm in an extremely good mood for some reason and that doesn't happen very often.

2) Do you try tin win every argument?

No. Some people just don't see it your way sometimes.

3) Are you a go-getter, not wasting any time?

Not really. I usually waste tons of time and am a huge procrastinator

4) While playing sports or other games, do you release tension by banging your first, throwing equipment, or shouting?

No, I'm not a violent person. Never was the type of person who threw my fist through the wall after an argument etc etc..

5) Do you only gamble with the odds in your favor?

No. Every time I step foot in a casino and play a table game, I'm gambling with bad odds. Even if I think I'm making a good play in poker and I'm really not because of a bad read I classify that as gambling with bad odds.

6) Are you always willing to give money to a friend so he can get into a game when he is broke?

No. I haven't really ran into this one yet. It's not like I run into T.J. Cloutier on the street corner and he asks to stake him in a tournament.

7) Do you accept all challenges that come your way?

No. I know my limitations.

8) Do you know the value of a dollar?

Yes, obv

9) Do you work on the "due theory," that is, the theory that you want to play now because you have been losing and are due for a win?

No.

10) Are you reliable enough to arrive at the agreed-upon time to a schedule poker game, even if you are very tired?

Yes and No. I hate being late to places. If the game was to be juicy you can count me definitely in. If I was tired and saw that Phil Ivey, Chip Reese, and Doyle Brunson wanted to play me just 4 handed I wouldn't be there after a long night.

11) Do you make sure you are properly funded for any game you sit down in?

I try to. You cant live because of obvious reasons being the casino needs to make money. Online I do try to stick within my bankroll tho for obv busto reasons.

12) Do you find that drugs or alcohol loosen you up a little and help you play better?

No. Drugs I don't do and alcohol is on rare occasions, surprisingly.

Those were my responses and I flip the page. Barry tells me "If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may need some adjustments if you intend to become a professional poker player." The ones I said yes to I went back and thought about his responses. Question 1, I remember on 2 different occasions during the home game when there was dealer screw ups that would have won me lots of chips, but had to be re-done because of the mistakes. There are also times where I made a mistake, so it evens out. It just depends on how you specifically react to it happening. I've grown to take it in stride when it happens and not to harp on it.

The other one I said yes to was #8. Do I know the value of a dollar. This is one of the first things that you should learn when starting poker. You can't think of money as something you can physically possess. Money should be just chips to you and nothing else. That's why when you go to the casino you aren't betting with real money. Those chips have no meaning to you. When you have a losing session of say $300, you can't think to yourself, "Wow there goes my car payment."

Here were Barry's responses to the questions.

1) Incidents such as car cutting you off should be handled as if they were obstacle in a video game. Just maneuver and avoid them. Dealer errors, bad rulings, and others' bad plays may cause you to lose pots. You will have to keep your composure and play on.

2) You should try to win money and let the losers win the arguments. If someone questions why you played a certain hand or attacks the way you played it, you shouldn't care. People who have weak egos try to win all the arguments they get into. A confident person doesn't need to prove he is right, especially to his opponents. If you always to to win arguments with your friends or loved ones, you should ask yourself why you need to prove you are smarter than they are. If you do it for competitive reasons, you should channel your competitiveness into more useful situations.

3) You should rest your brain before playing poker. Take care of issues that are cluttering your mind. Take steps to simplify your life. If you do a lot of intense brain work before you play poker, you will probably wear yourself out. If you operate with many things on your mind, you are going to play on autopilot and not be aware of all the information your opponents are giving you.

4) Throwing clubs, slamming the ball to the ground, or shouting in disgust are inefficient uses of energy. An effective competitor spends time thinking about adjustments. Some famous sports figures who competed effectively and efficiently were Jack Nicklaus, Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, and Joe DiMaggio.

5) If your dealings with people are always one-sided in your favor, they may be hesitant to do business with you. People will enjoy playing with you if you give them some loose action in isolated spots. If someone suggests making a small bet on a sporting event that is being shown where you play poker, you should be willing to flip a coin to determine which side you get, but you shouldn't give action where you don't get action.

6) You shouldn't lend money to someone who you don't believe would return the favor if you needed a loan. Also, if you keep a losing player in action, you may become codependent on his or her gambling problem. There are many players walking around poker rooms who talk about what good financial shape they would be in if the people who owed them money would pay them back.

7) You don't need to fight every battle. Don't be afraid to back down if you don't like the lineup in a game. You should pass up a situation with a small advantage if you can find one with a larger advantage. You don't need to prove you are the best. To make money, you just need to find some people who play worse than you do.

8) Knowing the value of money is negatively correlated to being a good poker player. I have never heard anyone say, "He is not afraid to bluff for his last dollar, but he is a careful shopper."

9) If you continue to lose, you should find an easier game, or you may need to alter the way you are playing. If you can't find an easier game you might take some time off to get your head straightened out. You shouldn't think you are due for a win because it is your turn to be lucky.

10) If you are tired, go back to sleep and don't show up until you are rested. If you are a player in a game with an agreed-upon starting time, you should get on a sleep schedule that allows you to show up on time, rested and ready to play. If you are too tired to play well, call and inform the host that you cannot make it, if that is an appropriate thing to do. If a late arrival is not frowned upon, as in a casino, you may arrive when only the losers are still playing and you will have easy pickings. Also, if the game goes overnight you will still be sharp when others are tired.

11) If a game is extremely good, get in it if you have a buy-in. There is nothing wrong with putting yourself in situations where you can win a lot more than you can lose. Don't play too tight and predictably because you are on short money. Play your game. You might go broke quickly, but if you double up, you may be on your way to a big win.

12) Although some players may play better after drinking a small amount of alcohol or using drugs, it generally gets out of hand, especially when they are losing.

* Note this was all from Ace On The River, by Barry Greenstein