P O K E R E X A M P L E

I like to compare good traders to good poker players. By “good” I mean those
who can make a living playing the game. A good poker player becomes good not
by playing hand after hand, but by learning the game as he plays those hands.
He takes the time to learn the odds of getting cards and knowing how much to
risk on a hand in order to have favorable odds. For example, if he has an 8 to 1
chance of making a card and there is $200 in the pot then by betting $10 he is
getting 20 to 1 odds, making this a nice bet. If the pot had only 40 bucks in it
then he is making a foolish bet as he is only getting 4 to 1 odds while taking an
8 to 1 chance of hitting his card. Part of his plan is to only make bets when he
has favorable odds versus pot odds. He doesn’t chase inside straights when the
pot odds are against it, like an amateur would. Another part of his plan would
be to know his bankroll and to know what dollar size game he can play and how
much he can afford to lose on any given night, so that he can keep playing the
next day. A player can’t have a chance of winning at a table where hands start
at $100 if he only has $500 to play with. However, he has more then enough to
win at a $5 table. Also, if a player has been playing for a while he makes notes
of opponents, so he knows who is aggressive and who is tight, who bluffs and
when, who he can bluff, and who never goes out. Bluffing is an acquired skill
and a good player knows when he can and cannot get away with it. He starts
to pick up signs (tells) other players give when they have good or bad hands.
Part of his plan is knowing that Fred plays with his chips when he has a good
hand, so it would be wise to fold. Little factors such as this are what a good
poker player sits down to the table with, and in the long run he will outplay the
average schmo who sits down and bets hand after hand without a clue as to
what he is doing.