Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis ligula lorem, consequat eget, tristique nec, auctor quis, purus. Vivamus ut sem. Fusce aliquam nunc vitae purus.
WPT Information
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis ligula lorem, consequat eget, tristique nec, auctor quis, purus. Vivamus ut sem. Fusce aliquam nunc vitae purus.
Women's Only Events
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis ligula lorem, consequat eget, tristique nec, auctor quis, purus. Vivamus ut sem. Fusce aliquam nunc vitae purus.
Online
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis ligula lorem, consequat eget, tristique nec, auctor quis, purus. Vivamus ut sem. Fusce aliquam nunc vitae purus.
Reading Players
Friday, April 20, 2007
Two weeks ago on Womens Poker Hour we had an impromptu guest who was in Hold em Radios studio now located in Binions. Steve Frederick was in the studio and we decided to put him on the spot and on the air. One of the things that Steve noticed about poker players that he saw on television, which is something that got him into the game of poker, was the fact that many of the players he saw were stock brokers, traders etc… which was the same background he comes from. I did some investigating online and he was right. Many of the amateur and even some professionals started out playing with other peoples money in real life. I also noticed that many of those same players are noted for aggressive play.
This got me thinking back to college law classes and an old final paper that I worked on for months about jury selection and the Voir dire process used across the United States. When lawyers pick juries in court cases, the process is very un-politically correct. The attorneys rely heavily on behavioral stereotypes and pay very close attention to the actions of the prospective jurors before during and after the process. It is not always based on giving the “right” or “wrong” answers during the process itself. By stereotypes I do not mean age, creed or orientation. It goes well beyond the obvious “profiling” that we hear so much about these days.
One of the things I remember from doing that paper was learning how to read people through means other than yes or no answers to specific questions. Preference of career, for example, means a lot when figuring out a persons personality. Most people who work with in the “helping” industries such as social workers, teachers and therapists, have the tendency to be more nurturing and caring. For a prosecution they are the most likely to have sympathy for a defendants background and the mitigating circumstances that lead to a crime. In civil cases they are the most likely to return large settlements to injured plaintiffs as they like to see justice done. Mostly people of this nature sit openly. They are normally engaged in conversation and are easy to approach. They are probably clean and well dressed, though not neurotic about polished shoes and every hair in its place.
The opposite is generally true of people in upper management positions in big business. Their dress is immaculate and perfectly put together. They are most likely reading the business section or business magazines. They are not normally easy to engage in conversation. In civil cases they hold their purses close to their chests. In criminal cases they can be the states best friend and the defendants worst enemy. They tend to see things in black and white and pay very close attention to detail and facts many times ignoring any factors along the way. These are two basic and very opposite personalities. There are many “personality” types in between these two and all fit into a general mold but in order to go that deep, I would have to write another 35 page paper and I am way too old to work that hard. So, for clarity's sake, I described these two extremes. The challenge, however, is to know what to look for, identify the clues and then put them together into a logical picture which can reflect your opponents psychological patterns. How does this fit into poker? In every conceivable way. Poker is reading people. Poker players rely on knowing quickly and based on very little fact how a person will approach the game. Knowing how each of these personalities will play poker is key in knowing what to do and when to do it. The first personality is most likely to play for social reasons versus being hardcore poker students. They most likely will not take the game as seriously as others do. The opposite of the second personality it probably true. They are serious about poker. They study poker and learn all they can. They will most likely play tighter with their chips and not give you much opportunity to take them. This can only give you a hit to a persons playing style. There are no concrete facts. There is no black and white when it comes to psychological profiles only probabilities. Furthermore, people can project contrary information about themselves. But any information you can get out of other players can be weighed to get some good insight into how they might play and react in certain situations. To most people men are just men but to the poker player every movement, every word is a potential clue to their style and the cards in their hand. One of the professionals that I talked to said that she talks to other players throughout events when she gets a chance. She does this so she can get some insight should she meet them at the table later in the tournament. Most important, the body never lies. We might read it incorrectly, but the answers are always there. If a contradiction exists between what a person says verbally and what that person's body language says visually, trust the body language. The bottom line: The body talks and it talks loudly. If we listen and pay attention imagine the winning edge we have on the felt.
Are you from Middlesex NJ?