Zinedine Zidane was playing in the 2006 World Cup tournament for France when he decided to express his feelings for Italy’s Marco Materazzi with headbutt to the chest. While there is plenty of debate about whether or not he was provoked into trying to bludgeon a man to death with his forehead, but there is no argument that getting tossed out of the game did little to help France’s chances of victory. Zidane became so focused on his rivalry with one man that he forgot that there was a bigger game to be played. This is a common failing among those who play in any competitive activity; a failing that poker players are not immune from.
There are nine to ten players at any given poker table. If you find yourself crossing paths with a number of the same people, chances are going to develop a dislike for at least one or two of them. Even if you have only been playing for a couple hours at a table, there is every chance in the world that somebody sitting there is going to rub you the wrong way. When poker players clash, sometimes they lose perspective about what is going on around them, and focus on really putting a hurt on that one person. Focusing on one particular rival is a mistake when there are eight other people at the table who also want to take a piece of your stack.
I’m not sure if "Nick the Greek" Dandolos and Johnny Moss liked each other on a personal level, but they were certainly rivals. When they decided to settle things between them, they played heads up poker until one of them screamed no mas. Well actually Dandolos uttered "Mr. Moss, I have to let you go" after five months of playing each other one on one. While both of these men probably took runs at each other during games that involved a full table, neither was dumb enough to let their guard down and forget the other players around them.
If you have a score to settle, the smart way to do it is challenging that person to a heads-up confrontation; not making them the sole focus of your attention at a properly populated table. Well that, or you could just headbutt them when they are not looking.
