from a poker magazine and on online post of an article I penned about 7 years ago.
Oprah Weighs In With Poker Advice
On a recent road trip to New York the XM radio was entirely in my wife’s control by hour three and for some strange reason she selected “Oprah and Friends.”
This new channel was recently launched so that us men, who on occasion are asked (made), to watch the occasional DVR (then VCR) taping of the weekday television show our spouses watch so we can be “in touch” with the connection she has to the subject. (And I thought Dr. Phil was created to mess with us)!
Well, I listened to the ramblings of her girl friend Gail for awhile, and then Oprah talked about her upbringing and the influence of her church and god, and mentioned the following: To her,
DOUBT, MEANS “DON’T!”She caught my attention and went on to talk about when she had doubt; it was like a stop sign saying
STOP, DON’T PROCEED. There seemed to be a direct correlation between Doubt and Don’t.
When I returned home and had time to think more about her profound declaration, I decided to ask members in several forums what they thought of the statement and what Doubt meant to them. Here are their responses and it is interesting to note the direction (without prompting) that the reader took (Comments from the rail…paraphrased):
* “Doubt for me with poker may mean a few different things. When selecting a type of game to play I may have some reservations or "doubt" about which level to play in relation to what I feel most comfortable with as dictated by my
bankroll.”
* “What is the big difference in the pro game compared to some to the play I see in the school? I know its T.V and all and it towards the end and play is much different, but still there is something to be learned from the behavior of the pro game that I have observed.
When a pro is playing a pro, I have noticed it's a lot more player vs. player making plays. They use aggression against each other much more here to define themselves. The game is one of aggression among them in NLHE, and that in turn shows their confidence which removes doubt in their play.”
* “Doubt is a scary word for me. If you have doubt, then it can only be a negative attribute to your game. I like to keep a positive, confident attitude when I play. This means feeling confident in all areas of my game.
Trusting my reads, playing my style, adjusting to the table, and feeling confident in all situations are a must. If any of those things prove to be wrong or not working, then deal with it at the proper time and in the proper way (i.e. Adapt your game to the table dynamic, pick a new table/game if its cash, reflect on what wasn't working). If my reads are off on one hand, then I am not going to doubt them because of one/several negative events.”
* “Doubt may be not having enough faith in our decisions on our play, or even our own skills as poker player (since there are many out there who like to berate and tell us we don’t know how to play or think etc.), so that may create doubt in many players. Doubt is many things to many people, how we handle it in this game is something we all must learn to work with, it can be scary, but I think all us can do it.”
* “Doubt to me is when the math says I should bet on the river with top pair good kicker, but a little voice comes in my head say be careful he may be waiting to check raise me. When I listen to the math I get check-raised, and when I listen to the voice, I find out I had him/her beat.”
* "When in doubt, put it out" Not sure I subscribe to that saying, but it just about sums up what doubt is to me. Being unsure of the cards, the player, the odds, the moon and the stars. Sometimes it's not just the hand itself, it can be that feeling you get that something is just not right. Those are the nights when I get knocked out of every pot with 2nd best hand in every hand I play.”
* “One thing I've learned after recently watching Lucy Rokach playing on Poker Night Live, is that there's no room for doubt whilst playing poker. She has the ability to bet into a pot from any position holding any two cards. The advantage of this is that she's always in control. If someone re-raises, she has the option to get out relatively cheaply, or take her opponents’ whole stack, as it's very difficult to put her on a hand. I've noticed that my own game has become very, very tight and predictable. So I've started to employ her tactics, and won my first sit and go using them.
Playing this way means you have to use your own judgment often, and be disciplined enough to release marginal
hands. I felt that I was in control of the tournament for most of the time, although there were a few hair-raising moments. I was instilling fear and doubt into my opponents, which made it easier to play against them.”
As you can see, Doubt does at times mean Don’t! Doubt is something poker players live with, try to control, try to overcome and may still get beat by. Next time you have
DOUBT, let me know how it turned out!