Poker and Philosophy: The Details
by Bodog Poker | Oct 7 2010
The details are details. They make the product. The connections, the connections, the connections. It will in the end be these details that give the product its life. — Charles Eames
Charles Eames was a design prodigy, born in the first decade of the twentieth century and one of the key figures in the midcentury movement. He started his own architectural practice in St. Louis in 1930 and in 1941, he married his colleague Ray Kaiser. Their first major work together, the Eames House, is widely cited by designers and architects to this day, especially as it was built entirely with pre-fabricated steel parts that were designed and intended for industrial construction. In the 1950s, they expanded their work and moved into modern furniture design, working with new technologies to create “the look” that has become a hallmark of the 20th century.
One of the things that makes Charles and Ray Eames's work stand out from the crowd is the use of minimal details that provide an almost subliminal sense of an object's “oneness.” Your use of details and knowledge of the game is how you differentiate your poker game from your peers, who may be equally educated in the game but not able to make the small decisions that build a better player. For example, you may use small bets over the course of a few hands to feel out an opponent and their playing style before pushing them harder.
Using details to build out your game works both ways. Taking small cues from other players and understanding how they're likely to play with certain cards go hand-in-hand and you'll be able to respond in kind by building a picture of yourself out of details that may nor many not be entirely true. You may choose to go soft in a couple of key hands early on to create the illusion that you're tight, for example, or stick to a tight-aggressive style for the majority of an event before loosening at the end and surprising your opponents with occasional bluffs.
The "great" poker players are ones that use details they obtain from other players along with their own skills to maximize their hand at any given time. Bodog's own Evelyn Ng, for example, has a unique playing style that seems very casual and laconic but is actually very active, constantly shifting by degrees to get the most out of any given moment. She'll start a tournament playing very conservatively, building a mental dossier of her opponents, making strategic bluffs to feel out the other players and after a while, pushing on the pots that she's entered on, taking command without her opponents realizing it.
Eames built beautiful furniture and homes out of relatively little, frequently using less than his peers to create something that was somehow greater. You can do the same with a deck of cards and the right choices in your play. Take a look at the details of your play and learn how to get the most impact out of them.
