Knowing your limitations in Texas Hold’em
There is an old adage that it is better to know your weaknesses in life than to know your strengths. By sheer definition then you are more likely to veer towards your strengths if you can avoid your weaknesses. With regards to poker then there is a massive amount of ego and self delusion involved and the game contains many “alpha male” type characters. It does not matter who you speak with and what level they are on, a very large percentage of the male poker playing population perceive themselves to be better at Texas Hold’em than they really are.
I think that a large does of respect needs to be adhered to before you can start to make progress. You need to understand and accept that you will need all the outside help that you can get in Texas hold’em with regards to beating the game. You also need to be alert to the fact that as the stakes get higher then the player pools shrink. What this means is that the level of seriousness with regards the players increases as does their sophistication.
So if you are a part time or recreational player then what makes you think that you have the right to play with these people on a regular basis and to have an edge over them? As a poker writer, coach and a person who stakes players regularly then I am busy with doing many non poker playing related things. This is fine but the flip side to this is that your all round game begins to dull with time and you lose sharpness even if you acquire more and more poker knowledge.
You need to identify and accept that this level of sharpness has gone and the only way to get this back is to play constantly. If you cannot do that then what gives you the right to be able to compete successfully with very good players who do nothing but play poker all day long? At least accepting this can be a huge step towards a successful poker career where you identify your level and stay there and slowly accumulate money. I would rather play Texas Hold’em poker and make $50,000 a year than play on with the delusion that I could beat NL600 and recycle money and make nothing.
I always think that you are taking a massive step forward in your poker progression if you admit that you are not as good as you think you are. If more players approached poker in this way then there would be more winning poker players. Experienced players normally transcend through this stage but the amount of time that it takes to reach that stage differs from person to person. Isn’t it better to make $20 a day playing poker than to lose $100 trying to be something that you are not? Starting out playing tight solid poker is one such way to respect not just your own limitations but also the possible strengths of others as well.