Probes, Thrusts and All-out War

Sometimes I find myself wondering which profession trains a person best to become a world-class gambler.

Famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy had a notorious reputation as a high stakes card player and gambler. People might surmise from this that his passion and talent for gambling came from his writer's blood. That would be a wrong assumption since Tolstoy also served as a Cossack in the Russian army and wrote about his exploits in a memorable novel, 'The Cossacks.'

Doyle 'Texas Dolly' Brunson was an aspiring athlete who wanted to become a professional basketball player until a serious accident ended his athletic career. Several top Vietnamese poker players served in the military, as did President Richard Nixon who, according to his colleagues, was a formidable poker player while serving on a warship in the U.S. Navy.

Other military figures who turned into fearless gamblers were General U.S.S. Grant, Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton and Harry Truman who served during World War 1.

On a personal note, my earliest experiences in gambling for money took place when I served in the U.S. Army. It started in basic training at Ft. Ord, CA. just outside Monterrey. There was a cash game that started almost every evening in the day room after we went through our training. All the enlisted men and draftees took part except for the squeamish.

We played with chips for payday stakes. That meant on payday, a sergeant stood at the window with a sheet of paper stating who owed money to who. Immediately after the paymaster gave you your pay, you counted out what you owed and gave it to the winners. In most cases, I noted, the winners turned out to be RAs -- regular army non-commissioned officers who were lifers. Some of them earned as much each month as their Army salary. They had the new recruits to pluck, and they relished those poker games like an old maid enjoys a new suitor.

Playing winning poker is similar to engaging in a military exercise. When you train for combat, you go into the battle zone with a small patrol that probes for enemy activity. This is dangerous work. You could run into snipers, a small patrol or even a full company or more of men waiting to ambush you.

I learned to use small probes as a way of testing the strength of my opponents. I would raise with a pair of pocket queens, for example. If we were playing Texas Hold'em and the flop came ace, three, seven and it was my turn to bet, I would toss out a small probing bet. If a couple of players called and one would make a big raise, I could toss away my hand, knowing I was beat.

But say I raised with those same pocket queens and the flop came ace, queen, seven. I would throw out the same small probing bet. Then when the call and big raise came, I could study the pot for a moment before declaring war and going all in, knowing my chances of having the best hand were about 99 percent.

The best tournament poker players -- people like Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen and the others -- rarely go all-in on a poker hand, even if they know they have the nuts. For one thing, they realize they probably won't get paid off.

They make a sizable bet that they feel the other players may call. As one top player told me with the wisdom of his 30 years of playing, 'You cannot win a poker tournament in the first hour or two, but you sure can lose it. And once your chips are gone, you're history as far as that tournament is concerned.'

Think of your chips as bullets. Think of how the early American Patriots fought the British Regulars during the Revolutionary War. They rarely made an all-out assault on the enemy. They fought from tree to tree, hedgerow to hedgerow. They took their shots carefully and made all of them count until they knew they had advantage. Only then did they declare all-out war and move in for the kill.

A gambler, and especially a poker player, needs to think like a military commander. Think in terms of probes, thrusts and all-out war and play your cards accordingly. It's a fun way to play, it will keep your foes off balance, and who knows? You just might win a Silver Star or even a Medal of Homor for bravery under combat conditions. Even General Patton would be proud of you.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter. If you have a unique gambling story to share with him, you may qualify for a cash award. Send your story with all the details to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).