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Poker theory in real life
It often happens to me, that if I do something a lot, it infiltrates my whole thinking. One period, I played a lot of chess over the internet in my spare time, and in my real life I started thinking things like "If I say A, he will say B, Then I will say C and then he probably says D but may also say E." and "To accomplish that, could he have done fewer moves?" when someone was trying to explain something to somebody.
Now it´s poker I´m playing frequently. A couple of days ago, I was thinking about debating styles, and found out that the poker player stereotypes TP TA LP LA can be used here. Example:
My grilfriends father is what a poker player would call a maniac (he´s not a maniac in real life, though :P). He is willing to discuss anything with anyone no matter how much he knows about the subject. He is also often willing to "bluff", taking arguments right out of the air like "A hundred thousand people die every year because of X". Sometimes, he´s taking the whole pot home with his bluff. The other debators think their hand is beaten, although they may have top pair with a decent kicker. It just sounds like he knows a lot and he is quite "aggressive". But sometimes, someone is holding a monster and goes to showdown and then this loose aggressive debator loses big. It really must be embarassing using fake arguments against someone who is an expert of the subject and then be called down or forced to fold.
The Loose passive debator is willing to take a discussion, but doesn´t say much and often loses. The Tight passive debator only takes a discussion when he knows he´s right, but still may "fold" to an aggressive player bluffing. Finally, the tight aggressive debator only takes a discussion when he knows he has a good chance to win, and when he does, he puts in great arguments that are true or almost true (semi-bluffing), taking the pot home most times. I think this is the guy you should try to be, not only in the poker room.
I consider myself a tight passive debator, trying to get more aggressive. But it´s a hell lot easier in poker than in real life. Though I recently won a discussion against my father-in-law-to-be when he claimed something I knew was untrue. Still, I could have been more aggressive. I was just calling him down, showing the best hand. He could have improved on the turn or the river (taking up new arguments that I don´t know much about).
Please share your similar stories.
W.
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