Do you ever get that itch? The itch to gamble, to head to the
closest casino, to find a high stakes game of Texas Holdem, to
sit at a Blackjack table for hours on end. I love that itch. And
I love to scratch it.
I also love to watch people gamble. No two poker faces seem
alike. When I gamble I like to think I put on a poker face that
is impenetrable. But I know I have certain mannerisms. For one,
the only time I smoke is when I play poker or Blackjack. And
then I chain smoke. But I chain smoke whether I am winning or
losing, whether I have a good hand or bad.
I once played in a weekly poker game. The game was always 5 card
draw. There was a man who played with us every week who always
wore a hat. When he was dealt a good hand, subconsciously, he
would begin touching and playing with his hat. Needless to say,
he never won.
The greatest poker player I ever saw was a man who made more
movements and gestures at a poker table than anybody I had ever
met. He was impeccable in the way he dressed. Always an
expensive suit and tie, shoes shined and nails manicured. He was
fastidious in this manner. And he was always brushing his pant
leg or rubbings his hands or stacking his chips in neat little
piles.
I use to study him for hours on end. I'd tried to see if I could
spot his tell. Picking lint off his vest- did this mean he was
bluffing? Stacking his chips in a short pile - did this mean he
had a good hand?
Years later I ran into him in a bar in Chicago and we had a
drink. I asked him if he were aware of all those movements he
made or if they were subconscious. He told me that every single
thing he did at a poker table was intentional. He said that
everybody is always checking out everybody else's poker face.
They are trying to spot the the tell.
So his system was to give them lots to think about. His
reasoning was if they were thinking about him picking a piece of
link off his jacket and what it meant they sure weren't thinking
about their cards.
His system was distraction. And it worked for him. Never give up
a system that works for you.
Copyright 2006 Pamela Pompeii. All rights reserved.
About the author:
Pamela Pompeii is the resident article writer at
http://www.gambleonthis.com
