Poker as a Character Builder

I read an article by Fred Renzey abut poker, while highly addictive for all the wrong reasons, can be a character builder.
You must use extreme self-discipline to win at poker. The article also states that "Rationalization is your most self-destructive weakness. You must remain objective enough to see what is - not what you want to be – and then act on it accordingly."

You have to throw away at least 75% of your hands without even calling And 25% that you call you'll fold more than half before the hand is over. So, you'll play maybe one hand out of a dozen all the way to the showdown. "There's not much of a gambling thrill in that. But if you want to win – even survive – that's what you've got to do."

This is a nice piece of advice to the article "If saying "no" to yourself 3 times out of 4 isn't your cup of tea, then poker is not going to be your friend. You'd be better off having a beer or two. But if you've got the patience to sift through all the garbage while waiting for a good hand, and then can exercise the self-discipline to throw that good hand away when your clear vision says you've been beat, poker can be a satisfying and financially rewarding character builder."

Good poker players have this ability many which developed it. "They learned how to tell themselves the truth, even when the truth was disappointing and they can use that virtue to their advantage in all aspects of their lives."

I hate to quote endlessly but I'd like to quote one last paragraph that's worth quoting.

"Poker is a character catalyst that forces players to reality. Those who evade thinking cannot escape the penalties. The winning poker player views all situations realistically. He pits the use of his mind against the unwillingness of his opponents to think. The loser makes himself a loser. The winner makes himself a winner. Poker is sheer justice."

Good points in this post. The problem is how poker is shown on TV. The edited tourney's do not show the endless parade of junk hands. What folks see (and learn from) are the final tables shown and edited to show "action hands". They see Gus Hanson play an 8-5 offsuit, and win, but never saw the 100s of folds he made to set up this hand...

Your so right Dave! They make it look like that they get good hands most of the time,burns me. Think it gives some that are new to play a false start on playing the game. I feel that their just like anyone else but got a break on line and somebody to back them,now the pressure is on them. How many new hot players will last like the "Oldies"?

Poker can teach you several things:

Poker should be a good math tool, teaching you how to calculate pot odds, implied odds and most importantly your outs. In NL you have to be able to do the math in your head quickly to see if you should stay in the hand. I can cost you all your money or you can be shorting yourself money if you can't do it right.

Poker can teach you people skills. You have to be able to look at the people at the table and not only get a read on their poker skills but what type of person they are to determine their overall skill and get reads on them. You can play the cards or you can play the people when it is live. Both can work and do. It is a true skill to get the people at the table to talk and allow you to get a read on them.

Poker should also teach someone money management weather it be your your bankroll or your tournament stack. You have to know what level and how much you can spend. Do I want to blow my bankroll in one huge event or play a bunch of smaller stuff? I this is where the addictive personalities can get lost. They don't have the breaks to know when to stop.

Poker should also teach you to be a good sport. You win some you shouldn't and lose some you shouldn't. I think these two types of hands shows someones true character. Ego is a big thing in poker, if you don't think you can win, why enter the tournament? I would love to do a search of all posts and see how many people fancy themselves as below average players (bet it don't find many). Everyone fancies themselves as average or better which makes it oftly crowded at the top. If everyone in a 100 person tournament is of truely equal skill level, who wins? The one who gets lucky? So no matter what your skill is, luck plays a part and that is why it is called gambling. Don't showboat when you win and don't cry and get all pissy when you lose, it is called class and I don't see enough of it around in all sports.