So, I forgot about poker for awhile. I mean, COMPLETELY forgot about it. I got married, went to strip bars, drank some beer, worked a lot.
I have a job that almost, ALMOST fulfills the same urges that I used to satisfy playing poker.
My job is basically the greatest strategy game I’ve ever played. I’m a trial attorney. Many of the strategems I put together while finishing too many cocktails and too many cigars in smoke filled poker rooms have paid off in my work, inside and outside the courtroom.
Say I am taking a deposition of a defendant in a personal injury, car wreck case. I rarely go for the throat. I am nice and polite, and when they try to bullshit me about how the accident wasn’t their fault, when I already know I can PROVE it’s their fault to the jury, I agree with them. They walk out of the deposition thinking it was easy. They won a small pot with J-2 suited and they think they’re sitting pretty.
Of course I’m just reeling the fish in. (And in this job, they’re ALL fish, that’s the beauty of it).
Trial comes, and a jury is finally present, so the stakes are higher. I ask, to this fish who I allowed to win a small pot and get overconfident,
“So you’d driven with large objects tied to the back of your pickup before?” (I check raise)
“Oh yes, COUNTLESS times.” (he calls)
No further questions. The defendant smirks, thinking he’s safe with those pocket nines.
In closing argument, I turn over my cards. I remind the jury that this guy KNEW what he was doing when he tied the sofa onto his truck before driving it down the highway, so why did the sofa fall off his truck and hit my client’s car?
The guy walks out of the courtroom with the look you see on a self proclaimed poker whiz who walked into the poker room cocky, built up a stack and got cockier, and just like that went broke at the table.
How do I win? Well, I don’t always win, of course. I play the cards that I’m dealt. Sometimes they suck. I lose plenty of hands. Sometimes I have losing sessions. But overall, I’m ahead. And that’s all that matters. I don’t try to win every hand. I don’t care about annihilating my opponent — I just want to come out ahead in the long run. I don’t care if I win with pocket aces or 7-2 offsuit. I take the cards I’m dealt and I work with them as best I can.
The fundamental underlying philosophies of poker apply to trial strategy. It all boils down to individual decisions. Make the best decision you can as often as possible. Minimize your mistakes. Play a solid game — don’t screw up the easy decisions. Don’t get rattled, don’t get overconfident. Don’t be easily intimidated, but respect your opponent. When the decision is tough, do the best you can. When you do make a mistake, embrace that mistake, and learn from it. The same situation will come up again, and you will make the correct decision next time.
Poker: oops, I just busted out because I fell in love with my A-K suited.
Law: shit, the jury just awarded my client nothing because they bought the defense attorney’s bullshit argument that my client would have pocketed the money they awarded him without paying the medical bills he had a contractual obligation to pay, and I could have EXPLAINED that in my closing argument, but I didn’t think of it!
Accept the fact that your mistake cost you the hand. Don’t blame it on other factors. Don’t whine about bad beats.
Poker: that f***er rivered me!
Law: that f***ing judge let in inadmissible evidence that unduly prejudiced the jury and cost me the case!
Bottom line: if your play was correct, don’t let bad beats change the way you play that situation in future hands; if your play was incorrect, don’t let temptation fool you into making the same mistake again.
And what did I do with my first night back at the poker table? I played a 90 player PLAY MONEY sit n’ go. I played for two hours with no tv, no music, no web surfing. I watched every hand. I even sat there staring at the computer screen patiently while myballsNeedRubbing05 ran the clock down on every turn he took on every single hand.
I didn’t even know what the hell I was playing for — 10,000 play money points? A stuffed animal? I didn’t care. I didn’t even care if I won, frankly. I just wanted to do the best I could, with the cards I was dealt. Solid play, correct decisions, patience, and the satisfaction you get when you know you’re playing your best game. That’s all you can do.
Grifter Jim is a senior writer for PokerPlasm.com.
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