When Muhammad Ali died a few weeks ago, there was, inevitably, a profusion of media stories compiling a few of his most memorable quotations. The person who was new to me and caught my attention was about how a fight is won or lost not within the ring, but within the preparation.
I tracked down the original, and that i think it's worth quoting in its full context, in place of the shortened form by which it's widely circulated. It comes from his 1975 autobiography, The best: My very own Story:
Only four months ago, in Madison Square Garden, I fought [Joe] Frazier for the second one time. I won it and evened up my score with him. But before I got within the ring, I'd won it out here at the road. Some people think a Heavyweight Championship fight is set through the fifteen rounds the 2 fighters face one another under blazing hot lights, in front of thousands of screaming witnesses, and a part of it's. But a prizefight is sort of a war: the true part is won or lost somewhere distant from witnesses, behind the lines, within the gym and out here at the road long before I dance under those lights.
This jogged my memory of another oft-repeated sports quotation. It comes from Ed Macauley, a dominant professional basketball player of the 1950s. You will discover it cited with many small variations, probably because he said it countless times as a coach, and never always the exact same way. But one apparently reliable version is this:
When you aren't practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and while you meet him he's going to win.
Now, in case you are deeply, astoundingly intuitive, perhaps you'll discover where I AM GOING with these two quotations. Being a consistent winner in poker, just as in boxing and basketball, depends largely on what you do if you find yourself not playing.
Here are some questions you'll be able to wonder to assist work out even if what you're doing clear of the tables helps or hurting you if you sit to play — 25 of them, in fact.
How many poker strategy books have you ever read within the last year? Or if books aren't your selected way of learning, how much time have you ever spent studying instructional videos, or meeting together with your individual poker coach?
When you choose up magazines in a poker room, do you read and consider the method columns and hand histories, or simply peruse the scoop and ads? Do you've got and know the way to make use of poker software tools that let you run simulations, calculate odds, and answer if-then questions?
Have you been learning a poker variant that is not what you always play?
You can find quite a few sound advice about bankroll management in books, magazine articles, and strategy web pages. Are you following the ideas they lay out, or taking reckless risks?
How's your record-keeping? Is it scrupulously honest and complete, without gaps where you made a decision a session "doesn't count" for some reason? Are you able to easily crunch the numbers to look your long-term hourly win rate, and which games, times, and venues are most profitable? Have you ever reviewed what the records reveal about your weaknesses? If so, what are you doing to show them into strengths?
Speaking of strength, how's your health? You recognize that you just can't play well if you are seeking to fuel your brain with crappy food, or oxygenate it with smoke-clogged lungs, right? Are you getting regular sleep and exercise to be able to maximize your endurance for long tournament or cash-game sessions? Are there any issues of your use of alcohol or other recreational drugs, on the subject of how they affect your poker game, your health, your individual relationships, your many other commitments, or your judgment?
Of course, we're greater than our cognitive and physical selves. How is your emotional stability? If not so great, it's a huge leak in both your poker game and your life, so what steps are you taking to get that fixed?
How are your closest relationships? Are you supported on your poker endeavors? Does your mind wander to problematic domestic or family situations while you must be targeting the game?
I suppose that question might make it sound as though crucial function of your loved ones is to support or a minimum of not interfere together with your poker. That isn't my point. Your family have to be a thousand million times more central for your life than poker. My point is solely that if there's trouble at the home front, it'll almost inevitably spill over into everything else you do, including poker.
What interests do you've got outside of poker to maintain yourself balanced, rounded, and, well, human? Do you read good books, visit movies and plays, take heed to music? Have you ever been neglecting the hobbies that used to bring you pleasure? Do you give to charities and/or volunteer in local service organizations to support others less fortunate than you might be? you maintaining with local and national politics and public-policy issues so that you could be a contributing citizen?
Preparing to play your best poker means getting to all of those areas. You cannot neglect even one in every of them and expect to prosper. It's hard work, but as Ali noted that is what winning requires — long hours of difficult, disciplined, multi-faceted preparation before you dance under those lights.
Robert Woolley lives in Asheville, NC. He spent several years in Las Vegas and chronicled his life in poker at the “Poker Grump” blog.
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