Redefining Competitiveness in Poker
If I had a dime for every time a poker player used the word competitive, I’d be bankrolled in every major event for two years. We can’t get away from the cheesy TV interviews where each person at the final table is the self-pronounced most competitive person in the world. In fact, I know this statement is false because I am the most competitive person in the world. The truth out of all these statements is that every successful and probably even some non-successful poker players will describe themselves as competitive.
I am going to contend, however, that the competitive spirit is much like a climbing a mountain using one straight path. When we reach the peak, our game shines at a new level. It’s the level that every player wants to attain. It’s when we make great reads on other players, timely moves, and seem to always get the money in at the right time.
Our straight path has two sides, up and down the mountain. First, there is the side that has not yet reached the peak. These are players that play casually, enjoy the gamble of the game, and lack the focus and drive necessary to put in the time and effort required to succeed. My gut tells me this is probably not most of the PocketFives community the majority of the time.
If we stay on this straight path and climb past the peak, we crash hard. Climbing past the peak is something I have noticed in myself, and I can’t explore it honestly with anyone unless I first explore how it affects me. This overzealous competitiveness will hurt players in the long run. That is the zone I want to explore today, in order to see if I can help some of you avoid this tendency in the future.
I do not want to drown competitiveness. Competition is a great thing. Playing to win is a great quality. The right level of competitiveness is what we need to succeed in anything, but especially in a unique game like poker. I will never beat Roger Federer in tennis or Tiger Woods in golf, but in various levels of the game, top professionals and serious players lose to the golf equivalent of a 30 handicap. Poker is a different game than these because of the factor of luck and how it seethes its way into crucial situations.
There are several examples of how people use their competitive spirit in the wrong way. Examples of these include when someone shows a bluff to rub it in to an opponent. While of course it feels great, the balanced, poised competitive spirit strives to think about how this play with or without showing the cards transforms into the rest of the game. Another commonality online is the chat threat. A player making aggressive plays gets the “keep it up” or “I’ll get you.” The player making these comments is giving valuable information away. I have even make the mistake of responding to these comments with “no you won’t” or “highly unlikely I won’t get it in with the best you donk.” These comments are born out of being too competitive. They give away information and create grudges. The game is a game against opponents, and this caliber of emotion entering the game removes us from our peak.
Probably the worst example of stepping out of the optimal competitive zone is focusing too much on the bad beat rather than the bad play. If you are a player that is more riled up by a bad beat then by your own bad play, you are not at your optimal level of competitiveness. As amazing as it sounds, the bad beat is actually a good long term result. The bad play is not. I know that if you are a competitive person, it is almost impossible not to think what might have been after losing a pot to an opponent with a low-percentage hand. This may, however, be the one thing that every poker player needs to forget about.
What has kept me so intrigued with this game is that no matter how terrible I feel at the end of the day, I remember that as long as I manage my money well enough, there is always another day and another chance to learn and win.
Competitiveness in poker needs to warp in the mind of a poker player from winning all the time to playing great all the time. Everyone needs to come to terms with the fact that no matter how great you play or how great you think you are, you will lose a good portion of the time. You will never go undefeated. You will never beat every player. Competitive people usually can’t stand this, but poker competitiveness must be defined in different terms. It must be defined by reaching the optimal level where we are focused on the right things. Always stay focused enough to reach the top of that level, but never too emotionally committed that it takes you over the edge. As a former coach once told me, there is always someone better than you, so go get that someone — just don’t try to play heads up for rolls.
