Blog crosspost: Patience

Poker, more so than most other games, is a game of patience, but it’s a game of patience on more levels than just waiting for the right cards (which I’d guess is what most people consider the patience-part of the game), or carefully establishing an image at the table so you can later on exploit it (which is also a form of patience). It’s also a game that requires a great deal of patience to master, because no matter how many books you read, and how much you try to think about the game, you still need to go through tens of thousands of real situations to actually get the experience you need to become a great player.

Some of you might have a better knack than others for the game, and logically you’ll learn faster. Some may have an extraordinary reading skill, and by reading the available poker literature they can absorb ideas much faster than most others. All this is great - but you still need the experience, and though it may be cut shorter by doing your homework, you’re still looking at tens of thousands of hands.

The books are great, don’t get me wrong. In fact, it would be difficult to be a good player without them, and unnecessarily difficult at that - the books are available, take advantage of them. But the full value of the literature doesn’t come by just reading it, you need to practise too. But practising poker is tedious, and sometimes expensive, and what’s worse: It can be counterproductive. What’s that? Yeah, counterproductive. It’s a game where (relatively) small differences in odds make all the difference in the end result, and making the correct play will not always be followed by a pay-off. In fact, it often won’t. Because of the short-term tricks the game plays on us, it’s important to have massive amounts of experience to counter the temporary tilt that comes from losing with a hand that was a favorite up until the last card fell. That experience is your lifeline when your set of aces walks into a straight on the turn, and you’re wondering where you went wrong.

Don’t just see it as a grind, see it as a way of learning, and a necessary one at that.

/FP

Well said. I still think that two of the hardest things about the game of poker is learning how to be patient with your game and how to accept bad beats and play well afterwards.

Fp you are so right patience is ever so important one of the 5 p's I use. Books are great. But I'm from the old school I learned my game from the school of hard knocks before books and from a few of the best in vegas during the 70's, 80's and 90's. Also some of us are blessed with Instinct, gut feeling, or reading players as it is referred too by many poker players. I still feel hands on experience and learning things everytime you sit down at a table is the best way to improve your poker skills and game. I am also blessed since I run poker tournaments 6 days a week and do sit in when a table is short handed. Since we average in the high 40's every tournament I do see lots of different styles and players. Of course I watch closer the players who consitantly finish in the top 10. Good luck all.........Rock