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About success (A bit of poetry part I)

In poker, there are lots of players who act like they are very successful, like they beat the games regularly, and for a goodly sum. In reality, only a selected few are winners, and most of the players who seem to be beating the games only break even in the long run, or even lose. A lot of decent, though not great, players have a pattern of success that looks like this. They win three or four sessions in a row, are in total control, look confident, and are telling everybody who will listen about their expert plays, and the amounts of money they have won. Then, in the fifth session when probability catches up with them and Lady Luck favors someone else, they lose back all the money they have made in the past couple of days, while cursing their bad luck- and the good fortune of their opponents. Even though quite a few of the players described here may be viewed at as winners (because they win so often, and seem so knowledgeable), the truth is that most of them need other sources of income to be able to pay the rent- or even to stay in action.

For those who have been around for some time, it should be fairly easy to spot the winning player. If you see someone who is always around, who is nice and friendly towards his fellow players and who seems unaffected by wins or losses, no matter how unlucky he is, then chances are you are facing a winning player. If you see him folding hand after hand without complaining, if you see him raking in pot after pot claiming "he just got lucky", and if a big pile of chips in front of him doesn't affect his personality or his modesty, then the odds go up. And if you see him making the right decisions all the time (such as making seat changes to get better position on his opponents or move to a potentially more profitable table, regardless of whether he is up or down at the moment), then you can be sure you are facing a tough professional. People often wonder what the hell I'm doing when, after having just raked in a huge pot, I move over to another seat. They don't understand that quite frequently I quit a game with a loss -sometimes even without having won a single pot- because they would only leave the table a winner. They don't understand that quite often I'm not even playing the biggest game in the house- after all, I am that Card Player writer, who is always telling others how to play, right? What they forget is that the professional, winning player should always try to find himself the best game*, table and seat regardless of results. It is this characteristic that separates the true winners from the wannabees: winners try to make the best possible decisions regardless of results, and they don't let any up- or downswing influence their actions. A friend of mine who, after all those years, still can't figure out why I've been so successful (because I seem to be doing nothing special, and I don't seem to know that much more than others) has a phrase he always uses in this respect: "You cannot argue with success." I love this quote, even though a better one might be "You cannot argue with long-term success." In my experience, it is far from easy to become successful in poker, and then stay successful over an extended period of time. You will have to stay on top of your game, you will have to overcome long stretches of bad luck, you will have to beat opponents who adjust to your play and who keep getting better all the time, you will have to beat the ever increasing rake, and when you have done all that you will have to win so much that you are not only able to cover your expenses, but to have a decent life as well.

* The "best" game in my opinion is not just the most profitable game, it is also the least dangerous game. It is this last aspect that is habitually underestimated by quite a few otherwise good players. As a result, these players experience a lot more big losses than I do, and are more prone to go on tilt, acquire some bad habits or fall into a never-ending losing streak.

During my five years as a pro, I have seen lots of players come and go. Most of them seemed eager to make it, and without exception they all thought they had the qualities and the abilities required for success. A few of these relatively new players would even claim to be as good or better than some of the daily pros like me ("after all, what is it makes you so special?") and had firm, clear-cut views on how poker should be played. And of course, these players claimed to be able to make enormous amounts of money, a whole lot more than all those grinders like me had made in the past. Quite often, some of my fellow players would react to the presence of such a new guy with: "Wow Rolf, this guy is really good. I have seen nothing like this before!" But then, when probabilities would catch up with our new star, and the leaks in his game would become awfully clear, he would keep hanging around for just a little longer- and then simply disappear. (For related stories, I would refer to the essays "The best player I've ever seen" and "An illusory winner" in John Feeney's excellent book Inside the poker mind.) For today, I would like to end with a little poem about success, written by Emily Dickinson. It may not have any educational value, but I love poetry and this is one of my all-time favorite poems. It goes like this:

Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.

Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of victory

As he defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear.

In my next column, I will highlight another one of my other favorite poets, Robert Frost. After that, I will get back to poker strategy again. Take care, you guys, and good luck.

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