Many players arrive at a poker game a little too eager to play. You can see it in their body language. They are rubbing their hands together, leaning forward in anticipation. They've В«come to playВ», and they will tell you so.
This is an awful lot of eagerness when you consider that poker is basically a slow game that goes on for hours and hours, in which good hands occur only infrequently. Sit back. Relax. This isn't the hundred-yard dash. Cross your arms and settle in for the long haul. Approach the game for what it is: infrequently appearing good cards in a turtle-paced game. В«Back awayВ» from the game, and from any feelings of over-eagerness. See how many hands you can fold. Make each hand В«proveВ» that it is good enough to play. Such an approach will keep you out of trouble. Will doing this make you miss a good hand when it comes along? Or cause you to overlook it? It's doubtful. You'll still know when you have a good hand. Don't arrive at the game champing at the bit to play.
«Lying in wait is the secret of success in poker».
R. A. Proctor, Poker Principles and Chance Laws
