Sun Tzu
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Poker
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Industry executives and analysts often mistakenly talk about strategy as if it were some kind of chess match. But in chess, you have just two opponents, each with identical resources, and with luck playing a minimal role. The real world is much more like a poker game, with multiple players trying to make the best of whatever hand fortune has dealt them. In our industry, Bill Gates owns the poker table until someone proves
otherwise. David Moschella
For centuries, chess has been the game chosen to train leaders. However there has been another game that if not replace, then certainly compliments this training. In some ways poker is a better game than chess for honing traits that will produce a superior leader, tactician and strategist.
In chess, both players start with equal forces, in exact layouts and the moves by your opponent are there for all to see. Now to deceive with your moves in full view is an excellent skill, however in chess these moves are based
on what you can see. The chess sage can see into the mind and heart of an opponent by what they see on the chessboard. The question here is how good are they in regard to what they cannot see? This is the essential difference between chess and poker. In poker you cannot see the starting strength of your opponents; you need to divine their strengths or weakness by their moves. Interesting to ponder what a four person chess game would look like?
The next significant difference between both games is that in chess you only engage one opponent at a time. In chess you will need to engage multiple opponents simultaneously and if in a poker tournament this opponents will
constantly change as you progress through the tournament. Finally, if victorious, you will be in a one on one situation or “heads up”. The strategies for playing heads up are very different to playing at a table of say six or
seven other players. The laws of poker do not change but the strategies and tactics definitely do because in each hand, depending on the number of players contesting the pot, the numbers of cards in play changes. So one could say that chess is a “static” strategic game and poker is a “fluid” strategic game. The numbers contesting each hand is uncertain as you never know in advance which players will not play the hand by folding. As each hand the numbers can decrease as the hand progresses so at the beginning of each hand you may start with five and it may end up by you folding. A very different dynamic of battle to chess, therefore a very different skill set is developed.
1.7. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.
Everybody blows their first money. Lorne Michaels
So who better to listen to than poker players who have played and won at the highest level? Here, their own words are linked to those of Sun Tzu and prosper.
1 Laying Plans
1.1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.
1.2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
Playing poker for a living gives you backbone. You cannot survive without that intangible quality we call heart. Bobby Baldwin, 1978 WSOP winner 2001
Your first duty is to the Game; then come Mother, God, and Country. Motto at the National Press Club, Washington D.C.
Life is too long to play bad cards. Frank Di Elsi
1.9. The COMMANDER stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.
Life, like poker has an element of risk. It shouldn't be avoided. It should be faced. Edward Norton
“I’ve always had confidence, but I never let my ego get to the point that I think I’m the superstar, because I know. That ego has destroyed many a poker career.” Jim Boyd
Whether he likes it or not, a man's character is stripped bare at the poker table; if the other poker players read him better than he does, he has only himself to blame. Unless he is both able and prepared to see himself as others do, flaws and all, he will be a loser in poker, as in life. Anthony Holden, author of Big Deal
1.16. While heeding the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.
Everybody today knows what I learned back then because it's in all the poker books. But nobody knew the right way to play back in those days. Doyle Brunson World Series of Poker Winner 1976 1977
I also learned from Johnny Moss - who was the best poker player in the world at that time. I got to watching him and studying him. Doyle Brunson
Once you start thinking you have nothing left to learn, you have everything to learn. Steve Badget
1.18. All warfare is based on deception.
“Cards are war, in disguise of a sport.” Charles Lamb
Besides lovemaking and singing in the shower, there aren’t many human activities where there is a greater difference between a person’s self-delusional ability and actual ability than in poker. Steve Badget
My old pappy always used to say; there is no more deeply satisfying religious experience… than cheatin’ on a cheater. Maverick in the movie Maverick
“Stop cheating!” the dealer told the card player. ”I’m not!” claimed the player. ”You must be,” said the dealer. “That is not the hand that I dealt you.”
1.19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
“It never hurts for potential opponents to think you’re more than a little stupid and can hardly count all the money in your hip pocket, much less hold on to it.” Amarillo Slim
Perception is reality. Immanuel Kant
1.26. Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.
Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you is determinism; thou the way you play it is free will. Jawaharlal Nehru - first Prime Minister of India
“The smarter you play, the luckier you’ll be.” Mark Pilarski
I like to play cards. I'm not very good, because I don't want to calculate, I just play by instinct. But I've learned a lot of business philosophy by playing poker. Jack Ma
It's not the cards that you have all the time that makes you a winner or a loser. Doyle Brunson
Sir, I really like poker. Every hand has its different problems. Henry Fonda, playing Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine
2 Waging War
2.6. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
The winner is not the player who wins the most pots. The winner is the player who wins the most money.
2.19. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
The winner is not the player who wins the most pots. The winner is the player who wins the most money.
Anthony Holden, author of Big Deal (1990)
2.20. Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.
Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser. Stu Ungar
3 Attack by Stratagem
3.1. Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.
You can shear a sheep many times, but you can skin it only once. Amarillo Slim
3.2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
Fear is the basis of all mankind. In cards, you psyche 'em out, you shark 'em, you put the fear of God in 'em.
Everything is mental in life. The butt was made to lug the mind around. Puggy Pearson, 1973 WSOP winner
3.12. There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:
3.13. 1 By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army.
