eLROY
12-17-2002, 10:28 AM
Poker is a game of missing information. So it is only appropriate that the difference between a pro player making a living, and a broke wannabe on the rail, is a matter of information.
One information difference, is that the pro knows he is a winner, whereas the amateur only thinks he is a winner. You sometimes see posts from beginners who have run Mason's numbers, and complain that they still can't be sure if they're winners. My answer to that is always that if you can't tell exactly where you're picking up bets and where you're missing them, and from whom, chances are eventually someone will take advantage of that to take them from you!
But information held by you - about your own winningness - is still not what this post is about. Rather, the difference between a pro and an amateur in poker is whether or not other people know you're a winner. Because if other people know you have positive ev, you will never be broke. You will always be able to play in the biggest posev game, and never have to worry about swings, because you are a slot machine.
If a new slot machine on the floor at the Mirage kicks out a big payout and goes negative in its first few days, do they take it out of service and stick it in a warehouse somewhere? No, they just reload it with tokens and keep it running. So because its specific hourly rate is known, it will always be making it. If your level of skill is known, you will always be seated at the biggest table in the house, even if you get bad beat 100 hands in a row. Because, as Sklanksy says, every hand dealt to you is money, regardless of whether you win or lose that particular hand.
Because of this information, the pro is making a living 24/7 and never misses an opportunity. Rather than earning, the amateur is still learning. Because no matter how well he plays, he himself cannot know, and an unlabeled can is for the trash. So you could say, the number-one challenge for an amateur is not to earn big bets, but to mine and distribute information about himself.
For a poker player, whether you have a job is whether you have a bankroll. And like any job, the only guarantee you have of keeping it is what other people know about you. Like going to college, no matter how smart you are, you cannot focus on earning until you have first sent a signal about yourself.
You can never know whether the cards will fall your way. But if other people know you have positive EV, then you can know you'll still be making the biggest hourly rate the crowd permits at all times, regardless.
eLROY
One information difference, is that the pro knows he is a winner, whereas the amateur only thinks he is a winner. You sometimes see posts from beginners who have run Mason's numbers, and complain that they still can't be sure if they're winners. My answer to that is always that if you can't tell exactly where you're picking up bets and where you're missing them, and from whom, chances are eventually someone will take advantage of that to take them from you!
But information held by you - about your own winningness - is still not what this post is about. Rather, the difference between a pro and an amateur in poker is whether or not other people know you're a winner. Because if other people know you have positive ev, you will never be broke. You will always be able to play in the biggest posev game, and never have to worry about swings, because you are a slot machine.
If a new slot machine on the floor at the Mirage kicks out a big payout and goes negative in its first few days, do they take it out of service and stick it in a warehouse somewhere? No, they just reload it with tokens and keep it running. So because its specific hourly rate is known, it will always be making it. If your level of skill is known, you will always be seated at the biggest table in the house, even if you get bad beat 100 hands in a row. Because, as Sklanksy says, every hand dealt to you is money, regardless of whether you win or lose that particular hand.
Because of this information, the pro is making a living 24/7 and never misses an opportunity. Rather than earning, the amateur is still learning. Because no matter how well he plays, he himself cannot know, and an unlabeled can is for the trash. So you could say, the number-one challenge for an amateur is not to earn big bets, but to mine and distribute information about himself.
For a poker player, whether you have a job is whether you have a bankroll. And like any job, the only guarantee you have of keeping it is what other people know about you. Like going to college, no matter how smart you are, you cannot focus on earning until you have first sent a signal about yourself.
You can never know whether the cards will fall your way. But if other people know you have positive EV, then you can know you'll still be making the biggest hourly rate the crowd permits at all times, regardless.
eLROY