The first time I thought of poker gamers not caring about cash was within the late Nineties after I did a narrative on Stu Ungar.
I used to be the final journalist to interview him for {a magazine} article (he died quickly after). Though the piece turned out nice, he didn’t find it irresistible. He known as the photographer and me “c***suckers.”
Especially lasting, although, was his view of soiled cash… filthy lucre.
I used to be only a word-man on the hustle and, in the middle of writing about Ungar, I heard mind-blowing tales about him being a neophyte golfer who’d blow $50,000 in wagers earlier than getting off the primary tee. Wild…
Later, he all however bragged to me about going cyclically broke by burning via fortunes, rebuilding, and repeating.
One 12 months after taking down $1 million within the 1997 Main Event (he stored half; half went to Billy Baxter for backing him), a busted Stu Ungar tried hustling the photographer for $200. He failed.
I requested somebody about Stuey’s obvious disdain for money and was informed, “Money is the cheapest commodity in Stu Ungar’s life.”
Commodity was most likely getting used incorrectly, however I acquired what the man meant.
Not lengthy after, I learn Doyle Brunson’s nice quote on the subject: “In order to be a successful gambler, you have to have a disregard for money.”
That existed in spades when on-line poker first blew up. I keep in mind going for what I figured could be a easy dinner with one of many younger on-line geniuses. Then he went and ordered each single merchandise on the menu, loading up the desk with extra meals than we may probably eat.
Seeing my response, he informed me that it was simpler than wanting on the menu and having to resolve. Of course, he picked up the tab and left an enormous, fats tip. That meal most likely value greater than what I used to be getting paid to jot down the damned story about him.
Where Tom Goldstein is worried, earlier than I knew he was the man who folded the profitable hand in a $540,000 pot at Hustler Casino, I figured that the seemingly careless contender – who, actually, has been indicted for unreported poker winnings – was a rich-kid newcomer who had no clue.
But, in fact, he was a seasoned, profitable participant. Who else would do this and shrug it off?
Dan Bilzerian, in his e book The Setup, wrote about Goldstein (who had been Bilzerian’s lawyer). He claimed that Goldstein had a behavior of taking part in poker with out taking a look at his playing cards.
“I’ve by no means met anybody with much less respect for cash proportionate to their internet price than Tom.”
I’m guessing that was meant as a praise.
Part of being profitable on the desk is to not consider cash as cash. Do that, and also you’re useless. You’ll by no means have the ability to convincingly three-bet as a bluff.
How one develops that sensibility, I do not know. But I’m guessing that enduring main swings, dwelling to inform the tales – even to snicker on the tales – and returning for extra should assist. It’s straightforward come, straightforward go, on steroids.
Phil Ivey as soon as informed me concerning the summer season when, as a 22-year-old, he put collectively a bankroll of $200,000, the most important he’d ever had, and blew it by the autumn. I informed him that he will need to have been devastated.
He glanced at me, uncomprehending, and stated, “I didn’t look at it as money lost. I looked at it as money used to play bigger games. I thought it was worth playing in those games.”
As for myself. I keep in mind as soon as telling a profitable poker professional that if I ever received the World Series of Poker fundamental occasion, I’d hold the cash and by no means play one other hand of poker for the remainder of my life.
Sneering, he informed me, “That’s why you’ll never win the World Series of Poker.”
He’s proper. And I didn’t hassle asking for the percentages he’d give me of taking it down sooner or later.
Michael Kaplan is a journalist based mostly in New York City. He is the writer of 5 books (“The Advantage Players” out quickly) and has labored for publications that embrace Wired, GQ and the New York Post. He has written extensively on expertise, playing, and enterprise — with a selected curiosity in spots the place all three intersect. His article on Kelly “Baccarat Machine” Sun and Phil Ivey is at present in growth as a characteristic movie.
