Poker mantras are plentiful and awesome, such as “All you need is a chip and a chair,” and “It’s never wrong to not play.”
But the greatest poker mantra of all – the only one with explicit universal instructions on how to win in poker and improve your win rate right now – the only mantra that has saved me a thousand buyins, is this: Wait for a better spot.
What Causes Good Players to Play Poorly
Let’s do a thought survey. A thought survey is just as much fun as a thought experiment in that you don’t have to go anywhere or do anything, or even prove anything.
For this thought survey, we’re going to pretend to ask 1,000 professional poker players this question:
In your vast experience, you have witnessed the unravelling of the masses. Countless times, you have watched players shift gears from A-game to C-game. As a trained patternist, answer this: Is there a defining feature, strategy-wise, that is common to all or nearly all of those deteriorations?
And now you and I give our opinions on what we think the 1,000 pros would say. Isn’t this fun? I’ll go first.
I’m going to start with what I think cash game poker pros would not say. They wouldn’t point to over-bluffing or under-bluffing as traits of the unhinged. Either could be a symptom of tilt, but neither is universal. Likewise with displays of frustration. Those are reliable tilt tells, but not everyone does them.
What the pros would say, in my opinion, is this:
“Yes, a reliable sign of C-game does exist. When capable players play poorly, their VPIP goes up. They see more flops. They get itchy. It happens fast and it’s obvious. Tilting players invest money and emotion into preflop situations where, just moments ago, they wouldn’t have.”
That was me, bigtime, for a long time. I’d play solid for a while, maybe a long while, but inevitably I’d become restless and unsettled and sure enough, I’d loosen up.
Enter the Greatest Poker Mantra
My road to recovery began when five precious words germinated in my poker mind and took root. This was back when limit hold’em ruled the rooms. I didn’t even know what a mantra was back then. Yet somehow, I knew to repeatedly remind myself to…
Wait for a better spot.
Wait for a better spot.
Wait for a better spot.
Since then, I’ve gone full mantra. It’s like a hobby with benefits. I collect nuggets of helpful notions, and curate them, and chant them to myself…
This will pass. This will pass. This will pass.
Listen. Listen. Listen.
I’m okay in here. I’m okay in here. I’m okay in here.
Silent recitations provide a combination of relief, stability, focus, and the occasional joy burst. I always want more of all that. So I remain diligent with my repetitions at the table:
Sit up. Sit up. Sit up.
Watch the game. Watch the game. Watch the game.
Wait for a better spot. Wait for a better spot. Wait for a better spot.
What Exactly Am I Waiting For?
If I think of myself as the center of my solar system, and if I think of the various variables spinning around me as planets, then what I’m waiting for is the perfect alignment of these five planets: position, stacks, villains, prior action, and cards. I can feel those spots when they arise. I think you can too. It’s the feeling that says this is good, this is right, this is why I’m here. If you don’t get that feeling, fold. That’s what it means to wait for a better spot.
Let’s probe the orbitals…
Position
I’ve got 67o in the hijack. A profit-source opens for 4x. The stacks are deep enough to party. But the position at the table isn’t good enough, not with two tough opponents behind me. If I was on the button, this would be a spot worth waiting for, and I would call or raise.
Stacks
In this example, the position, the cards, and the villain are aligned just right. But the stacks aren’t. They’re too small.
I’ve got 67o on the button. A profit source opens for 4x. It’s folded to me. His stack is only 20BB, so I fold. The better spot I’m waiting for is when his stack is 100BB or more. Then we dance.
Villains
Here’s a spot where the position, stacks, and cards say play ball. But the villain-type makes it a good time to muck and wait.
I’ve got 67o on the button and a tough pro opens for 4x. The stacks are deep. It’s folded to me. I fold because going out of my way to play pots against pros is the antithesis of wait-for-a-better-spot. Against a softer player, I would call or raise.
Prior Action
I’ve got ace-five suited in the big blind. A profit source opens for 4x on the button. The small blind calls. Both of their ranges are wide. And I’ve seen both of them fold to 3-bets, especially from rocks like me. The prior action is right for me to raise with this hand in this spot. So I raise. If the small blind had 3-bet, the planets would say to fold.
Cards
Jack-ten suited feels really good in some preflop situations and in others, it’s an auto-muck. 65o on the button can feel like pure gold when the stacks and villains sing to you in harmony: the waiting is over.
And then there’s in-between, when some planets are aligned, but not all. That’s when the sensation of uncertainty shows up, and that’s your clue, and your proof, that this is not a spot worth waiting for. Fold.
In Praise of Waiting
Waiting transcends all games, styles, and theories. Every seasoned player – winners and losers alike – no matter what they play or how they play – has experienced this regret many times: “I should not have played that hand. I should have waited for a better spot.”
Waiting raises the density of profitable situations. I love the feeling of being in solid spots all day long, by way of avoiding the shaky ones.
The mantra keeps me from taking that first step on the slippery slope of preflop leakiness. And if I’m already sliding, the mantra slows my descent, and sometimes stops it altogether.
Let’s say I’ve been playing for a couple hours, with me and my VPIP hanging out in our usual 20% to 25% zone. We’re content. Then some losing happens, and time passes, followed by more losing, and more time. And then, all of a sudden, my poker range widens and my VPIP wants to go off leash.
I used to enjoy letting my VPIP run wild now and then, in spurts. But I had to stop doing that because sometimes a spurt turned into hours of tilted misery. If you struggle the way I did, and you’re fed up like I was, I believe that repeating these words to yourself will improve your poker score…
Wait for a better spot
Wait for a better spot
Wait for a better spot
But don’t take my word on it. Ask the 1000 pros and see what they think.
