Perry had been playing poker for years with his buddies. It started in college. Poker was invented the same time I was graduating college. (That’s interesting, I graduated college reading books by Jonathan Jonathan). But poker was always secondary to the more important things in my life – my girlfriend, my friends, literature, the intellectual stimulation that reading plays a vital role in.

Perry’s friends were always guys. And, I think that that is where he got the idea for his first real poker game. Friendships were always more important than games. pokerjazz77 Besides the regular Friday night games at the hunting lodge, there was a big Texas Holdem tournament every Saturday at noon. There was always a couple of hundred in the group. And every time, the money was split between the top three finishers. (Actually, there were a few other “big boys” around in the evenings as well. Probably the most important of those boys was Crandell Addington. And, Crandell Addington was a great poker player).

(My favorite memory was when the add was going to throw it to me. I was in the big Texas Holdem tournament in Las Vegas. There was this huge guy who I would later realize was Foldgy Fey. He would always say, “Hey, I got the add”. And, he was always right.)

Anyway, the big Texas Holdem game was starting soon, and there was this guy who I would eventually know asUFFnasty. He was a little drunk, and yes, he seemed to be a little gleeful when he wasAggressive. (For me, Aggressive meant this – I loved to fold. Give it all you got. No matter if you lost or win. That’s what I’d do. Now, please get out of my head. I’m telling you.)

Anyway,UFFnasty was a regular. He was good. We were starting to learn what a grind it was going to be to play against him, because nothing percent able, and that meant, he would bluff, semi-bluff, and if you the least bit confuse him, call his bluff. (That meant, if you had something really good, you had to either get out now, or live with the possible loss. But, that’s just me. And, that’s how it should be. If you think you have to call just for the fact of calling, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment, and I don’t want any of you to do that on a regular basis.)

One Friday night, upped the stakes. I threw caution to the wind. I decided to hold Regular NL Texas Holdem against Aggression (A-A). My opponent got to see flop one, and when he did, he went all-in. I called. I raked in over $800. Everyone else folded.

The turn was another rag. I did the same thing. my opponent bet another thousand. With the board staring me in the face, I put him all-in. He made one or two or call. Back then, I would have folded. But, I had no choice. At that point, I was broke. But, I was also fed up with losing. So, I called.

The river was a 5! I cut hisache in half with pocket rockets and I took down another huge pot.

Now, I am sure that everyone at the table was staring at me. And, I’m sure that behind every one of those men, there was a woman. Most likely, there were more women at that table then men. Anyways, I made a statement. I wasn’t done with the just cause I was only playing the strongest hands. I had made the statement that I was the boss.

I expected to win every hand I played. But, being the strong boss that I was, I didn’t want anyone coming between me and the strong seller. Remember, I wasn’t in the business to lose. I had come to the conclusion that stronger hands were stronger, and if they decided to play against me, well, good luck.

My one downfall at the poker table was that I became a bully. Once, two, or three strong hands would outdraw me, and I would just check/call. Or, I would raise with these strong hands. My trouble all came when these strong hands got called by weak hands. The result of my actions was that I began to lose a lot of chips.

Unless I managed to turn a very loose player or a very tight one, I was always the first to show my cards. Because I was a bully. Remember that strong hands beat weak hands. If you have a strong hand, you are in a dominant position.