We Are All Salesmen
A few weeks ago, I lost my job. Well, technically, that’s not true. I know where it is. It was just taken from me.
After I was let go, my former employer arranged for a series of sessions with an “outplacement coach.” I don’t need most of their services – I’m not in a crisis about what I want to do for the next phase of my life, I already know my Myers-Briggs results (ENTP), and my resume is never more than a few months out of date. But I’ve been going anyway, and doing my best to get something out of each meeting. I’m unemployed. What else should I be doing with my days?
In my first meeting, we spoke mostly about my professional approach and qualities that make me a good candidate to a potential employer. Somewhere in the conversation, I used one of my stock lines: “No matter what job function we have, we all have to be salesmen. We have to know how our role serves the bottom line of the company and the needs of our customers.” I’ve said that for years, not only because it’s a good interview line; I truly believe it. I don’t believe everything I say in an interview, but this I take to heart.
Later on, my coach was talking about my “job function,” as someone looking for employment. She said, “You’re still a salesman. You have to sell how you can help the bottom line of the company and the needs of the hiring manager; he’s your customer.” To that end, we’ve spent a good deal of time going over answers to common interview questions. The more time you spend on the strategy of your pitch, the better chance you’ll have for success.
Since I tie almost everything in my life back to poker…you can guess what’s coming next….
The majority of poker hands are resolved before showdown. If you win a pot because your opponent folds, nobody ever sees your winning hand – unless you voluntarily show it. Therefore, it doesn’t matter what cards you have. What matters is how you bet, and the story you tell to convince your opponent to do what you want.
Each hand is a little miniature sales pitch, a series of negotiations hopefully ending up in your favor. The strategy you develop for your pitch is based on who’s in the hand, what position you are in, and how many chips you can win – either your stack or your opponents, whichever is smallest (called “effective stacks” in poker theory).
All three factors are equally important, but we only have complete information about stacks & position. If we are playing six or more tables, there is too much going on to make reads on your opponents, so we can’t rely on opponent speculation. Most players understand the importance of position, and are aware just exactly how detrimental playing bad hands from early position can be. If we’re ineffective poker salesman, lacking a basic understanding of position is the least likely of our concerns.
Bet sizing leaks are the easiest for us to fix, and most common for us to ignore. Most hands posted on PocketFives are asking questions like “should I call/raise/fold?” when their position would have been easily avoidable if they had made different size bets in the first place.
Sometimes players:
– bet too small and leave a ton of value on the table when their opponent would have called more.
– bluff too big, risking too many chips.
– fail to plan out bets across all streets in a hand, leaving a situation where they’re not committed (or overcommitted) to the pot and left with a tricky decision that never should have been a possibility.
In all three cases, their pitch was poorly conceived, and now they can’t close the deal to win the pot.
The trickier part of poker, as we all know, is tailoring our strategy to the specific opponent in a hand. Unless we’re high-stakes regulars, or playing something other than NLHE, we rarely have detailed histories and reads on anyone. Even if you use PokerTracker or another heads-up display, you likely won’t have enough hands with another player to generate any useful data for them.
All we can do is make a generalization and go from there. A common generalization online, especially in micro-stakes, is to label a player a “calling station”. They don’t really understand hand strength, implied odds, and position. If you’ve seen someone limp from UTG+1 with 8-5 suited, call a raise, and call someone all the way down with 3rd pair on an Ace-high board…that’s the guy I’m talking about.
Making a sales pitch with a calling station is like talking about money with a child. My two elementary-school kids don’t know what I make, what things cost, or the general value of money. As a parent, I’ve been directly or indirectly involved in dozens of conversations which go something like this:
Child: “I want to go to the amusement park and the arcade and play video games.”
Parent: “No, we’re not going to the amusement park. It’s too expensive for tickets, gas, and parking.”
Child: “Well, I have some money in my piggy bank.”
Parent: “That’s very generous of you, but no.”
Child: “C’mon, please! I’ll give you a million dollars if you take me!”
A calling station in a micro-stakes MTT is a child. Treat them like a child. Don’t try to make them fold. Don’t even think about bluffing. Playing small-ball, pot-control poker with someone who doesn’t understand what their chips are worth is throwing away value you desperately need to get through the minefield. If your opponent will give you everything out of their piggy bank to “play at the arcade”, gambling their entire stack with a draw against your made hand…then let them.
Anything else qualifies as Fancy Play Syndrome, and that’s nothing more than a bad sales pitch.
Like poker, selling is a game of determination, persistence, and tenacity. Salesmen hear the word “no” more than anyone else on the planet. And yet, the next pitch you give may be the one to make your month. Poker players, especially tournament players, need the same tenacity. The next session you play may be your next huge score. Make your best pitch.
Every rejection – like every tournament ouster – gets you closer to your next sale. Or your next big pot.
*The opinions expressed in this article and all member-submitted content belong solely to the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of PocketFives.
