Experience Is The Best Teacher.

Jim, my neighbor from Wisconsin, joined my poker table at the Oasis Casino last night. This was his first experience in a live 4-8 Texas Hold'em ring game. We'd been chatting about poker for a couple of weeks and Jim had been reading a good low-limit book (Lee Jone's low-limit hold'em) and practicing with Wilson's poker software. He's an intelligent fellow who teaches college courses, and he readily grasps difficult concepts.

With a $60.00 buy-in, Jim decided to get his feet wet in live brick and mortar poker. He played good starting hands and paid careful attention to his position. Understandably, he was somewhat shy when he entered a pot. During his hour at the table, Jim never got one of the starting hands that he'd read about, until AJ hit his hand, so he bet. My hand was pocket 5's, so I called. The Flop produced a queen and two rags,. Jim bet and I called (A weak call on my part). Another rag hit the Turn and Jim checked, giving me a free card. A five came on the River, giving me a set. Jim bet and I re-raised and he called. He turned over an AJ hand, which produced nothing and I won a nice pot. this was his final hand of the day. Later he told me that he'd fallen in love with the Ace and used poor judgement.

The above scenario is often re-played by new players. That Ace looks stronger than it actually is. If Jim would have stuck to known principles, he would've abandoned the hand after the flop. For his first effort he played well, but his inexperience and impatience cost him money. In poker, as in life, experience is the best teacher.

Link