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Old 09-26-2006, 04:30 AM
rt1 rt1 is offline
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I just read this book and I think it is a great read for poker players.

http://www.gladwell.com/blink/

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0316172324

I have read most of today's poker books and have learned a ton from them. I also try to read as many strategy posts on 2+2 that I can... Reading this type of material is great because it lets us see how poker, logic, odds, and tells all come together and work in a way that is profitable to us.

Recently, due to discussion on 2+2 and talking with fellow 2+2ers, I picked up the book Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. The book does not contain a single hand of poker, yet while read it I felt that so much of it can be applied to my poker game.

The book is about making quick (snap) decision based on small pieces of information (thin slices). Most of the time we cannot logically explain these quick decisions, but we feel them to be right. This is because something in our unconscious is telling us 'this is right'. We can later look back at a hand and say, due to all of the information we have (villains's image, hero's image, opponents images of each other, preflop stats, postflop aggression, showdown numbers, etc, etc, so on, and so on) that making this certain play is +EV. But, can we really figure out the EV of these situations when the online timer is counting down 15 seconds? Sometimes we have to rely on our gut and do what we feel is right.

This book explains that what we feel is right is much more than just a feeling. Your mind is processing so much information that it may not be able to explain why, but it knows. Please note this is a lot different than 'I feel the flush is coming, so I am going to stack off with my draw', but more feeling that 'This villain is full of [censored], so I am going to show down king high'.

Also, posting the hand on 2+2 is great, but other than short description of the villains/table, we really cannot express the game and the image each player has of each other in this small little text box we use to post.

Blink is about trusting you instincts in these spots. It uses many real life examples from all sorts of people with all sorts of careers. This is certainly not a book for new poker players to read, but it is an excellent read for anyone who has read all of the strategy books and has been playing the game for a while.

Oh yah, here is the thread that finally convinced me I need to read this book (ZJ's HSNL post): http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...e=0&fpart=1

I am not even sure this is the right forum to post this in. But since I love playing med stakes limit I figure this would make a nice home [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Later,
Ryan
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Old 09-26-2006, 07:16 AM
goofball goofball is offline
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Default Re: Blink

Every time I try to write about Blink poker I end up sounding in coherent for some reason, but I agree with basically everything you said. In fact, sometimes someone will ask me why I did what I did during a hand and I"ll just respond with "Blink." Blink helped me to trust my instincts more then almost anything else; it helped me to recognize when I was having an 'instinct.' Mid hand, something will just occur to you or happen across your mind. When this happens that feeling is right so often it's scary.
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