The players had been so negative, I couldn’t beat them!
A couple of months ago, I did a blog post about the similarities in between tennis and poker when it comes to the want for mental toughness.  These days I want to speak about beating “bad” poker players.
The more I play tennis, the far more I recognize that tennis and poker are one and the very same.  It is just that in tennis your weapon is a racket, whereas in poker your weapons are your chips. 
I play tennis with a guy named “George” (name changed to protect the innocent).  George is the most hated tennis player in my hometown.  Possibly the most hated tennis player in Florida. 
Want to know why?  He seems to be a TERRIBLE tennis player, and but he constantly wins!  He does not just slightly win either, he beats you easily, the entire time speaking trash and embarrassing you in front of any onlookers. 
George does not even appear like a tennis player!  He’s overweight, he wears old sneakers with holes in them, and has a $five racket he almost certainly got at a garage sale. 
Sound like anyone you’ve ever played poker against? 
One common complaint we hear all the time in the poker world is, “The players had been so negative, I couldn’t beat them.”  Which begs the query, if you can’t beat them, who is truly the far better player? 
Widespread complaints I hear about “bad” poker players are:
“You can’t beat them, they never ever fold!”
“He’s such a nit, he usually folds, you can’t ever get any money out of him!”
“That guy is so over-aggressive.  He just raises each and every time!  You can’t beat him since you can’t ever tell what he has.  But that is not real poker.”
Think me, I’ve heard all the equivalent complaints about George.  In case you’re curious, here’s his secret to winning:  he just returns every ball.  He by no means goes for winning shots.  He does not hit the ball challenging.  George just chases down every ball you hit, and returns it back more than the net.  Every single. Single. Time.  Till you make an error, or (worse) throw your racket and quit. 
Most people refuse to play tennis against George since “He’s a terrible player!  Confident, I can’t beat him, but that’s not real tennis!”
What I would say to all the George-haters out there, and every person who complains about not becoming capable to beat “bad” poker players, is this:  if they are consistently beating you, are you confident they’re that poor? 
Those of us that play the games of poker and tennis have a bias towards the accepted style of play that designates a “good” player.  When somebody deviates from that style, our instinct is to belittle them. 
There are two important take-aways here.  
TAKEAWAY #1:  If a person can beat you consistently, then by definition they are a much better player than you!  If you want to take your poker game to the subsequent level, you want to locate a way to beat them.   Belittling them to your friends may possibly make you really feel far better in the quick term.  But what will actually make you really feel better in the extended run is taking all their cash! 
So, quit right now.   Whatever variety of poker player gives you the most difficulty – be it calling stations, nits, or over-aggressive bullies – cease speaking trash about them.  As an alternative, do some research on-line.  Figure out a counter-approach.  Practice it on Advanced Poker Coaching.  You will not have to preach about what a poor player they are anymore.  When all their chips are in your stack, that will speak for itself. 
TAKEAWAY #two:  Don’t avoid these kinds of players, embrace playing against them if you want to enhance.  I told you that every person in my hometown hates playing tennis against George.  But not me.  I’ll play George anytime, anywhere.  And I’m not going to quit until I beat him some day.  Till then, every single time he humiliates me on the tennis court, and I endure the mental abuse from his trash speaking, it just tends to make me stronger.  And a lot more determined.  And hungrier. 
We all aspire to be poker champions.  A real champion is ready for something.  So, welcome the chance to play against the “George” in your life when he sits down at the poker table.  No worry.  No excuses.  And trust me, when you ultimately stack him, it is going to feel Really very good!