Today I thought I would discuss smart people. Specifically, smart people who play poker and the three significant errors they make at the table.

Smart people are attracted to poker because it is an interesting and intricate game with many strategic options. Many of the top players are also very smart people. Such people have an edge in poker because they simply can think of more variables in the short time they have to make a play, and remember more about about opponents, than other players can.

However, smart people also make one (or both) of three types of errors at the table.

1 - They want to look, or be thought of as smart.
2 - They give their opponents credit for playing (or thinking) as well as they do.
3 - They play too high.

They want to look smart. This is an ego problem. Unfortunately much of winning poker is quite dull: folding most hands and playing the ones you do play very straightforwardly. Oh, a few chances for cleverness do arise, but not all that often. And, even worse, frequently your one or two brilliancies per night do not get shown to anyone, so only you know how smart you are.

This galls some smart people who want to impress their peers, rather then just win money. So they show their cards, or make many more clever plays than is necessary, or even profitable, (Mike Caro’s “Fancy Play Syndrome”) to impress their tablemates (or even the TV cameras).

They give opponents too much credit. If you are a smart player who has studied strategy, you are probably thinking at level three or even beyond. Many of your opponents are not. When you start attributing to them thoughts and strategies they do not possess, you are going to misread their hands and the situations you find yourself in. This will cost you money. If you are true student of the game (as most who visit this website are), you need to learn to think down, and not put opponents on thoughts and hand you may have, but they don’t. This includes thinking they are always bluffing you.

They play too high OK, yet another ego thing. For many, poker is about finding the best situation to make money. For some others, who tend to be smart people, they feel they only prove how smart they are if they play against top players, frequently for mare than they can afford (is this really smart??) They do this partly because they enjoy mixing it up with other strategically adept players, and trying to prove their superiority. They also do this to be seen playing at these tables so others will respect them for playing with other top players.

Truly smart poker is finding the most profitable spot you can and making the best decisions you can regardless of who is watching or what they think.