Value Judgments are Bad

Poker Helper, Aug 2007

That hot cocoa topped with whipped cream and mini marshmallows was delicious. Unfortunately, my peaceful morning ceased when I began battling traffic on the damn freeway; that drive to work is absolutely horrible! Some days, I’m so fed up that the only thing that can make me feel good about life is the breathtaking sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

We are conditioned to think of everything in our lives as being either good or bad (or somewhere in between or beyond). Since poker is a part of our existences, you’ll hear these types of value judgments all the time when listening to poker players talk. “How do the players at site X play?” will say one person, and his friend will respond something like, “Oh, the fish there are absolutely horrible.”

Making value judgments is almost as much a part of our nature as making sure we have sufficient food to eat. Having sufficient food is important, and the drive to ensure our proper nourishment is something that should remain intact, no matter how far we evolve. Value judgments, on the other hand, are something that we can do without…especially at the poker tables. To evolve as a poker player, you need to start thinking on a higher plane and evolve beyond the point of viewing things as “good” or “bad"...

Read the rest online at Poker Helper.