Poker Lessons I’ve Learned by Eric Lynch

It’s been a while since I wrote my last column for PND. I’ve had a lot of changes going on both personally and professionally during that time and wanted to share some of my thoughts on what’s been going on and the state of poker.

First, poker is one of those games where the difference between a winning and a losing player is razor thin. I think one of the most underestimated aspects of one’s poker game is their “emotional state.” I’ve noticed throughout my poker career that playing when you’re in a good mood with a clear head is the most profitable, while trying to play when you’re upset or distracted is often disastrous, no matter how good of a poker player you are.

I bring this up because for the last couple of years of my life, I’ve had wild swings in my emotional state due to ongoing personal issues and have constantly been reminded (often by hits to my bankroll) of why it’s so important to make sure you’re in the proper frame of mind before you sit down and play poker.

I’ve always said that if you have an argument with your spouse, get a flat tire, have a sick kid making you lose sleep, or whatever it is that is impacting your life, it is okay to just take a day off and worry about other things rather than try to play when your focus is not 100%. Sometimes as a professional gambler, not losing is just as important as winning!

Second, with my new role as the Poker Room Manager over at Lock Poker, I’ve been a lot less focused on playing poker and a lot more focused on the business side of things. It’s a great experience. I love getting to be a voice for the players and working with management to make improvements to the site and then seeing those improvements come to fruition.

That being said, the online game moves and changes so fast, it’s incredible. I see people doing things at the tables now I wasn’t seeing six to 12 months ago. I’ve always said that if you’re a serious online poker professional, you have to keep up with the latest in poker education; it’s just a must to keep up with the ways the game changes.

Often, if I sit at a game now, it takes me a little while longer than it used to take to get a handle on what the players are trying to do and how to exploit it. That time often means lost money!

I’ve always said in the past that if you’re a full-time professional player, you should be dedicating at least one hour a day to ongoing education. I have gotten away from that, as I’ve spent more and more time with other responsibilities, but plan to refocus and spend more time watching training videos, reading articles, reading books, and making sure I talk poker with a lot of the top poker talent I have access to.

There are just so many incredible resources out there. Many of them are free or cost very little, so not taking advantage of them is basically like saying that you don’t like money!

So those are two poker lessons I’ve had to re-learn in the last year or so, sometimes quite painfully, and wanted to share them so hopefully you don’t repeat them. Sometimes when I’m having a rough time at the tables, I go back and read some of the things I wrote when I was having success, or even some of the hand histories while I was running better, and it’s amazing that I often get away from following my own advice!

I also wanted to mention the Bluff Poker Challenge on Lock Poker this month. As of this writing, there are several players up almost $20,000 in just four days! When the challenge initially started, I really thought a number in the $35,000 to $40,000 range would end up winning it, but I have a feeling I’m going to look like a fool for guessing that low.

I don’t think the final number is going to be the nearly $200,000 these guys on are pace for, but it will be higher than my initial guess. You can check out all the action over at Lock Poker and see hands posted on the new Lock Hand Replayer.

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Poker glossary:

REPRESENT - Implying, by one's betting style, that one has a particular hand.
SHOWDOWN - The point at the end of the hand where all active players reveal their cards and the pot is awarded to the winner(s).
MILES OF BAD ROAD - Three of a kind. Prefixed with a number, 3*<N>, to indicate 3 <N>s. Thus "24 miles of bad road" is 3 eights, etc. (This obviously doesn't work for face cards.)
FREEZE-OUT - A table-stakes game that continues until a small number of players (possibly only one) has all the money. The major event in The World Series of Poker is a freeze-out game.
MARKED CARDS - Cards that have been (illegally) altered so that their value can be read from the back.
TABLE STAKES - A standard rule whereby during a hand players can only bet the money they have on the table. If the bet to a player is more than the player's stack, that player may call with all his chips and be eligible to win only that portion of the pot he contributed to equally. A side pot is created, for which only the remaining players may compete.

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