I Moved Up in My Hierarchy of Fear!

There is a player in the local 75-150 stud game who I felt like held over me whenever we played together. It seemed that he always beat me when we were heads-up in a pot, he always put the right play on me at the right time. Overall, in my mind it just seemed that he owned me, and this made me fear playing with him.


But that all changed the other night, and it has nothing to do with a play he made on me or the fact that me beat me in another hand or anything at all to do with poker for that matter.


It was the Chinese food.


OK, it wasn't really the food. But, after we played a couple hours the other night 3 handed, and the game broke when the third guy in the game ran out of chips. So I asked him if he wanted to go eat somewhere with me, and he did. (When I said earlier that I feared him, that only pertained to his poker game, because he is a very nice person both at and away from the table.) So we went get some Chinese food at a local restaurant. The topic of conversation dealt with poker most of the time, talking about how we had gotten started in poker, talking about players in the game we play, etc. Then, towards the end of the meal, in what seemed to be completely out of the blue, he said something like, "Why is that that you always beat me when we play together?"


I didn't really know how to respond to that, and, in fact, I don't really remember what I said, but what I do remember was what I was thinking. I don't fear him anymore! Not only that, but he fears me!


I remember a post from a month or 2 back when someone coined the term "Hierarchy of Fear", and that, to me, is the best term I've heard to describe this phenomenon.


Before this occurrence, this guy was ahead of me on my hierarchy of fear, but I was ahead of him on his hierarchy of fear. In other words, we both feared each other. Now I am ahead of him on my hierarchy of fear, so I no longer fear him, but he still fears me. I now have a huge mental advantage over him at the poker table (as long as the cards cooperate).

Of course you realize that I always beat you when we play together...


;-)

"It seemed that he always beat me when we were heads-up in a pot, he always put the right play on me at the right time."


If this statement is true, then the "fear factor", does not adversely affect his play, but maybe makes him play better against you. If he really feared you he would not be at your table or playing headup pots with you.


" I now have a huge mental advantage over him at the poker table (as long as the cards cooperate)"


If you truly feel he was "laying all his cards on the table" during your "dinner session" and not "putting a move on you", then maybe you do have a slight mental advantage against him, but I wouldn't call it huge. To me it's more like two good, solid players who respect each other's play, as surely you can't get complacent against this fellow even with your newly acquired take on the situation.

If you two were gin, pool or chess players, I would say "look out!". My gut says completely disregard this.


The paranoid Dan Z.