agree with archangel1, above. i think this is one of the best threads on ET. absolutely fantastic thread starting post by traderNik, as well. i've known about this thread for a while, but up until a few days ago, i never really knew how to play poker; i just had not played cards much. i started playing on yahoo and now that i'm getting the hang of it, IT IS SO MUCH LIKE TRADING. i started with $1000 on yahoo and i already got up to over $1800 within 3 days of learning how to play (and no, i did not play wildly). being familiar with trading definitely helps when playing poker, and i would also say that successful poker playing probably can help with trading, too. i say this because it reinforces the behavior you need for successful trading. i would bet most people lose money playing poker for many of the same reasons people do trading. there's an older thread by vegasoul discussing the idea that people, by nature, are terrible with risk and financial decisions. i totally agreed with the point made in his thread. EDIT: here is that thread: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20848 i am no poker expert, but here's an example from what i've seen so far: say your cards are not that strong and at the flop, 2 kings come up. i tend to fold here if there are a lot of players because someone may have a king and i'm already in a bad position. so cut the loss short and play the next game. i've seen so many poker players play on 'til the end and lose to someone who had a king. in trading, a similar example would be: you enter a position, immediately you see problems, but you hold on hoping for some chance that it goes you way eventually, but then in the end you exit with a big loss...and you feel terrible because you saw the problems earlier. i could go on and on. another poker example would be how you feel after a big win or a big mistake. instead of doing something risky, just keep doing what works...but a lot of people probably don't do that and make foolish plays. here's 1 more.... i fold right away all the time when my cards suck. i see so many players playing bad cards eager to win/make some money. in trading, that's similar to staying out of the market and waiting for the best trades. poker rules...i like it already.
This is one of my favorite threads too as poker was the first great love of my life. Most of you are probably not old enough to have seen "Mr. Cory", a movie starring Tony Curtis as a pro poker player, but I saw this when I was just a kid and from that point on I wanted to be a pro poker player. Played professionally off and on for a few years but it was much harder to find good games back then. Texas Holdem was unknown on the west coast at that time. If poker had been as popular then as it is now I might have stuck with it. Nowadays you have it made. You can find a decent game at almost any level you want 24/7. Amazing.
Rearden Metal Just curious why you like Omaha H/L . I play it occasionally at lower limits trying to learn its nuances but so far it seems to be my least profitable game. I like straight Omaha and I love 7stud H/L but your game eludes me. Gimme some hints. Ive read the books but something is not clicking.
One thing I find hilarious: when you get a nutball betting to the river each time with crap, then catches his card and wins-- the reaction from "Mr. Self Proclaimed Poker God"...: "This is BS!!!" "I can't believe you stayed in with those cards!!" blah blah blah. He's so upset because he played "correctly" and lost the hand. To me this says he doesn't understand that playing "correctly" means you win over time, not every hand.
Hi archangel, Gordon and others Very nice job. Angel, if you're like me you have one eye on the higher limit tables. Gordon, sounds like you're already playing up there. I, like Rearden, have settled into a comfortable routine playing mainly the sng tables. Again, as in trading, there are many different ways to skin this cat. By the way, your reading list is almost identical to mine. The next frontier for me is multi-table tournament play - I would really like to take a high ITM finish in one of them. The explosion of interest in online poker has been pretty wild to watch. As Rearden said, let's hope that it lasts for a few years. For my fellow beginners - As I get better, I have realized that playing your opponent is often as important as playing your cards. I'm not sure that this idea has an analogue in trading, although one might attempt a stretch and say that different markets require different approaches. For example, I am really careful in the first few rounds of a sit n' go tourney, since I know for a fact that I will get usually get called by some maniac - I haven't seen enough of my opponents' play to know whether they are capable of a laydown or not. If you KNOW that you are going to get called no matter what bet you make, you can adjust your strategy accordingly. I am getting a lot better at winning pots without the best hand, by judging correctly in which situations I can make bets and raises which will induce a fold in an uncommitted player. This is probably a big part of the difference between the best players and the rest. I play mostly at Stars and Party - are there any other sites which have 10,000+ players on a regular basis? Any other sites which have a lot of sng games and multi-table tourneys?
Paradise used to be pretty good but they are losing market share fast mostly because of server problems, I think. You notice that Stars updates their software every couple of days seems like. Stars and Party seem to be where its at for now.
You've just touched on my number one pet peeve! Table coaches are such scum! I usually repeatedly post this link to try and shut them up: http://www.cardplayer.com/?sec=afeature&art_id=296 It's a great article, although anyone with half a brain should know all this intuitively. P.S. Why do I like o8? Deep question, and I really don't know. Have you read Ray Zee's book?
I've briskly read through the first 23 pages of this thread before I went cross-eyed. I've been watching way too much poker on ESPN and the Travel Network. I've been wondering what are the best books on the subject of poker. I'm looking for ones that are more mathamatical/statistical/theoritical (rather than ones written by degenerates who have lost their stake and looking to make a buck). I noticed some of the books mentioned on this thread were; Poker Nation How To Win at Low Limit Hold'em Poker and the Beginning Trader. Any others? Any thoughts on Phil Hellmuth's newer book? Thanks, Axe