Feb. 19, 2005

Knowledge can be communicated, but wisdom cannot. A man can find it, he can live it, he can be filled and sustained by it, but he cannot utter or teach it. -- Hermann Hesse

Who better to reveal the secrets of success at poker than Hermann Hesse, the writer/artist/philosopher of the early 1920s who spent much of his life investigating the discrepancies between reality and ideals? A fuzzy differentiation between real and ideal is just what the game (particularly the hold 'em version) appears to be.

Ideally, poker's strong starting hands should have a superior chance of winning in comparison to the marginal and poor hands. In the reality of the game, however, this isn't how it works out. Foolish people enter small pots with hands that have a minimal chance of improving to the winning stage. They often reason that it isn't costing them much money, and sometimes they think any hand can win. In an ideal world, those off-the-chart hands would come crashing down at the feet of opening strength but in the real world they find victory at the river.

But for every single time that garbage hand rakes in a pot for Mr. New Poker Personality, four times the same combination of cards will draw him into the current on the river where he will drown.

Unfortunately, it seems as if we remember the times we could have scooped in a big pot had we been gutsy enough to dive in with a marginal hand. This incongruity is one of the major reasons many players-good and bad -- lose interest (and bankroll) in the game or experience intense frustration. It's also a reason why many players go on tilt.

You will, but shouldn't, flail yourself when the seven-ten unsuited you didn't call for one small bet turns into a full house.

What you can do, though, is fill yourself with knowledge, get involved in the exchange of ideas, and make the acquaintance of other players who are working their way toward the kind of wisdom that comes from a sincere interest in learning.

And where can you immerse yourself in this dialogue? Blogs, of course.

Blogs, according to Google, are "... a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world."

Poker blogs are all that and more because they offer insights into the game based on shared experiences, shared heartaches, super highs and devastating lows.

Probably my favorite jumping off point for blog reading is the http://guinnessandpoker.blogspot.com/. Here you'll find what looks as if it could be the most definitive and complete (though with the way the Web changes, probably not) resource for poker essays in the world. Once you get to the site you're treated to one diary but as you scroll down you eventually come to The List. (Note the upper case?) Here you can pick and choose from a variety of blogs. As a cautionary measure, however, I have to tell you that often you will be asked to visit a blogger's favorite sites, many of which don't have anything to do with poker.

Sometimes the writing here is absolutely fantastic. Other times it's abysmal. Most of the time it's casual and readable. Quite often you have to be able to read between the lines, but for the most part you will be entertained and educated.

The best feature, though, is the downright honesty. These people don't opt for the kind of flattery you'll find in mainstream publications where writers have to be wary of offending advertisers. They aren't intimidated by famous names. If you want to know what someone thinks of Super System 2, go to the Internet Poker Pro's blog. If you want to find at least one person who likes the ESPN show "Tilt," check out Vanity and Poker. Vagaries of Poker does a bang up job of keeping readers informed. (I especially liked stand-in blogger Jeni's report on the scary results of her attempts to play online from a hotel room in Germany.) Poker Comic doesn't tell a lot of jokes but if you want some insight into home poker, you should tune him in.

Now, what can you learn from these kindred spirits? We hope to pick up methods of integrating our knowledge and experience with another person's and synthesizing it into some form of poker wisdom. I think it's possible but even if it isn't, I'll eke out an hour or two a week to come back and visit. These writers are, after all, the poker community I haunt.