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Intuition in the Game of Poker
- By Thomas Kearns
- Published 02/23/2010
- Improve Your Game
- Unrated
Thomas Kearns
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays online and receives Ultimate Bet Rakeback as well as Rakeback at Doyle's Room.
View all articles by Thomas Kearns
You have by now familiarized yourself with the game, more or less memorized the basics (though they still sometimes do not quite work), read a few hundred online essays on general and specific poker topics. But though you seem to know your way around, you still don't feel as if you can play. If you have any ambition, after having glimpsed the enormous complexity of poker, you will not be satisfied with the basics. But how should you proceed?
You will, of course, continue your diligent play and book learning, and will continue to observe and analyze your opponents. This is just a start. Encyclopedic knowledge of the game does not a true player make.
What is missing in the above description is the concept of intuition. Learning from the best is always a good idea, but in this case, it is not enough. You much reach higher and extend yourself to the fullest. The true players are those that have figured out for themselves which part of the science of poker to ignore and have the independence to allow their intuition to flow.
The intellectual likes to thoughts of others, but the poet prefers to think on his own. The poker player with a drive towards independent discovery enjoys making his own observations as much or more than reading about the experiences of others. He then does not merely compile them, but combine them into a unique method. The talented player uses his own independent imagination
to invent a style of poker which will put him beyond the tricks of the average player and beyond the reach of most competent masters.
True players will always go undiscovered. Theirs is much more than a game of rules and a remembrance of various tips from experts. The true player's strategy is a mystery because it all his own. The diligent amateur will always lose to the true player.
There is only one solution to this problem and one which talented players independently intuit: one has to commit not merely to intense mechanical practice but to intense re-imagining of mechanically acquired knowledge. One must develop not only observational but also imaginative skill in order to prevent amateurs from predicting your decisions. Independence and intuition, in fact, imply a certain degree of ignorance. There is, however, a crucial difference between common ignorance and imaginative independence: common ignorance is complacent and not meant as a means of self improvement; but when you rely on your personal intuition, you know precisely what you ignore and why and you are always working to improve in a specific known direction.
The intuitive player does not depend on reading opponent's insights and methods exclusively. He will make his own selections in any given circumstance. This is not the wannabe expert poring over volumes of literature authored by the best poker players in the business. This is the intuitive player who, while giving the poker intellectuals their due, will be at the table cleaning their clocks.
You will, of course, continue your diligent play and book learning, and will continue to observe and analyze your opponents. This is just a start. Encyclopedic knowledge of the game does not a true player make.
What is missing in the above description is the concept of intuition. Learning from the best is always a good idea, but in this case, it is not enough. You much reach higher and extend yourself to the fullest. The true players are those that have figured out for themselves which part of the science of poker to ignore and have the independence to allow their intuition to flow.
The intellectual likes to thoughts of others, but the poet prefers to think on his own. The poker player with a drive towards independent discovery enjoys making his own observations as much or more than reading about the experiences of others. He then does not merely compile them, but combine them into a unique method. The talented player uses his own independent imagination
True players will always go undiscovered. Theirs is much more than a game of rules and a remembrance of various tips from experts. The true player's strategy is a mystery because it all his own. The diligent amateur will always lose to the true player.
There is only one solution to this problem and one which talented players independently intuit: one has to commit not merely to intense mechanical practice but to intense re-imagining of mechanically acquired knowledge. One must develop not only observational but also imaginative skill in order to prevent amateurs from predicting your decisions. Independence and intuition, in fact, imply a certain degree of ignorance. There is, however, a crucial difference between common ignorance and imaginative independence: common ignorance is complacent and not meant as a means of self improvement; but when you rely on your personal intuition, you know precisely what you ignore and why and you are always working to improve in a specific known direction.
The intuitive player does not depend on reading opponent's insights and methods exclusively. He will make his own selections in any given circumstance. This is not the wannabe expert poring over volumes of literature authored by the best poker players in the business. This is the intuitive player who, while giving the poker intellectuals their due, will be at the table cleaning their clocks.