Do we already know how to play top level poker, we just struggle to apply it as consistently as the High Rollers?
One of the real gifts poker has given me is that it has been a great jumping-off point to learn things from other disciplines like economics, AI, psychology and Game Theory. So here is a series of articles where I bring some of the most interesting things I have learned from other subjects outside of poker which are applicable to this game we know and love.
I have recently been watching what professionals do at big final tables as part of a new book project with Dara O’Kearney. He advocates his students to watch the hole card shown final tables that are available online.
The big surprise his students have when they do this is just how ‘standard’ the elite players play. It’s rare a hand will come up with a crazy bluff or an insane hero call, most of the hands play as expected.
What the elite players are doing is simply not making huge mistakes. The rest of us know how we should play most of the time, we just don’t. This is an issue called the Strategy Execution Gap.
Do we already know what to do?
This is a concept I first learned about in the 12-week year book that I wrote about last week. It refers to the simple fact that the most successful businesses are the ones who are more consistent in executing the basics well. The book states:
Execution is the single greatest market differentiator. Great companies and successful individuals execute better than their competition. The barrier standing between you and the life you are capable of living is a lack of consistent execution. Effective execution will set you free. It is the path to accomplish the things you desire.
All of which sounds fine, but this is the quote that really stuck with me:
Our experience has shown that most people have the capacity to double or triple their income just by consistently applying what they already know. Despite this, people continue to chase new ideas thinking that the next idea is the one that will magically make it all better.
Applying what we already know is the key to success. Think of something like diet. There are so many fad diets and books about how to hack your nutrition. The reality is most of us would be in the shape we wanted if we simply exercised three times a week, kept the sugar and carbs to a minimum, and ate mostly fresh clean foods. And we know that.
We already know how to get in great shape, we just don’t execute the plan we know would work.
Doing the average thing when everyone is losing their minds
Going back to the nosebleed players. What really separates them is perhaps consistency. Regular study, studying the most common spots and applying that strategy at the tables.
This is why sometimes the Tritons look easy and straightforward. These players are simply not making the huge mistakes most of us would under that sort of financial pressure.
To quote Napolean speaking of what he considered military genius “The man who can do the average thing when everyone else around him is losing his mind”.
Do you agree with this theory? Let us know in the comments:
