FLOUNDERS vs ROUNDERS
The difference in playing with the belief and intention of winning versus just being social.
For the poker Balla, nothing is better than when that average Joe Player sits down at a poker table. Why? Because he just sat down with money he intends to lose!
There is no more +EV situation, and most tables in a live poker room are filled with players exactly like that. When you treat No Limit Hold’em as only a game of chance instead of skill, it’s not a law of probability—it’s a fact for games with negative expectations: Risk of ruin is 100%.
JOES vs PROS
Joe plays when he “feels” like it; a Pro, all the time! Call them perpetual shortcuts JOES make when losing poker ASAP. As any of the PROS will tell you, they don’t need cards to win—that’s for amateurs. Pro Players specialize in other people’s biases, especially that malignant optimistic one that beats its chest and says, "I’m the best player at the table."
Secrets to Beating America’s 92 Million Irrational Poker Players
Behavioral Finance: Part ART, Part SCIENCE
Common sense is not so common, and these common flaws are often consistent, predictable, and can be exploited for profit. We are not logical; we are emotional, and motion creates emotion. Winning and losing in the stock market or in poker have some surprising failings. Let’s reframe them and call them OUTCOMES:
- Illusion of control - The belief that you can control or influence outcomes which you clearly cannot. NLH is 100% luck and 100% chance.
- Loss aversion - The pain of chips lost is much greater than the pleasure of chips gained. This leads to quitting early when winning and playing marathon sessions when stuck or chasing.
- Bias blind spot - Recognizing others’ biases but not your own.
- Choice-supportive bias - Remembering one’s choices as better than they actually were.
- Endowment effect - Overvaluing something simply because you own it, like refusing to fold a strong but clearly beaten hand.
- Confirmation bias - Seeking evidence that supports your beliefs while ignoring evidence to the contrary.
- Planning fallacy - Underestimating the time or effort required to succeed.
- Zero-risk bias - Preferring to eliminate small risks rather than reduce larger ones.
These biases and others make poker not just a game of cards, but a game of human psychology and behavior. To truly master poker, one must first master themselves.