Poker and Butterfly
A poker player is like a butterfly. The butterfly undergoes stages of metamorphosis to transform itself from a regular caterpillar to a magnificent and beautiful butterfly. On the other hand, expert poker players are not made overnight, it must go from one stage to another to be in the level that he or she is in at the moment. Like a butterfly, the poker player starts from as low as the earth to as high as the sky.
The poker player begins as a novice. He or she may no practically nothing about poker, or maybe have a hint of what poker is. After all, poker is a very popular game. What little this novice player knows about poker may have come from the movies or from friends and family who play poker.
At this stage, the poker player tries to learn the basics of poker, the rankings of the hands, the bets, the positions, and the actions which are check, raise, fold and call. When finally they get the big picture of poker, novice players experiment with playing with other poker players.
More skilled poker players may find the novice player very easy to beat because usually, novice players are predictable. Their strategies are limited to what they have absorbed in a short time. They also are susceptible to being emotional with their cards, because the feelings are new to them. Their poker tells are also very easy to spot, because they are not yet that conscious with their body language.
Some of these novice poker players move on to be what we call a book smart. A book smart, as the name suggests, learn things and do things by the book. Although their knowledge of the poker games is obviously more than the novice's knowledge, it does not account for much. Book smarts rely too much on what the books say that they tend to be lost at the complexity of the poker game in action. Clearly, practical is harder compared to theoretical.
When these book smarts learn to practice what they have read, and are open to learn things from real games, then they stand a chance to become poker experts. Once the book smart's skilled are mastered, their moves become less predictable and they do not get panicked or excited at each situation in the poker table.
The poker expert is more confident and poised in playing the game. He or she commits less blunders and can manipulate his or her opponents and the situation from time to time.
So, are you a butterfly?
