Rule 13: Think of your poker game like driving a car.

Driving a car produces a similar «flow» of events as the game of poker, in which you have to find a way to merge with the flow. You've noticed those signs on the highway that say «Speed Limit 65». But do you also notice those other signs, the ones that say: «Minimum Speed 45?» This tells us that there is a «flow» – and that «in between» is a pretty good place to be. It's a rhythm – where things operate at their best.

And poker is similar to driving in traffic. You see other cars move over, so you move over; you notice a certain lane is open, you take it; a bunch of cars move one way as a group, you move the other; a major tangle appears to be forming, you look for a way to navigate around it. You try to pass someone in traffic, they speed up, you back off. A parking spot appears, you move toward it, someone gets there ahead of you, you back off. And so on. It is the drivers who refuse to merge with the flow – who try to «go outside the lines» – who usually have the bad things happen to them.