I have one of the heavier Full Tilt Poker jackets, picked up on a whim when I didn’t know what to do with FPPs. The jacket is perfect for fall weather in Minnesota. I was wearing it the other day when I did some shopping at my local Costco. The young man taking care of me at the checkout register was 19 or 20, and stared at my jacket while I was paying for my order. The following conversation took place while my debit card information was going through:

Cashier: “Full Tilt Poker? Do you work there?”
Me: (laughing) “No. Just play cards.”
Cashier: “For money?”
Me: “Usually, yeah.”
Cashier: “I have about a million play money points on PokerStars.”
Me: “That’s pretty good.”
Cashier: “I’d never play for real money online, though. How do you know it’s safe?”
Me: “Well, I’ve been playing for a few years, and never had a problem getting money out when I wanted.”
Cashier: “I go play at the casino all the time, though. I win at least $100 every time I go there.”
Me: “Wow. That’s really good.”
Cashier: “See, I have this system where when I win $150, I leave. Sometimes I don’t get that much. But I always come close.”
Me: (grabbing my cart) “Well, good luck.”

Every one of us hears stories like this on a regular basis when talking poker with a relative stranger, a never-ending game of “anything you can do, I can do better.” Never mind that if the kid could actually make twice as much playing poker than grinding it out at Costco, he probably would. The poker truth is obvious to anyone who has spent substantial time at the tables.

Truth #1: Anyone good enough to win every time is good enough to know not to set an artificial win limit in such an easily beatable game.,

Truth #2: No game is so easily beatable as to win every time. Rake in the lower-stakes games is very tough to overcome, and sometimes you run bad, regardless of how skilled you are.

So, what’s the big deal? If someone wants to lie about how good they are at poker, who cares?

One of the keys to success at the table is honesty – how much do you know, and how wise are the decisions you make? There’s no room for deception. If you repeat a lie often enough, it tends to become your truth. If you think you’re better and more successful than you are, it leads to all kinds of temptations and bad habits. You may underestimate your opponents and play overly reckless. You may think you can always find a better spot to put your money in, and pass up mathematically correct opportunities. Or you may just play way too high for your roll and put yourself in serious jeopardy of going broke.

There’s no shame in admitting your place in the poker universe. We can aspire to greatness, reaching for the sky…while keeping our feet planted firmly in reality. If you’re willing to take comfort from whatever grind you may be in, you will be better for it in the long run. Ego is a far more dangerous threat to your money than any opponent across the table.

I see a multitude of very talented players every day, much better than I am now, or may ever be. There’s no reason for them to be losing players, but they are, primarily because they put themselves in spots where it’s very difficult to win. Since they aren’t honest with themselves about who they are, they don’t end up in the right place at the right time. In Rounders-speak, they’ve got way too much Mike McD, and not enough Knish.

Am I advocating being a bankroll nit, never taking shots to win big, never challenging yourself to play uphill against players who are better and/or more experienced than you? On the contrary; there’s no way to know what’s over the next hill on your poker journey unless you climb out of your comfort zone. But the path to your destination is safer and shorter if have a good read on where you’re starting.

Be it high-stakes cash, medium buy-in MTTs, the 180-man grind or freerolls; everything’s good. It’s OK to be who you are.

—