Good Phil Ivey interview

Amaru

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker/columns/story?columnist=rosenbloom_steve&id=2252232

Shortly after winning the MCM, he makes some interesting points.

bohsman

It's just that the beginning of the tournaments are so gruelling when you have to play for five days to win a million dollars or so.

Its a hard life

ionapaul

"In order to be one of the best poker players in the world, it's very important to be able to put it all on the line and be able to take chances,'' Ivey says. "To be really good at poker, you can't be tight with money. It's hard to be really good at poker and be tight with money because you're always gambling for big amounts of money and you have to have a certain disregard for money.''

I wonder what other boardsters, particularly those currently, or planning to go, pro, think of Ivey's thoughts on the importance of taking chances and having a 'gambling streak' in being a successful poker player. We had a thread here a while ago where a number of posters vehemently denied being gamblers, which struck me as rather strange.

Imposter

ionapaul wrote:

I wonder what other boardsters, particularly those currently, or planning to go, pro, think of Ivey's thoughts on the importance of taking chances and having a 'gambling streak' in being a successful poker player. We had a thread here a while ago where a number of posters vehemently denied being gamblers, which struck me as rather strange.

I think what Ivey's getting at is that once the money is on the table you've got to gamble but only put the money on the table that your bankroll allows.

Edit: Just read the article. Seems like he is saying to gamble everything! Personally I don't agree with that but I think once the money is on the table, there are times when you must gamble.

califano

wrote:

We had a thread here a while ago where a number of posters vehemently denied being gamblers.

This is only the company line for the wife or girlfriend.

AmarilloFats

Any bio of a successful player(I've read) has always depicted situations where the player has taken huge risks...Ivey, Chan, Brunson, Giang, Harman, Negreneau, Deebs.Flaak..Etc..The all have "lots of gamble" in them...
Succeeding to them was reaching the top..playing the big game...they may exercise better bankroll management now..But en route to "making it" they took huge chances...
I doubt any would bother waiting 6 months or 10 buy-ins to make a jump to next level..They don't appear to be "careful"...
They have huge confidence in their ability...I'm a careful mouse..Forever sentenced to be mediocre and pay for the odd holiday car..Pusillanimous!!

staringelf

i think what he was getting at was that in order to be a successful player you have to have a certain aggression in your play. not necessarily outright gamble and playing against the odds, but a willingness to call in marginal spots, not be afraid to make moves, etc.

i agree with him simply from my own experience where in the last couple of months i've begun to play more hands (especially drom late position), to call when i'm getting good pot odds with marginal holdings, basically getting involved more. its a strategy that tends to get you paid on your monster hands more too as your table image seems looser, and after all, getting paid on big hands when your a favourite is what its all about. by the way, that strategy for me is applied to tournement (specifically online sngs) poker as opposed to cash games although i'm sure the same principles hold true there also.

so yeah, its not really degenerate reckless gamble per se. i think he means aggression, the ability to bully the table, make others fear you, etc etc. basically cutting out the passive bullsh*t and start playing some poker god dammit! we want entertainment!