Poker From The Rail

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Everybody has a different story about how they got started in poker. My love affair started with a silly game with friends around a kitchen table playing nickel ante games like midnight baseball, low in the hole, follow the Queen, or just about any variation that removed skill but upped the fun times. My entire bankroll was whatever coins I could fit into my little Crown Royale pull string bag. I can’t be the only one who used one of those. But before long I found myself hosting real games and cutting my teeth in the low-limit games at the Taj in Atlantic City. Some day I may write about those old times and some of the players in the game. That was so long ago, now I can’t believe now my only income is derived from many different parts of the game.

No matter how much I’ll grind on about this sick game, it’s in my blood and I love it.

We all have a story to share about how we came to play poker whether for fun or profit or as a way of life. Guest blogger Swail returns with his second guest post and wants to tell you why he loves this game.

Why I Love Poker
by Swail

In my last post I discussed some of the things that led to me feeling like I’m constantly on the rail, even though I’ve been a pro poker player for 6 years. Why would I go through all these hardships just to play a game of cards? I’ve had several conversations with old-timer pros who’ve told me that if they’d put the same amount of time and energy into other endeavours, they’d be better off. Even Mike Matusow says he hates his life. So why do I keep playing the game? For one, it’s in my blood and it always has been, I’ll discuss that a little later. But there are other things that influence the decision. Actually, there are a bunch of reason I love this game.

Before I became a pro I went through a phase back in Montreal where I played in an underground game with a bunch of crusty old Quebecois ex-gangster types. The game was either $5-10 or $10-20 limit Holdem, and occasionally we’d switch to limit Omaha high only. There I was, a 22 year old kid who barely even knew how to play, rubbing elbows with these nitty old-school grinders. They must have been licking their chops at the sight of a poker shrimp like me, but it didn’t take long for me to become a break even player. Overall I’d say that I really cut my teeth in that game and learned a lot about emotional control and bankroll management. I always wanted to play as much as possible, I was always the first player in and last to leave, regardless of my results. But the game only went twice a week for 8 to 12 hours. I had no bankroll, and thus always had to pull out all the stops to make sure I had enough money to survive every last minute of the action. The rush of playing poker gripped me right from the get-go, even though I had no skill. So I guess I’d have to say that my biggest reason for loving the game of poker is the rush or thrill of the game. There’s no other game in the world where fortunes are decided so frequently and with such grace on the turn of a card.

Back in those days, whenever I had a nice $500 win I could buy my friends a few beers, pick up the latest poker books, and still pad my slow-growing bankroll. At some point I had a thought, if I took poker more seriously and became a regular winner, I could enjoy this kind of freedom and financial independence all the time. Freedom is a huge reason I love being a poker player. I don’t answer to anyone, I play when I want, and I can play whatever game I feel like playing so long as I can afford it. It’s a really sweet deal. Even though it can be tough to be a pro, the trade off is definitely worth it for me.

I think the challenge present in the game is another thing that keeps me interested. Aside from the money and the rush of hitting a good run of cards, there’s a whole heap of layers to the game and it’s fascinating to peel them away. I have a ton of little games I play inside my head at the table that ensure I have a grip on things and am constantly working to gain little edges. Things like, I might close my eyes and make up a personality profile for each player at the table from memory. When I open them, I see who I forgot, and if my opinions change when I’m looking my opponents in the face. Sometimes I have people pegged all wrong, but that doesn’t matter. There are endless ways you can challenge yourself to stay frosty and improve your game, that’s what matters. I think living with these kinds of challenges in your life is really healthy for the human brain. Even though I haven’t been in school for several years, I always feel like a student. I think poker in general keeps people younger and sharper, even if you’re a bad player.

I alluded earlier to me personally having an above-average tendency towards gambling. I have three examples to illustrate this and I’d be curious if there are any other serious poker players out there who have similar stories. I don’t know if it’s nature or nurture, but these three experiences from my youth clearly foreshadowed my path as a poker player.

