Poker Face
Do you ever have that itch? The itch to gamble, to head to the closest gambling house, to discover a great stakes game of Hold em, to sit at a Black-jack table for hours on end. I really like that itch. And I like to scratch it.
I also love to watch individuals wager. No 2 poker faces seem identical. When I gamble I like to consider I put on a poker face that is impassable. Except I know I have particular actions. For one, the only time I smoke is when I play poker or Black-jack. And then I chain smoke. But I chain smoke whether or not I am winning or losing, whether or not I have a excellent hand or bad.
I once played in the weekly poker game. The game was usually five card draw. There was a player who played with us just about every week who generally wore a hat. When he was dealt a very good hand, unconsciously, he would begin touching and playing with his hat. Pointless to say, he never won.
The greatest poker gambler I ever saw was a person who created much more actions and gestures at a poker table than anyone I had ever seen. He was impressive in the way he dressed. Always an high priced suit and tie, shoes shined and nails manicured. He was meticulous in this manner. And he was always brushing his pants or rubbings his hands or stacking his chips in neat little piles.
I use to study him for long periods of time. I’d tried to see if I could notice his tell. Selecting fuzz off his vest- did this mean he was bluffing? Arranging his chips in a very short pile – did this mean he had a excellent hand?
Many years later I ran into him inside a bar in Chicago and we had a beverage. I asked him if he were aware of all those movements he manufactured or if they had been subconscious. He told me that each individual thing he did at a poker table was intentional. He said that everyone is usually checking out everybody else’s poker face. They’re trying to detect the the tell.
So his method was to give them lots to feel about. His reasoning was if they were pondering about him choosing a piece of fuzz off his coat and what it meant they positive weren’t pondering about their cards.
His method was distraction. And it worked for him. Never give up a program that functions for you.