Johnny Hale


Folks, today I am a little concerned about the subject of luck vs skill in the playing of poker?

I get these emails all the time, asking me if I ever run bad for a long period of time at the poker tables.

The answer is "Yes! Of course I do!" I put my pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else. In Oklahoma we have many sayings, but the one that comes to mind when people ask that question is "If the horse throws you off, get back on and ride that horse again!"

Then, I am often asked the opposite question. "Do you just win all the time when you play poker?"

The answer is here is obviously a no. I usually tell people that my wife Carol is still working, or I like to tell them that I haven't quit my day job yet.

People also like to send me emails asking if I believe in luck.

Let me say emphatically...Yes!

As usual I speak slowly and write long so I do not have room here to repeat all of my thoughts about luck. But I will take the time for a couple of things.

I am the seventh son of an only son and that makes me so lucky that I just think I will win, and that I will stay lucky.

The number seven is a perfect number, and through birth I am the seventh son. I think this makes me twice lucky.

On the last day of September I had a super lucky birthday; my 77th.

I invited some folks to come to a poker birthday party. My birthday party was held on September the 30th, as a birthday no limit hold em poker tournament on Senior Poker I served ice cream and poker cake, also known as money. If you would like a VIP invitation to next years birthday poker party and my yearly celebration freeroll and newsletter drop me an email.

You must recognize luck when it taps you on the shoulder. It is surprising how lucky a person can become when they work hard.

I think the best player in the world at NL hold'em poker is Mr. Doyle Brunson, who is a member in good standing of The Seniors WCOP Poker Players Hall of Fame. Mr. Brunson is just one of the reasons I believe in luck, skill, and hard work.

Texas Dolly won two world championships at the WSOP with a ten/deuce off-suit. That is why the 10-2o No Limit Hold'em hand is called the "Texas Dolly."

Doyle was lucky enough to see the beauty in those two cards and worked hard enough to attain a skillful poker reputation. So, when those two cards recognized that a champion was playing them, the ten and duece were just afraid to let him lose.

I hear this statement sometimes when a player wins a nice pot.

"Well. I would rather be lucky than good!"

Yes, I am sometimes asked this question by people. It always goes something like this.

"Would you rather be a lucky player or a good player?"

My answer is always the same; I try hard to be both lucky and good!

People sometimes get a run of bad luck and they'll ask me, "How do I change my luck?" The answer is simple, in that there are many, many things you can do.

In Oklahoma one of the things that people say that "You must pay the preacher" before your luck will change.

I sure think it helps if you work hard and try to play better poker.

Jason White, the 2003 Heisman trophy winner and current quarterback of the OU Sooners, put up 50 passes in a game that I still remember. He completed 5 of them for touchdowns. So, was he 10% lucky or 10% skillful? Was he 90% unlucky or 90% unskilled?

If you think you are having an unlucky night; and that Lady Luck is not being good to you at the poker talbe, you can't give up. Don't give up! You have to back on that horse and ride him again!

If Jason had not tried 50 times he could not have completed those 5 touchdown passes.

Oklahoma Johnny's Poker Tip One of our greatest presidents was old Abe Lincoln. What many people don't know about Abe Lincoln is that he was so unlucky that he lost every single election he was involved in...

Until he won the office of the President of the United States of America.

Get back on the horse and you will get lucky and ride him and then you can take the money home and count it there.

Until next time remember to STAY LUCKY!!!!

Editors Notes: Oklahoma Johnny is the author of the book Gentleman Gambler and the founder of The Seniors World Championship of Poker and The Seniors Charities. You may contact Johnny by e-mail a: Oklajohnny@aol.com or through his website at www.seniorpoker.com. Don't forget that you are always invited to play a few hands of poker with OKJ at the official online poker room of the The Seniors World Championship. Download the software at www.seniorpoker.com