Egotism is the anaesthetic provided by nature to dull the pain of being a damn fool. Chuck Humphrey
3.17. Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
3.17. 1 He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
You will show your poker greatness by the hands you fold, not the hands you play. Dan Reed
3.17. 2 He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
Learning to play two pairs is worth about as much as a college education, and about as costly. Mark Twain
Hold'em is a game of calculated aggression: If you cards are good enough for you to call a bet, they are good enough to raise with. Alfred Alvarez
3.17. 4 He will win who prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
To master poker and make it profitable, you must first master patience and discipline, as a lack of either is a sure disaster regardless of all other talents, or lucky streaks. Freddie Gasperian
3.18. Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
The commonest mistake in history is underestimating your opponent; happens at the poker table all the time. General David Shoup
Poker is like life, most people don't learn from their mistakes, they only recognize them. C Arel
4 Tactical Dispositions
4.4. Hence the saying: One may KNOW how to conquer without being able to DO it.
If you’re a competitive person and you commit yourself to something, you have no choice but to endure.
Vince Burgio
4.8. To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.
If it were easy, everyone would do it. Bonnie Damiano
4.13. He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.
Play like a champ. Win like a champ. Act like a champ. Frank Henderson
Sometimes you'll miss a bet, sure, but it's OK to miss a bet. Poker is an art form, of course, but sometimes you have to sacrifice art in favour of making a profit. Mike Caro
4.14. Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.
Try to decide how good your hand is at a given moment. Nothing else matters. Nothing! Doyle Bunson
4.15. Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.
Most of the money you'll win at poker comes not from the brilliance of your own play, but from the ineptitude of your opponents. Lou Krieger
4.16. The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.
Losing is like smoking. It's habit forming. Puggy Pearson, 1973 WSOP winner
5 Energy
17. Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline, simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength.
It is easy to smile at an insult and pretend it's funny when the person insulting you is hosing you with money. Alfred Alvarez
6 Weak Points and Strong
6.2. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
In a game of poker, I can put the players' souls in my pocket. Beausourire,
Manipulating people is what's so fun about poker. I love that you can just look into someone's eyes and lie - and it's perfectly acceptable. Cheryl Hines
6.13. By discovering the enemy's dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated, while the enemy's must be divided.
Perception is reality. Immanuel Kant
6.25. In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them; conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains.
“All serious poker players try to minimize their tells, obviously. There are a couple ways to go about this. One is the robotic approach: where your face becomes a mask and your voice a monotone, at least while the hand is being played. . . . The other is the manic method, where you affect a whole bunch of tics, twitches, and expressions, and mix them up with a river of insane babble. The idea is to overwhelm your opponents with clues, so they can't sort out what's going on. This approach can be effective, but for normal people it's hard to pull off. (If you've spent part of your life in an institution, this method may come naturally.)” Dan Harrington, Harrington on Hold 'Em, Volume 1:
Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments: Strategic Play
6.26. How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy's own tactics-that is what the multitude cannot comprehend.
When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience leaves with money and the man with money leaves with experience. Anonymous
6.27. All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
The poker player learns that sometimes both science and common sense are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust an expert; that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by those with an academic bent. David Mamet
If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic, we should not get very far in our understanding of the physical world. One might as well attempt to grasp the game of poker entirely by the use
of the mathematics of probability. Vannevar Bush
God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of his own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e., everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens, 1991
7 Manoeuvring
8 Variation in Tactics
9 The Army on the March
9.37. To begin by bluster, but afterwards to take fright at the enemy's numbers, shows a supreme lack of intelligence.
If you reraise a raiser, and he doesn't raise you back, you know he has kicker problems. Crandall Addington
10 Terrain
10.1. Sun Tzu said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground; (2) entangling ground; (3) temporizing ground; (4) narrow passes; (5) precipitous heights; (6) positions at a great distance from the enemy.
10.8. With regard to NARROW PASSES, if you can occupy them first, let them be strongly garrisoned and await the advent of the enemy.
A card player should learn that once the money is in the pot, it isn't his any longer. Herbert Yardley
10.24. The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.
The strong point in poker is never to lose your temper, either with those you are playing with or, more particularly, with the cards. There is no sympathy in poker. Always keep cool. If you lose your head you will lose all
your chips. William J. Florence
The thought of money and fame and all that is nice to have. But it's not what's really important. Doyle Brunson
10.31. Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete.
The single greatest key to winning is knowing thy enemy — yourself. Andy Glazer
The odds are merely a framework for play, like the lines of a tennis court. David Spanier
Avoid people with gold teeth who want to play cards. George Carlin
If you know poker, you know people; and if you know people, you got the whole dang world lined up in your sights. Brett Maverick
"Poker reveals to the frank observer something else of import—it will teach him about his own nature. Many bad players do not improve because they cannot bear self-knowledge." David Mamet
11 The Nine Situations
11.26. Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared.
It's unlucky to be superstitious. Dave Enteles
11.60. Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy's purpose.
11.61. By persistently hanging on the enemy's flank, we shall succeed in the long run in killing the commander-in-chief.
11.62. This is called ability to accomplish a thing by sheer cunning.
Put yourself in their shoes before you decide on the best way to take their shirts. David Sklansky
11.65. If the enemy leaves a door open, you must rush in.
Opportunity may knock, but it seldom nags. David Mamet
12 The Attack by Fire
13 The Use of Spies
13.24. Lastly, it is by his information that the surviving spy can be used on appointed occasions.
The poker player learns that sometimes both science and common sense are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust an expert; that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by those with an academic bent. David Mamet
13.27. Hence it is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for purposes of spying and thereby they achieve great results. Spies are a most important element in water, because on them depends an army's ability to move.
You have to learn what kind of hand this guy shows down, what that one's moves, watch the veins in his neck, watch his eyes, the way he sweats. Johnny Moss
Poker's a day to learn and a lifetime to master. Robert Williamson III
A day to learn and a lifetime to master; the game of poker
A day to read and a lifetime to master; the Art of War