Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Give Em A Show

As I've just said, your opponents are less likely to think you're conning them if you're a joy to lose to and you don't seem to mind losing. But, beyond that, they will be much more willing to part with their money if you don't add psychological punishment to their defeats. Be a gracious winner and loser. If they play a poor hand, you can advertise by convincing them you sometimes play the same way (and you've been lucky doing so).
Instead of criticizing a hand that beats me, which is a mistake some pros make, I often say, "Wow! I didn't think you had that. Believe it or not, I won twice with that same hand yesterday. I don't always play it, but I'm surprised it's winning so often. Maybe it's the hand of the month!" Laugh and have fun. Think about how different this attitude is from one that makes your opponents uncomfortable about playing poorly. Also, think about how many extra weak calls you might win from this opponent in the future, just because you've shown you won't be critical of bad play and simply because he likes you!
That's right! Opponents will give you extra calls with borderline hands simply because they like you! But this will only happen if they also think that you are not painful to lose to and that you gamble, too.

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