The first story goes back to the playground in grade school. I played marbles with the other kids everyday, but my parents never had to buy me a single marble. I can’t remember how I ever started building my collection, whether I was some kind of marble shooting super talent or what, but I had hundreds, maybe thousands of marbles in every color, style and size. I can still remember hanging out with a fellow marble shark and how we would snicker at the privileged kids as they walked warily onto the marble battleground. Their parents would buy them really nice marbles, ninjas and dinosaur eggs, usually King Kong or Jumbo sized, some with the coveted rainbow gas on them. We instinctively felt like it was our job to try our best to take those marbles home. We played fair and we usually won.

My second memory is a similar phenomenon, but this time I was around 13 or 14. I think many poker players can relate to this story because it involves those Magic cards that were so popular back in the 90s. When I was in the 9th grade I didn’t even really know how to play Magic the Gathering, and I never even bought so much as one card. Yet somehow I managed to gather a really large collection of cards, around two or three boxes full. I can’t explain it. I don’t remember how it happened, all I remember is that for a short period of time I focused on making trades with the right kids at the right time. When black was popular I’d unload all my black cards for green. Later, I’d collect the dividends when a newly released series’ would sway people’s affections back towards green. Eventually I traded my whole collection for cash.

At 19, I wasn’t as smart as I had been when I was in school. This story exemplifies a different aspect of my gamble-ready psychology, and also deals with a common leak for poker players everywhere, the house games. I moved to Halifax (the biggest city on Canada’s east coast) with my girlfriend at the time. She was smart and going to university. I was dumb and just worked in a record store. Inevitably, we turned out to be incompatible and we fought often. I got into gambling at the casino instead of going home. At first I’d go to the casino just to mess around and see how fast I could turn $40 into bus fair home. Eventually, I convinced myself that I would win if I took blackjack more seriously and followed my basic strategy card to the letter. Then one day I took $600 out on a cash advance from my credit card and headed over to the casino. The game in Halifax was 6 deck blackjack with a $25 minimum bet and $500 maximum. I started betting the minimum in two spots. A few hands later I had $1000 in front of me. Naturally, I increased my bets to $200 per spot. If I lost the next hand I figured I’d still have the $600 I started with right? Well, I never needed to worry about that because I was dealt two blackjacks. I now I had $1600. What next? Many people would just walk away with a tidy profit, but I decided it would be more logical to continue with the same reckless betting system. I bet $500 on two spots. I won both bets! I bet again, and won again! I was doubling down now, $500 on $500, WINNER! People started standing behind me and watching me play. Who was this kid? In a matter of only around 15 hands I had run my $600 up over 11 grand. I don’t think I lost a single hand. But then… the unthinkable happened. In the very same shoe, I managed to go almost completely broke. One minute I was collecting 3 to 2 for blackjack, winning an absolute fortune. The next minute I was shovelling it all into the middle with complete disregard for the value of money. In just one shoe of blackjack I had gone from nothing, to 11 grand, and then nothing again. But the important thing here is that I felt nothing. I never cared much about the whole incident. I just chalked it up to a crazy run of cards never blaming myself one way or the other. The truth is if the situation were exactly the same today, I’m not sure I would play it any different. I guess some of us are just hardwired for action and that’s why we love poker.

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4. Guest Post: The Dark Side of Poker
5. Guest Post – Tuscaloosa Johnny

Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Swail

Permalink | January 27th, 2010 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

2 Responses to “Guest Post – Why I Love Poker”

1. Melody LLewellyn Says:
   January 27th, 2010 at 9:36 pm

   ON THE RAIL SWAIL!!!

2. Canadian Online Casino Says:
   February 19th, 2011 at 3:42 am

   Figure out how much you’ll be able to afford to lose and stick to your spending budget. Bear in mind that the concept of individuals obtaining rich via on-line casinos is commonly only a myth, unless you’re among the lucky few.

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