a question for jim brier

hey jim,


1st off, i enjoy your posts and columns, but a line in your recent column sparked a question.


*this is in no way to take away from your article*


the line


"Furthermore, if you call now and a blank comes at the river, you may be calling a river bet as well, so you could be making an $80 decision here"


when i first learned a little gambling, one of the first rules i learned is to not put monetary value on your bet. use units


now i know there are 2 main schools of thought on counting bets. 1 is by actual $...the other by how many Big bets are in...neither are wrong


but in keeping with leaving the monetary value out, when writing a column to appeal to a wide variety of player types, why not phrase the line as


"Furthermore, if you call now and a blank comes at the river, you may be calling a river bet as well, so you could be making an 2 big bet decision here"


i believe its better to play to the table and not the limit. since some lower limit games are tougher than the higher limit ones. this way its also more generalized to different limits.


when i read a column and see that they put it almost limit specific this way, it tends to centralize around the monetary factor. whether by accident or design.


some lower limit guys look and say "whoa! $80? " taking the meaning out of context, they may miss the point that its 2 big bets. therefore, appliable to their limit too.


for background its kinda cool though as far as setting of the story.


just wondering your thoughts on this. even though it may seem petty, i know, but ive seen this in many other columns from many other authors.


sure a majority of the readers can probably make the transition and apply it to their games, but wouldnt a more common ground serve better to make the point?


thanks...


b

Technically, you are correct. Writing in terms of bets rather than dollars makes a lot more sense. I have discussed this with my partner, Bob Ciaffone, as well as other writers. The problem is that it is like stating that we should use the metric system of measurement instead of the english system. The metric system is superior and is used in most other countries throughout the world. But the reality is that people in this country simply refused to think in metric terms. The "go metric" movement of the 1970s simply fizzled out. Poker players think in terms of dollars. They win and spend "dollars" not "bets". So we made the decision to keep using dollars.

I do not, cannot, will not, think in terms of dollars when I'm playing. If it goes to three bets on the turn in a $15/30 game, I think of it as three bets, or perhaps 18 chips. I don't think of it as $90. If I were to think in terms of money, I'd freeze up. Betting $90 on the turn of a card is ridiculous. I can buy a lot of groceries with $90. When a dealer says, "raise to $90," I ask him not to. That makes it sound like real money. That's no good. It's only chips. It's only chips.

Jim,


I like to think in terms of bets too. It helps eliminate mistakes when jumping back and forth between limits such as 15/30 and 20/40.


Regards,


Rick

thanks for the reply...


i actually dont think they are quite one in the same. a unit is standard and definitive no matter what limit, but the dollars can change value depending on the limit. unless of course its no limit or pot limit. then its a little more gray.


of course, using dollars can make it seem maybe a little more 'glamorous' to newbies. "whoa! see how much he bet there!" haha...


thanks again for responding...


woo hoo


b

I like you're points bernie, but you should realize that what's best poker wise conficts with a writing style. When writing, you don't want to keep using the same words over and over and over. So from a poker sense, it's better to talk in bets, but it may not be better writing. Does that make sense?

Do "Poker players think in terms of dollars"?


I don't really know, but I find it hard to imagine it is the norm. It is probably something I just never noiticed.


D.

yes, because it may sound less 'clinical'. meaning less like a text book.


b

yeah, its pretty funny. one time im playing in a pretty big (for me) game and splash some chips into the pot pretty hopelessly(but it was a big pot, etc.,etc.). later on for some reason i thought about the dollar value i pretty much threw away and it was like looking at one of those trick pictures where you can see either an old woman or a young woman but you cant see them both at the same time.


brad

the young woman usually appears when ya drag the pot. /images/smile.gif