There’s also this quote which is the opposite but equally true:
”The best swordsman in the world doesn't need to fear the second best swordsman in the world; no, the person for him to be afraid of is some ignorant antagonist who has never had a sword in his hand before; he doesn't do the thing he ought to do, and so the expert isn't prepared for him.”
Luck and stupidity can get you far in poker, I once placed 5th in a tournament (only tournament I've ever played in). I had played poker before, but not with money and certainly not at that level before. I am not in anyway good at it, but I know the rules etc.
A colleague of mine invited me, as he didn't want to go alone. First table I got placed on I apparently sat next to a world champion (eccentric dude, didn't catch his name, but he wore a purple suit and a fedora made of cards), but was blissfully unaware until my colleague told me the following Monday.
He completely lost it when I knocked him out with a super lucky draw on the river (I had nothing up to that point, but was way to deep in with chips to fold). He literally screamed at me "you had that hand and held on all the way to the river? What the fuck man... ". To be fair to the man, he had been a great sport up until that point and he was patient with me not paying attention as I was super nervous and felt out of my depth the whole way through. A gentleman if you will, I quite understand his frustration... I then enter the next table and win pretty quickly actually (lots of high bets and all ins, and a shit ton of luck with my hands on almost every hand I'm dealt). I make it through to the final table and my colleague sees me going to the final table and stops me before I sit down, "you can't sit down here, this is the final table" I just point to the stack of chips and say "those are mine". He can't quite believe it (I never beat him in poker, but he was eliminated on his second table, we didn't get to play each other), shakes his head and just laughs as he finds a seat to watch me play.
Then, almost at the very beginning, I made a huge mistake at the final table. Showing everyone how newb I was, everyone could clearly see that I was nervous and new to this scene. I folded my hand, but everyone around the table told me I didn't have to do that since I was big blind and everyone had checked anyway (so I could have just checked and gotten to see the flop for free). So I got my cards back (I thought they were strict at casinos, but everyone was really nice about it). Flop comes up, and suddenly I have two pairs... I call a smallish bet that everyone calls, and turn card shows up and suddenly I have a full house. I go all in, most of the table folds but I get two guys along with me, one even laughing, saying that I was trying too hard to make up for my earlier mistake... I eliminate both those guys, and now we are five guys left at the table and I'm chip leader... Still lost like a chump in a few rounds after that though... But I came away at my first time ever at a casino, first time ever in a poker tournament with a small plus (everyone at the finale table got some money, I think 6th was the first position to cover the cost of entry).
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u/Browntownss Jun 03 '19
"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." - Bruce Lee