Posted by The Captain | Filed under The Pros Speak
A little while back, we presented Chris Ferguson’s thoughts about the UIGEA and how things are shaking out for online poker. He shared his insight on what was and is happening and gave us a lot of information on the subject. But that’s not all we talked about.
Being the character that he is, Chris was also good enough to field a few other questions and give us his thoughts on several aspects of playing poker and improving your game. From physical conditioning to avoiding tilt, here are his opinions in his own words:
What are your thoughts on physically getting in shape as related to making you a better poker player?
I read or hear about so many people working out so that they can play better poker. I think that’s a load of BS. Are they trying to brag about the fact that they work out? I don’t know – I really just don’t get it. I think that if I’m going to try to “train” myself to sit still at a poker table for eight straight hours, the last thing that I’m going to be doing is running around a track. I think that better training would be lying in bed and watching TV.
Speaking of TV, what’s your take on poker television as it relates to playing or improving your game?
You don’t learn how to play poker by watching poker shows. In fact, you probably learn how not to play poker by watching poker shows. It’s entertainment. The only way you learn to play poker is by actually sitting at the table. By watching these shows, you can develop some imagination and it might teach you a few things. But at best, it teaches you as many bad things as it does good. That’s primarily because you have to know the context for the moves that a given player is making in a given situation. TV just doesn’t do that. You only learn and improve by playing a lot of cards and a lot of hands.
Do you think that there is such a thing as a “poker personality” that might give someone an edge as a player?
(Laughing)There are a lot of poker personalities. Actually, I think that someone who has a “poker personality” is someone who can accept and deal with failure and rebound from it. No matter how good you are, you’re going to have times when you fail. How you deal with that is directly related to how well you will do in the future. You just have to be prepared to deal with it. Strangely enough, I see people out there who aren’t prepared to deal with failure. Some poker players who aren’t able to deal with it still do okay, but I think that it’s difficult for them. Those people are tortured and it’s horrible for them emotionally. They’re much more likely to go on tilt and much more likely to be unstable and play badly.
What do you do to avoid going on tilt?
I don’t have to avoid it. Let me put it this way: I have no advantage going on tilt, so why would I do it? That’s my approach. I don’t see what advantage it gives me so I just don’t do it. Honestly, I really don’t understand why people do. Maybe, once in a blue moon, I might think “wow, that’s really horrible – I feel terrible about that.” But it doesn’t mean that I’m going to play the next hand badly. When that next hand comes along, I’m going to play it the best that I possibly can. I guess that I’m the wrong guy to ask – you’d have to ask someone who does go on tilt to get a better picture of it. It’s just something I don’t understand. Taking a beat without tilting is simple: you just don’t do it.
What do you think about playing against, or more to the point, taking money from people on tilt?
I really don’t like taking money from people on tilt. I like taking money from the best players in the world. First of all, there’s a different mindset for some players: they like taking money from anyone. I think that when you’re playing live action it’s kind of distasteful to figure out how to beat a guy and then sit there taking money from him hour after hour. I just don’t enjoy that. On the other hand, if they enter a tournament, then they’ve put their money in and it’s no longer theirs. In that case, I’m playing to win.
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