Poker Myths

Four Myths of Poker on TV Like everything else on television, the poker you see is not always what it seems. There are myths of the TV game that have become accepted as fact among the general populace. This is because we tend to believe whatever the big glowing box tells us. For example, most of the populations still think Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy and that there is a large chunk of the viewing public who have let television convince them that Elvis is alive, well and working at a Burger King in Kalamazoo, MI. So, in the name of deprogramming our readers, here are some myths of the TV poker that seem to be taken way too seriously. Myth One First of all there is the myth that you need to bluff early and often so that your good hands will bring in the big bucks. This is a perversion of what bluffing is for. Folks bluff to win the pot. It doesn’t work all the time, but there should be a reasonable chance of success. People who bluff to advertise spend way to much time bluffing, especially in situations when the chances of success are not very good. You only need to bluff a little to get action on your strong hands. Advertising should be considered a side-effect of bluffing, not the primary goal. Myth Two Another myth has to do with confidence. First of all this is cards, not football. Nobody is trying to physically run you over and that extra little rush that comes from confidence is not a necessary commodity in a card game. In poker, confidence is a by-product of winning. Some people think that confidence is something necessary to win, but that is backwards thinking. Confidence is something you win along with the pot each and every time you are the last person standing in a hand. Just remember, confidence comes from winning. Winning does not happen because of confidence. Myth Three The myth that seems to be most pervasive through the sport of poker is the idea that the best players in the world are all hyper aggressive types. This is not true, they just look like world beaters because the camera loves them more than the boring, steady player who wins quietly. There is that rare person who can turn aggressive play into long lasting success, but that breed of player is about as rare as a unicorn. Despite what TV says, remember it is the tight player who usually wins the day. Myth Four Lastly, there is this idea floating about that you must pay your dues to become a good player. This may apply if you choose to cut your teeth playing high stakes games. There are plenty of low stakes games out there with enough sparring partners to bring your game to respectability without mortgaging the home for the privilege. This myth is perpetuated by a television culture which shuns low limits because they are not sexy enough.