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The All In Urgency
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
I have started working in earnest on my poker game. I am starting from scratch. Back to basics…this unfortunately means back to freerolls. UGH. I know it is a horrible thought. I haven’t played in a freeroll in years besides with WPC. They make me crazy. But I figure if I am going to start fresh then I need to start at the beginning. My beginnings in poker were occupied with free rolls. It didn’t kill me but you would be amazed at what you can live through.
I have to admit that I was not struck by lightening and my game didn’t come to life in two games. But…I did manage to figure one thing out. The all in mentality. I could never quite come up with the reasoning behind going all in or huge raises so early in a game. In most cases someone who starts out that way fades quickly and they are lucky if they see the first break never mind coming close to the money (or in this case points.)
Today it hit me. I finally get it. It’s urgency. It’s the need to accomplish everything at record speed. Knowing what we do about human nature, especially in the fast paced world that we live in, it is natural for us to want everything done and done quickly. Poker is no different for some. Most of us are happy to gain our chips in the traditional fashion using skill and knowledge. The all in needs the adrenaline rush. They need the excitement and energy. All in brings instant results and instant gratification. The all in provides those who employ it with a temporary high.
Urgency is an almost like an addiction. In certain aspects of my life I am a junkie myself. I just never let it anywhere near a poker table. It has no place there and it enforces bad play and a downward spiral when it is no longer effective.
Through the urgency issue comes the bigger issue: control. I know at live events I have met people who I knew instinctively were all in fanatics. I just could never put my finger on why. I could not figure out what it was about their personality that gave me clues to that style of play. It hit me today. Urgency and control. Players at a poker table are unpredictable. Their play is not easy to control. The all in personality cannot handle that part of poker. It is easier for them to go all in before the flop and be able to control at least that part of the game. There is no post flop play. There is nothing that adversaries can do to combat them after the flop.
We all know this is a self destructive path in our everyday lives. It has no less an impact on the poker tables.
