Poker and Philosophy: Descartes
by Bodog Poker | Jul 8 2010
Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems. - Rene Descartes
Analytically approaching your
poker game and re-appraising the way you play is not the easiest task in the world, particularly as the game is so full of emotional highs and lows and entanglements of personality in ways that defy cold logic. Beginners find this especially difficult, as they are just learning their way around the game and can frequently find offense in events that are simply part of the game. Solving problems and creating rules for yourself can help every aspect of your game, from basic play to bankrolling.
First: Identify Your Leaks
The first step towards fixing the problems in your poker game is analyzing them as quickly as possible once you have finished playing. Review your hand history (
Bodog Poker makes this a snap) and take a look at your hands and the hands that you fell to – are you blind to flushes, for instance, or do you overestimate the value of a pair of nines early in the betting round? Make sure that you note how you reacted to other player's moves – did they bet you out of a hand that you could have won? Taking the time to break down the problems in your play and using them to create new rules about how you should act in certain situations can help greatly.
Second: Analyze How You Play Positions
Every position requires a different strategy when it comes to betting and by identifying your problematic positions and how they're affecting you, you can improve your play. As mentioned above, you may be too aggressive early in the hand and throwing good money after the blinds, or you may not be capitalizing your later positions enough to maximize the payouts when you do win. Looking at your positions and how much you lose or win in each one and working to correct your deficiencies is a key component of turning your problems into rules.
Third: Analyze By Player
There are software programs and websites out there that can tell you how much you win or lose against a certain type of player. Frequently, these programs will typecast the other players' style. Find the five or six players that you repeatedly lose to and analyze their style – if they're all very similar, that's not surprising. Finding out you're losing against a certain type of player makes it easier to turn the rule of play to your favor, be they loose-aggressive players, maniacs, or even tight-aggressives that push in certain positions more than others.
If you want to be a successful poker player, you must take the time to create a logical set of rules to use while playing. These won't work every time – the fact that so much of poker involves outthinking other players makes that the case – but it can help you find a framework that helps you play better. Every problem can become a rule, and rules create a system.
