Do you ever get that itch? The itch to bet, to head to the nearest gambling establishment, to come across a great stakes casino game of Hold em, to sit at a Twenty-one table for hours on end. I love that itch. And I like to scratch it.
I also love to watch folks gamble. No 2 poker faces seem alike. When I gamble I like to feel I put on a poker face that is impassable. Except I know I’ve particular mannerisms. For 1, the only time I smoke cigarettes is when I wager on poker or Black jack. And then I smoke. Except I chain smoke whether or not I am winning or losing, whether or not I’ve a great hand or bad.
I once bet inside a weekly poker game. The game was generally 5 card draw. There was a player who bet with us just about every week who often wore a hat. When he was dealt a great hand, subconsciously, he would start touching and wagering with his hat. Pointless to say, he in no way won.
The very best poker player I ever saw was a gentleman who created much more actions and signals at a poker table than anyone I had ever seen. He was impressive in the way he dressed. Always an costly suit and tie, shoes shined and nails manicured. He was diligent in this manner. And he was generally brushing his pants or rubbings his hands or stacking his chips in tidy little piles.
I use to study him for hours. I’d attempt to see if I could spot his tell. Picking fuzz off his jacket- did this imply he was bluffing? Stacking his chips in a very short pile – did this mean he had a good hand?
Several years later I bumped into him in a bar in Philly and we had a beverage. I asked him if he were aware of all those movements he produced or if they had been subconscious. He informed me that just about every single thing he did at a poker table was deliberate. He said that everybody is usually checking out everyone else’s poker face. They’re trying to spot the the tell.
So his system was to give them lots to consider about. His reasoning was if they have been thinking about him selecting a piece of fuzz off his coat and what it meant they sure weren’t thinking about their cards.
His system was distraction. And it worked for him. By no means give up a method that operates for you.