Yes...More Poker Talk: Where I Am

"I used to like poker because I thought I had control over my future. Now I realize we are all just buffeted by destiny. We are cannon fodder. Remember that shot in Saving Private Ruan where everybody is charging the shore? The ones who survived were lucky, that's all. They were not better soldiers. They just didn't run into any bullets." - Jennifer Tilly (Bluff Magazine May 2008)

Rarely do I read Jenn Tilly's monthly article and feel truly enlightened. Typically, I consider it a prolonged bad beat story from someone who is just "getting" how things work in poker and who is being trained by someone who is one of my favorite poker players Phil Laak. I typically read her article near the end of my trip through the magazine. This time I sat down and for some reason read her article about 3rd and feel it was a good thing.

I realize that I play small stakes. I give $6 to play in a tournament for points or I play micro-stakes online, so it's not that comparable to what Jenn Tilly goes through playing in big tournaments or in cash games, but I am in the same place she is. I play well...I make very few bad decisions and I still take the bullets. I have been taken down in a hail of gunfire. I have had my K's and Q's crushed by A-whatever. I have had A-4 call huge preflop raises only to hit 2 pair against my A-Q. I have been a catalog of bad beat stories recently. I am not whining or complaining or being one of those guys, but you, as my reader, need to understand why I am typing this out.

So what do I think about myself? It's easy to say "well, maybe you gotta fold those Q's when you know certain people are behind you". But can I? Can you fold a huge pocket pair just because you fear A-whatever? Shouldn't you get your money in when you KNOW you are ahead?

So what's the problem?

There are a couple things that are uncontrollable with poker, no matter the skill level.

1. The skill level of those around you. Now...I am not going to go off on people who play 7-2o when they think this is a good hand or because it's "sooted!". That is merely a derivative of playing with people who do not understand the game. I use to think that these people wouldn't play the same trash if money was on the line or if it were more serious, however, I am not so sure. Watching amateur after amateur win the big televised tournaments making horrible money decisions the whole way, I think it comes down to a rash of uneducated and ignorant poker players. This is uncontrollable.

2. The cards. No matter how long you play, you cannot know what cards are coming and how whichever hand you are holding will hold out. I was told after my K's were busted by A-rag a couple weeks ago that "I knew that was going to hit, so I played it." I just walked away from the conversation. Reading "The Secret" 100 times will not improve your game. Going to Magic Molly the hand reader to get tips on reading the future will not help your game. You can make guesses, but you cannot control or know what cards are coming. This is a simple fact that changes the game of the amateur when they get past the misconception that they "feel" a card coming or "know" their hand is going to hit. Once an amateur realizes the best way to maximize profit in a game is to play the best hands possible, their game begins a transformation.

3. Jackassery. This one requires absolutely no explanation, but I will. For some reason, I have become a magnet for jackasses at the poker table. People critquing the way I play after playing 3 hands with me. Telling me "I know how you play." after 2 tables with me. I would like to think I am somewhat readable in the sense that I play premium hands and will fold crap almost every time. My response "No...you know how I play with bad hands." left him agreeing with me. There is always a drunk around. There is always someone who thinks they can call every hand. There is always a jackass in every crowd I play in.

So how do I manage these uncontrollable circumstances? I am not sure to some extent to be honest because the jackassery tends to push me to the edge. I hate to be "that" guy, but I think I need to use the iPod. I think I need to shut people out and become less friendly at the table. Perhaps I don't have the temperment required to be like Daniel Negreanu. Perhaps I need to focus on my game and stop worrying about the crap others are playing.

Maybe, just maybe I need to walk away for a while and get out of the war for a bit.