Karma at the Poker Table

I have been playing several events in both Las Vegas and Los Angeles lately and a situation last night sort of reinforced my thoughts regarding karma. I strongly believe that the good energy that we give off at the table will come back to us in positive ways. There are a lot of players in tournament poker and in poker in general that give off a generally nasty attitude and demeanor at the table. One such person I encountered last night.

I was moved to a table in a Limit Holdem event at the Bike and this gentleman was sitting in the 4 seat. I was supposed to be moved to the five seat. From the beginning he was highly unpleasant. First he said that he wasn’t moving over to give me any more room and if I wanted more room, the table needed to move. I could have fought this if I wanted and called the floor but I decided not to. I did actually have enough room so I was just going to classify him as a jerk and move on.

A little later we were in a hand together and I raised pre-flop. I continued betting through the hand and from the flop the guy started talking the “I wonder if this guy cares that I don’t like him.” He pretty much continued this through the hand and then when he caught lucky to outdraw me sat there and gloated. Another player was at our table that is an author and the guy told his buddy at the table that the person did not “look like a winner in life.”

I love these people at the table, especially when I am able to catch lucky and bust them or take a lot of their chips. Fortunately, I was able to do so a few hands later when the flop was checked around and I was able to pick up a draw. I made my draw and was able to get some extra bets at the end. Not only did I get my chips back that I lost, but I was actually up from when I started at the table.

Shortly afterwards I was moved to another table and started going on a run of my own and was able to get a decent amount of chips. I then proceeded to make the money of the event. One person that I didn’t notice when we started to approach the money was “Mr. Winner.” I did notice that the guy that didn’t look like a winner in life made the money with me.

While there isn’t a magical force that controls the cards, I do believe that good karma can affect our game. First, when you have good karma at the table, you don’t make yourself a retaliatory target such as the guy made himself in my game. There are also times that getting along with people can help you. Later in the event last night, a guy clearly soft played me. The only reason I figured he did this was because we got along and I was friendly to him. When we were heads up, he switched off the aggression and let the cards do the talking. Of course, I did pick up a couple pots from him taking advantage of his soft play. Then again, he did have a lot of chips so he stood more to lose than to gain by tangling with me.

Now I am not saying that good karma will win you a tournament or win you a lot of money. What it will do is help you and other enjoy the game more. Sometimes it may help you to win some pots you may not normally have won. Even if it doesn’t help you win more, having a good attitude and keeping good karma will help you make friends and have a good time.

Good luck to you at the table.

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