Over the Edge III

[Levarkin]

Since this article hasn't been under discussion yet (so far as I can tell), I thought I'd point out that I found it pretty interesting. Barron's underlying message is clearly that a little bit of the right knowledge can be far more profitable than a lot of the wrong knowledge (not to mention hubris), which is something that I have to remind myself of now and then. This forum deals a lot with minutiae, which can be very useful, of course, as long as all that hand-specific information doesn't obscure one's sight of basic principles. I was reminded a little of Ed's Macro and Micro article. It can be a little ego-deflating to know that the majority of my profit (against weak players, at least) comes from a grasp of the basics like pre-flop discipline and protecting one's hand, versus knowing when to implement a bet/bet/check line instead of bet/check/call, but there it is.

Anyway, good stuff Barron; I'm finding the Over the Edge series perhaps not more thought-provoking than On the Edge, but more certainly universally applicable.

[BarronVangorToth]

Thanks for the compliment (and I'm honored to have anything I write even remotely compared to anything by Ed Miller).

Don't feel so bad about making your money from the basics -- if they really were that easy, you'd think everyone would implement them. But whether due to ignorance or discipline (or some combination) most don't.

As a "PS" to the article, I'd like to say how rewarding it is to not only introduce someone to poker but introduce someone to poker the right way: Angela currently has made three trips to the Foxwoods $1-$2 NL game and has turned a profit each time, with her sole poker book being Ed's "Getting Started."

Thanks again for taking the time to post and for the positive feedback. Always great to hear that folks "got" what you were going for and enjoyed it.