How to keep the fun in your poker games (part 3)

September 27, 2006

Wow, so you have already been reading part 1 and part 2 of this poker article. While some of you online poker players may be thinking that hi sis a simple story – it is, but a true one.

My friend found himself still in the tourney even though there were only 5 players. Yes, this is a low key, twenty dollar buy in, but it is my friend’s first event ever. He has only tried online poker a few time s before entering this event with me. But he had never been involved in any poker tourney – online or offline. Anyway, I was out but he was still in and I watched the rest of the event intently.

I quickly came to realize that my friend was a tight and aggressive poker player. Was it that he had no fear due to never playing before? Some beginners do well in their first events because they aren’t jaded yet and have an air of nothing to lose. It is this attitude that many of us poker players that have played for so long should refer back to.

In this particular event only the winner and the second place player get paid or win money. Playing this tight yet no holds barred attitude, my friend is now one of 4 remaining players at the table.

At this point I am certain he understands that he must stay on course and stay with the same game play in order to knock any additional players out here. Then the next hand I see him calling a sizable raise then he glares at a flop full of small connected cards. The raiser in this round rifles off his bet. I can see the wheels turning in my friend’s head. I am also hoping that because I know my friend so well that I am in fact the only one who can see the wheels turning.

After a short moment, my friend raises up the bet believing that it is a continuation bet - rightly so too. Then his opponent then folds, leaving my amazed friend with a nice stack of chips to take into his possession knocking another player out. What was he holding – a pair of 4s.

Now, my friend found he was a bit nervous for a whole new reason. He was no longer nervous about starting the event he was nervous about the fact that he really had a shot to win the event. All the while, he was having a really good time – it was obvious. He was having a lot of fun. He was actually showing me how to have fun playing poker and he was only a beginner.

He only needed to stay in the event knocking one more person out to earn a cash prize.

Then, sure as the sun will shine in Florida, during the next hand my friend was up against one of the other two remaining players when his opponent said something like “I can never hope to beat you”  to my friend and that was it – a sign of weakness. Needless to say that player didn’t last and it was head’s up soon after. My friend made only one fatal mistake (we won’t mention the details to keep the fun in the game). He went all in and did not win - BUT HE CAME IN SECOND!

What fun we had that day. We were two friends who each had something to show the other, even though one of us was a gambler at the beginning of the day. The rest of the day was a blast and I could feel his high.

What I hope this online poker story shares with its readers is that some of us who may have been playing poker for years always have room to add a bit of fun into our game. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the money and strategy, we forget we are just playing a game. Watching someone understand tournament success for their very first time can jog your memory that poker is meant to be fun.

Think of it this way, the more we tend to play poker – the more experienced we get - the more we dream of the $12 million payday form winning the WSOP Main Event or something. As beginners, we need to remember that if poker was easy, we would all be rich.

Take the wins as they come just like my friend did no matter what the payday is.

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