Online Poker News » August 2006
» August 8, 2006.
What's Important In Winning Poker - Part 3 Of The Article By Lou Krieger.
Playing winning poker is not a difficult feat, but it does require an array of skills. The good news is that most of the
fundamentals can be learnt and you don't have to be a "gifted" player to win consistently. All it takes is a combination
of personality and educated approach.
Many players rely solely on strategy, but strategy by itself is not enough. All the strategic knowledge in the world will not guarantee success to any poker player. Personal characteristics are equally important. Success demands a certain quality of character in addition to strategic know-how.
Players lacking self discipline, for example, will have a hard time ever winning consistently regardless of how strategically sophisticated they might be. If one doesn't have the discipline to throw away poor starting hands all the knowledge in the world won't overcome this flaw.
Knowledge without discipline is wasted, and talent without knowledge is merely unrealized potential. They are just seeds, not a harvest. But almost anyone who chooses to work at it can become a good poker player, even if he lacks innate card sense.
There are some poker players, and it's no more than a handful, who really do have a genius for the game - an inexplicable, Picasso like talent that isn't easily defined and usually has to be seen to be believed. But even in the absence of genius - and the vast majority of winning players are certainly not poker savants - poker is an eminently learnable skill. Inherent ability helps, and while you need some talent, you really don't need all that much. After all, you don't have to be Van Cliburn to play the piano, Picasso to paint, or Michael Jordan to play basketball.
Author: Lou Krieger
Lou Krieger is the host of Royal Vegas Poker and co-author of "Poker for Dummies" and 6 other best-selling poker books, and author of over 400 articles in poker magazines.
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