Poker Winners Are Different:. Alan N. Schoonmaker

order to develop your skills, you will often have to reduce your short-term profits or even (gasp) take some losses. Every hour you spend studying or preparing in other ways obviously costs you the money you could win by playing. You can win the most by playing in soft games, but if you always do so, you won’t develop the skills you need to move up and win more money.

      Barry Tanenbaum agrees. He once played heads-up against a world-famous player. When I asked why he would take such a “foolish” gamble, he said, “I could learn something, and what I learned might make me more profit in the future.” He said that always trying for the maximum EV was the same as a “company’s maximizing short-term profits by eliminating its R&D department.”

      Barry is a long-term winner and highly respected writer. Follow his lead and think of the real long term. Play to maximize your EV, but also invest the time, energy, and money to maximize your lifetime’s profits.²⁹

      Winners’ Laws

      These laws will help you to shift your focus from short-term satisfactions to the broader, longer-term picture.

      1. Ask yourself constantly: Am I focusing on long-term results or short-term satisfactions?

      If you don’t ask that question, the natural tendency to emphasize short-term rewards and punishments will distract you from focusing on your long-term EV. You will make mistakes for emotional or careless reasons and may not make necessary investments in your self-development.

      2. Emphasize making good decisions, and minimize short-term results.

      If you focus too much on short-term results, you’ll distract yourself from the important issue: did you make the right decision?

      If the answer is yes, don’t worry about the results. If the answer is no, work on your decision-making skills.

      3. Record your wins and losses accurately.

      If you do not write down every chip you buy and cash in, you will probably delude yourself about your long-term results. You will “forget” how many chips you bought or ignore some losses. You may even make excuses such as, “I did not write down last night’s loss because I was drinking, terribly unlucky, distracted by a family problem,” and so on.

      Without accurate records you will probably make bad decisions. For example, you may not know that you lose in certain games. If you enjoy those games, you will keep playing in them.

      Accurate records will also help you to cope with bad beats, losing sessions, and losing streaks. Comparing them to your total wins or losses will show you that they don’t matter that much.

      4. Minimize everything else and focus on whatever improves your long-term results.

      You may object that this narrow focus is unbalanced and unhealthy. I agree, but—as I said earlier—this book is about winning, not mental health or lifestyles. The biggest winners are not balanced. To be a big winner, you must focus on your long-term results.

      How Do You Rate?

      This rating scale assesses your tendency to focus on the long-term results or short-term rewards and punishments.

      Circle the number that best describes your agreement with this statement: While playing poker, I am extremely focused on long-term results. I nearly ignore short-term rewards and punishments. (7) Agree strongly, (6) Agree, (5) Agree somewhat, (4) Neutral, (3) Disagree somewhat, (2) Disagree, (1) Disagree strongly.

      Circle that number in the appropriate place on page 262.

      The Critical Questions

      Review this chapter, especially the Winners’ Laws and How Do You Rate? sections. Then answer two questions:

      1. What are the implications of my self-rating?

      2. What should I do differently? List specific actions you should take to improve your focus on long-term results.

      Discuss your answers with someone you trust and take good notes.

      6. Winners Focus on the Here and Now

      At a poker table you get paid only for making the right decision now.

      —Barry Tanenbaum³⁰

      This chapter’s title may seem to contradict the last one’s, but there is no real contradiction. To maximize your long-term profits, you must focus on the critical question: What should I do now?

      Barry Tanenbaum expanded his comment: “Forget about whether you are winning or losing and what happened in the last hand. If you make the right decision now, you must ultimately win.”

      Dr. John Feeney, a psychologist, agrees: “Most players are too focused on winning. It is far more productive to make correct play your goal and let winning take care of itself.”³¹

      An Illustration

      Let’s take two cases:

      1. You’re playing no-limit hold’em.

      2. The pot is $100.

      3. You will win if you catch the right card and lose if you don’t.

      4. You will know the exact odds against catching it.

      5. You have no more betting because the bettor is all in.

      6. You are even for the night and have $200 worth of chips.

      Case A: The odds against catching your card are 10:1. You have invested $30 in the pot, and it will cost you another $15 to call the last bet.

      Case B: The odds against catching your card are 4:1. You have invested $20 in the pot, and it will cost you another $20 to call the last bet.

      In which case would you be more likely to call?

      Would you make a different decision if you were winning $500?

      Losing $500?

      Write your answers before looking at the answer opposite.

      Answer