Learning poker with matchsticks
We can read poker books, discuss hands, watch videos, etc. but we don’t learn poker this way, what we learn here are the theories and ideas that form a base. If you approach these resources as if you were a sponge, you cannot succeed. Poker is not a test of the rote level of learning where you try to absorb everything you can and then repeat it back during the game. This is because no two situations are identical. In poker, we must develop true insight, practicing and developing these theories and ideas to meet our own game and style, strengths and weaknesses.
When you light a match, the match gives rise to a fire, but the fire itself will eventually consume the matchstick if allowed to grow. It is the fire that keeps you warm, not the match.
Think about Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Barry Greenstein, et al. There weren’t the resources available to these guys as there are today. No videos, no forums, very few (if any) books. Yet these players have developed great fires and are still warm today. Answer: different source. Perhaps compared to the match example, these guys needed to create a fire by rubbing a stick between two stones. Their sparks were more difficult to find, but the principle is the same. Once the fire is lit, it is you, and not the source, that must allow it to grow.
So what does this mean to today’s developing player? Understand the availability of sparks out there, and don’t assume that you will succeed just because of a good matchstick. You must grow well beyond the matchstick if you are to create a warm, lasting bonfire.
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Wax on, Wax Off!