On money games

I have often been asked why I prefer to play "free" poker...the Starving Crazed Weasels league is no money involved, the various other leagues I have played in have all been free...there have been I think 3 exceptions:

1) a charity tournament for a cause I believed in. Flat entry fee.
2) a couple small "cash games" we ran as freeze out tournaments; 10.oo each.
3) one larger tournament for 22 dollar entry were allegedly the bulk of the money went to a charity...in retrospect I have my doubts.

On the rare, rare occasions I play in those tournaments I ensure that, whether for a cause or not, the fee is one that obeys one simple, basic rule; nobody gets hurt.

In other words, if we have 10 dollar entry fee, nobody is going to miss their rent or have a hard time eating.

Furthermore, I typically do everything I can to finish where I win no more than I put in. This, believe it or not, usually works; for example, I once paid 10 bucks each for the Goose and I and 6 bucks for snacks; I "won" 21 dollars... that is pretty close to even. The most recent one I played in like that, I paid 11 dollars (1 dollar to a high hand fund) to enter and 6 bucks for Cheetos and Doritos. I "won" 18 bucks...

In other words, I stay as close to "even" as possible. I would be lying if I did not admit that, overall, taking into account JUST the entries I have paid, I am "ahead" about 40 bucks. Not something I am proud of...then again, nothing I am ashamed of.

One of the critiques of gambling is the greed factor. I have unadulterated proof that I am not greedy...I have deliberately finished in a lower place at least twice, just to not win as much money. And it is not lack of talent...with 1 exception where I finished "on the bubble" I have been "in the money" every time.

With that said, I have been asked why I won't play Ring games and why I not only say I prefer free poker, I back it up by seldom winning the max possible in the cash tournaments, but am still willing to play them.

And finally I found a way to phrase it...courtesy of multi-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Chris Ferguson:

LH: Do you ever play in cash games?
CF: Not really. I like tournaments because they change over time and the strategy that you use to be successful also changes. Early in a tournament, the players have very big stacks in comparison to the blinds. You cannot risk everything without a monster hand. Later on in the tournament, players tend to tighten up a little bit as it gets closer to the money. You have to be able to take advantage of that. As the blinds go up, the stacks become relatively smaller, and you are not playing big-stack poker anymore. At this point, you can push people around a little more. Once you make the money, you are in another stage. This added dimension makes tournament poker interesting to me. I don't really enjoy live-action poker, mostly because I feel like I am taking money from other people. It doesn't seem fair to me. But once they put up their money in a tournament, someone is going to get it, so it might as well be me

I like almost everything he has to say except the last sentence...I really could not care less about the money. What it does do is feed the competitive beast within me.

I used to be insanely competitive. A psychologist would probably call it a compulsion. I just needed to have a winner and loser. These days I have grown up and matured a lot. I am not that way any longer. I can relax and enjoy playing on horrible basketball teams, for example, and not really care about losing games. For anyone who knows me and knows the drive to not just play but compete, and not just compete but WIN that I used to have...that is a nearly unbelievable statement.

Poker feeds the remnant. At least, tournament poker does. In a ring game, there can be many winners and losers. In a tournament, only one person can walk away the winner. Oh, many people can "cash" in those played for money...but only 1 gets the title.

And being able to rely primarily on my own abilities to win or lose...that I still love to do. I prefer the free tournaments and play those about 98% of the time...but when I am willing to play for small stakes...5 or 10 bucks...that is why I will play tournaments.