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On many occasions I’ve had reporters ask me what it is about being a lawyer that has made me a better poker player. I politely smile and respond, “Nothing. But being a poker player is what made me a better lawyer.”
As poker players, we stress the fact that making correct decisions is what drives us to success. We don’t worry about the results, but rather about the decisions that are made at the time. In poker, you can make every decision perfectly all night long and be a loser on the session. However, if you play optimally every night, you will come out ahead in the long run.
There’s a difference between playing great and getting unlucky, and not playing well. People often confront me and go into detailed situations. Almost immediately I know two things: 1) They are making improper decisions and 2) They aren’t thinking the way a true poker player should think.
Chances are, if you’re reading this magazine, you consider yourself a poker player. However, do you think like a poker player? Do you know how to think like a poker player? The truth is that most of the non-professional poker players I interact with don’t even know where to begin. Plain and simple, they go through the motions at the table win some and lose some but aren’t fully invested in the game.
When I first began law school at the University of Minnesota, my professors preached that although I was there to learn about the law, the most important thing that I could take away from my time at school was how to think like a lawyer. They wanted to make sure that when I left school I could go into any field of law. By knowing how to think like a lawyer, I could adapt my knowledge in any situation quickly because I knew the essentials that would lead me to success.
The same idea applies in poker. Thinking like a poker player means that you can be put in any situation and make the best decision. You aren’t trying to find shortcuts or mindlessly follow some rules of thumb. Instead you’re trying to analyze the entirety of the situation. That’s really the hard part. Lawyers have law school, and poker players have the World Series of Poker Academy. At our seminars, we’ll teach you the strategies and skills but, more importantly, we’ll also teach you how to think like a poker player. A friend can teach you what defines a good starting hand and a book can teach you the facts and odds about the game, but learning how to think like a poker player is a difficult topic for many players to grasp. Our staff of professional poker players will train you to take your poker thinking to a higher level.
There are three types of poker thinkers. The first is the novice player who doesn’t think deep enough about his situations to make accurate decisions. He’ll ask questions like “Greg, I have J-J in early position, how should I play it?” The novice isn’t evaluating the situation in enough detail, which leads to me giving a plethora of answers. He didn’t define the situation, so my answer is that in some cases I’ll raise, while other times I’ll call.
The intermediate thinker has a good grasp of the game, but still doesn’t take into consideration the most important variables in every decision. He’ll ask, “Greg, I have J-J in early position. I have 25 times the big blind and I’ve been playing tight.” He understands his current situation, but still leaves out details that can make the difference.
I have a friend who fits perfectly in this category. We’ve discussed poker for nearly ten years, but I know that he still hasn’t reached his potential. He’s a smart guy and knows the game extremely well, but he still misses out and makes mistakes in many scenarios. Although he knows all the questions to ask of himself (e.g., What is my image? What are the stack sizes?), he seems to have a hard time figuring out which issues carry the most weight this time around. Unfortunately, there isn’t only one rule that a poker player can follow for the answer. My friend often looks for this one rule, but in poker there’s often a complicating factor or a unique factor that you haven’t seen before. As a player who thinks at the top level, you have to adjust your thought process to evaluate and explain the decision given every unique situation.
The advanced thinker will ask me a question and leave no details out. He’ll tell me everything from the playing styles at his table to the tournament structure. He’ll talk about his stack size and how it relates to his opponents in the hand. He’ll mention that the players around him stare him down at every street and how his image has just helped him win multiple pots. The bottom line is that he knows everything that is going on at the table and is aware that every decision he makes will affect his opponents. Most importantly, he knows that his opponents know what he knows, too. The person who asks me this type of question wants to explain all the relevant facts before presenting a situation. Then, and only then, can I give an accurate assessment of the situation.
We use a lot of live hand simulations at the WSOP Academy to encourage people to think about all the variables. When we reach the river, I won’t just point out mistakes or acknowledge that the hand was well played. I’ll probably ask, “Why? Why did you raise that much? Why did you decide to call here, but not raise? Would you have made the same move it the blinds were higher?” Being able to explain their reasoning is a pivotal part of the Academy for every student. Once they can not only make good decisions but can also explain the correct reasoning behind those decisions, then I know they’ve learned a lot.
The big difference between just playing a hand at the table and understanding the details of the hand is what elevates a poker player above the rest of the pack. So, I’ll ask again: Do you think like a poker player? The WSOP Academy is waiting…
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