The value of being a pessimist
One theme I have picked up on consistently is that the majority of top poker players incline towards being pessimistic...
What does it mean then to take on board a healthy pessimistic attitude to poker.
Some practical examples are:
a. You should be prepared for the worst that can happen, the simple logic is when you see a game you like, evaluate what exactly is the worst thing that can happen to you if you are prepared to accept this then go right ahead and play, if not then you need to look for another game.
A practical example might be say when you join a no limit game. Things start to go badly wrong and they inevitably do to every poker player at some point you could have lost 2 or 3 buy-ins before you can extract yourself from the game. If you stay in the same game this could potentially get much much worse. Think over on the potential consequences both good and bad and place just as much weight on the bad if not more.
b. Another example is when things have been going good for you for a while, where you have been playing well and getting good luck at the same time, this is a very very dangerous time for you. Larry W.Phillips mentions it extensively in his book Zen and the Art of Poker. Complacency may start to creep in to your game, you may be generally more optimistic about your hand as you would otherwise be and more importantly more so than your hand dictates you should be.
After enjoying my best ever winning poker run I have noticed within the past week a complacency creeping in to my own game. My favourite poker book Zen and The Art of Poker has mentioned this phenomenon and it has set alarm bells off in my head.
Hence I have given hold em a bit of a break as I need to get a healthy dose of pessimism back into my game and what better way than to do another article for my website on this very topic.
Also at times like this it is a good time I believe to get to know other forms of poker, for the past few months I have been reading up every now and then on Omaha and have been playing a few times, I believe it is a time for me to work on this game, at the very least I won't be complacent or over confident as I am in danger of right now when I play hold em.
