Poker Winners Are Different

To me poker is not about proving I can beat everyone. It is about paying the bills.”138

Some moderately competent players become winners by playing only against weak players. I call them “walkers” because they walk around looking for soft games. If they don’t find one, they keep walking.

Winners also look for games that favor their style of play. They keep records that teach them, for example, that they win more in shorthanded than full games or that they do poorly against very aggressive opponents. Then they play only in the right kind of games.

is no good to be the tenth best player in the world if the top nine are in your game.”

“We don’t want to prove we are the best player in town, we just want all the money.”

It takes discipline to be selectively aggressive. You came to play, not to sit, but you have to throw away hand after hand. Then, when the right opportunity comes along, you must suppress your fears and merciful instincts and attack ferociously.

wait until I had a good hand and then to attack with it.

For many games, selective aggression is the only winning style.134 It reduces losses on weak hands because you fold them quickly. It protects you against drawouts and increases the profits on your strong hands because you bet and raise when others would just check or call. Both folding and raising are decisive, while checking and calling are often procrastination, ways to avoid acting decisively.

Because you have more information, the later you act, the stronger you are. We saw earlier that a winner would often fold a pair of fives under the gun before the flop, but occasionally raise with them in late position. Position lets you make a wide variety of aggressive moves on every street. For example, you can:
• Raise on the flop with a draw, then take a free card on the turn.
• Semi-bluff on the turn with a marginal hand, then check behind your opponents on the river.
• Value bet the river with weaker hands than you would bet out of position.
The bottom line is that you should be much more aggressive in late position than in earlier positions.

four steps of selective aggression:
1. Wait for the right cards; then play them aggressively.
2. Attack when you have good position.
3. Select games you can beat.
4. Attack weaker players.