Play Poker Like Michael Jordan (long)

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Throughout my poker career I constantly find myself making comparisons and analogies to poker. This can be anything from making jokes with my friends about real life "badbeats" to finding interesting similarities that poker shares with things in the outside world. I think creating and thinking about these comparisons can help you grow as an overall poker player.

I recently purchased a 3-disc DVD set called the Ultimate Michael Jordan collectors edition. I have been a fan of Jordan since I was very young and wanted to re-live some of his greatest moments. I watched the 1993 NBA finals game 4 vs. the Phoenix Suns. The DVD has the game in its entirety so I got to watch Jordan make his every move throughout the game.

Jordan is revered as the greatest basketball player of all time, but why? Throughout game 4 of the 1993 NBA finals Jordan shows why he is so great at the game of basketball. Jordan is incredibly good at exploiting his opponents. This to me is the most direct comparison I found to poker. When Kevin Johnson would guard him, Jordan would back him down and shoot a turn around jumper over his smaller and faster opponent. Then the Suns would put Dan Marjle on him and Jordan would blow right by his slower opponent and drive to the basket. What Jordan is doing is exploiting his opponents weaknesses. This same skill separates the best poker players in the world from the average poker player.

Another very interesting player I saw was Richard Dumas. Dumas was a young and very talented player on the Suns. He was giving the Bulls trouble with his great shooting from the field and high risk fancy plays. I began to ask myself, "what seperates a player like Dumas from a player like Jordan?" Then Dumas showed in the 2nd half that consistency is why he is such an incredibly inferior player to Jordan. His fancy offensive plays were not working anymore and he began to get very sloppy on defense giving his opponents VERY easy baskets.

Dumas reminded me of a lot of poker players. It was almost like i was watching him play too "loose". By loose I mean he was trying difficult shots and going for crazy steals. It was working in the first half but failed in the second because Dumas was obviously not talented enough to play this style. Jordan, at times was also playing a "loose" style. He pulls it off much better then Dumas because he knows when to switch gears depending on his opponent and the flow of the game. The answer to my question was beginning to become very clear.

Why is Jordan so talented? His competitive nature and work ethic are what got him to this level. For Jordan it was shooting thousands of shots a day, working out, and lots of practice. For poker players it is reading poker books, reviewing sessions, and getting lots of "in game" experience. In poker just like basketball you can never accept your current game. You have to have have that "Jordan like" drive within to constantly be improving your game.

Poker is all around us, and we can find motivation on improving our game through many things in the outside world. I love thinking about the game like this and I truly believe that looking for these analogies and comparisons can significantly help your overall poker game.