Today’s poker tip is about learning how to play poker wrong. Most of us have probably read volumes of poker books and listened to an endless line of poker pros wax poetic on how to play the game of poker. After awhile it almost feels like implementing a particular Texas hold’em strategy, or getting the pot odds calculations just right will ensure victory. Nothing could be farther from the truth. While overall, playing the game right will benefit you in the long run, often the difference between an amateur who can make some good side money, the poker pros who can make a living, is honing the sort of instincts that will help you break the rules of poker successfully.
People are born with two instincts; the fear of falling, and the fear of loud noises. Everything else is learned. Tom “Durrr” Dwan was not born with the innate ability to know when somebody is bluffing, or when to fold a pair of aces during a hand of Texas Hold’em. We often watch poker professionals play in a manner that would suggest they came to the tournament on the Texas Hold’em short bus, and somehow escape disaster when they play poker. This is because they have devoted time to reading, learning, and experiencing the game in three dimensions. Not only on the felt, but often in study sessions that would put an aspiring PhD to shame. Because of this commitment to their craft, they have gained something that no poker tip or Texas Hold’em Strategy guide can give them. They have developed an instinct for the game. This allows them to successfully break from what poker books would call reasonable play when they pick up on an intangible at the table that changes the environment. Without the time devoted to study and experience though, they would not have developed that “sixth sense” and would still have trouble playing outside the parameters of “Hold’em Tips for Dummies” book. So if you want to build up that almost mystical ability to know when playing the game wrong is the right thing to do, put some real time into learning the game beyond what happens in an online poker room or casino.
