I was in New Orleans last Thursday, and I fell in with a group at a poker table. One of these men, as I would later learn, was the undisputed king of the dry-erase marker market, and a hefty fellow indeed. My legs could have fit inside his biceps.
All he had to talk about was the sweet smell of dry-erase markers and the pleasant squeak they make on a white board, but no one would tell him that that was boring.
Nobody wanted to die that night.
My wallet died that night, though, thanks to cold calling raises.
When two players each raise their ante before your turn, and then you only call, you have committed cold calling. It is easy for an experienced player to spot, and it tells that player something very important: your hand isn’t worth betting on, and you are only in this on faith alone.
Poker does not bode well for faith.
The simple point to remember: if your hand isn’t worth re-raising after two or more people have done so before you, then it is a hand you should drop.
The marker king and I became friends, by the way, and I now have a lifetime-supply of markers stuffed into my garage.