Poker Strategy

Basketball lessons from a 10-year-old that will help your poker game

I’ve been watching my 10-year-old son play a lot of basketball recently, which got me thinking about the parallels between it and the game of poker. Watching his games, it became clear how in both basketball and poker (and likely any other form of competition) it is preparation, not talent, that sets the great players apart from the good ones. Here’s what I mean.

Pressure Defence

In watching my son’s team get obliterated by a team that had been coached to be incredibly aggressive on defense at an age when very few players know how to combat it, it occurred to me that when you have a skill advantage (aka an “edge”), it makes sense to continue pushing it over and over again until you’re opponent either fixes the problem or walks off the court looking for a hug from their mom and dad.

At the poker table, this means that when, for example, you notice that your opponent seems uncomfortable playing 3-bet pots out of position – check folding too many c-bets or randomly spewing with a nonsensical hand when he’s had enough of your aggression – continue looking for situations to execute on that edge over and over again, and don’t stop until your opponent gives you a reason to.

On the flip side…

Breaking The Press

I can’t tell you how many games I’ve watched where a pressing team (a team that plays aggressive full-court defense) has demolished one who didn’t have a plan for dealing with it (aka my son’s sometimes not-well-coached team).

The lesson I took away from those long games spent sitting on the sidelines taking deep breaths to soothe myself and avoid becoming one of those dads, is that when your opponent is applying heavy pressure, you better darn well have a plan in place for how to counteract it or you’re going to get killed. And just like in basketball, if you’re unsure with how to handle an aggressive player at the poker table, you too are going to get killed.

In practice, this might mean tightening your hand ranges, bluffing more frequently, and understanding when it’s a good time to call down lighter. The key isn’t so much in how you do it – there are many approaches you can take – but that you have a plan in place ahead of time so that you don’t find yourself stuck holding the ball 90 feet from the proverbial basket with an aggressive player in your face.

Have Multiple Skill Sets

In basketball, if your team has no outside shooting and relies completely on the big guy in the middle, you’re going to eventually run up against a team with a bigger guy, or two of them, and then you’re cooked. Conversely, if your game plan is entirely built on good outside shooting, you’ll have far too many games where the shots aren’t falling, and then you’re in trouble too.

This parallels well with poker, where far too many players have a static strategy of “I’m going to wait for good hands and get paid.” Those players, like the basketball team with no inside game, end up relying far too heavily on a factor that is both fickle (having your shot go down, or having good cards come your way). Besides, on a long enough timeline, everyone gets about the same distribution of hands and many will play themselves, meaning that at the end of the day, there’s no real edge there.

The goal then, to continue the basketball metaphor, is to avoid becoming too one dimensional by working both on your shooting and driving (or your pre-flop and flop play) and then beginning to build expertise in other areas – such as passing and defense (aka turn and rivers) – as well.

So regardless of whether you apply these tips on the basketball court or at the poker table, remember: adjust, adapt, and always keep working to improve. And by the way, if you’re able to, don’t forget to thank your parents for all the painful things they endured on your behalf – like sitting through another 30-point blowout without yelling at the ref.

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