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He knows when to 'hold 'em' - Texas style
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Since Arrington placed his first bet, he has gotten much better as a poker player, he says, pointing out the main thing he's learned is to be consistent. Inconsistency leads to "tells," the term for signals other players can learn to watch for that give away whether an opponent has a good hand or is bluffing.
"In my first tournament I was there with a buddy, and he told me afterwards about all the different tells I was giving off," Arrington recalls. "Now on every hand I do the same thing; I watch everyone else look at their cards before I look at mine, then I look at mine for two seconds before I do anything else."
He says there are two types of tells that are easy to spot. Some players' hands will shake when they have a good hand. And some skinny players are at a disadvantage because you can actually see the pulse in their neck quicken when they get a good hand.
To counter such tells, players will wear hats, hooded sweatshirts, sun glasses, play with their stacks of chips and take countless other counter measures. Watching players react is a huge part of playing the game and one of the most entertaining aspects of watching a poker game on TV.
Arrington didn't have a mentor to teach him the ins and outs of the game. Everything he knows he's taught himself. He now has a vast library of books on poker; the best one he's read so far, he says, is "Super Systems" by poker champion Doyle Brunson. He tries to read everything he can about his hobby. And he watches videos about it and broadcasts of tournaments anytime they're on TV.
In Arrington's view, poker is 25 percent skill and 75 percent luck and being able to read the other players. He says his ultimate goal is to win the World Series of Poker, and he's planning to enter the 2007 tournament next July. Last year, on a trip to Atlantic City, Arrington played in a World Series of Poker circuit tournament. Out of nearly 400 players he wound up in 83rd place.
"I knew I wasn't ready for it, but I learned a lot from the experience. I knew that I still had some improvement to make, but I saw that I was improving."
For people just starting to play poker, Arrington suggests playing online first. The two sites he uses offer tournaments and games for free and some actually pay out real money when a player wins. "There is money to be made without even spending a dime."
The only drawback he sees is that it is no fun for his girlfriend to watch him play.
"The best thing for her to do is to find something else to do. My advice to guys with a girlfriend or a wife is to give them some money to go shopping."
Source: http://www.fortmilltimes.com