Learning By Watching - Being Social Edition

I love watching the EPT, and I get to watch a lot of it thanks to the combination of the pokerstars.tv livestream, and the time zone difference.  The commentators are good, and as with any poker viewing I get to see top players and how they play.  Plus, I get some lessons that aren't directly related to play on the felt; lessons like the one today, an answer to my dilemma from yesterday.

The situation: Liv Boeree was guest-commentating, and action cut from the Main Event to the other event running at the time, the 10k High-Roller.  Daniel Negrenau was at the table, and of course he was chatting it up.  And also of course, he was sitting on a well-above-average chip stack.  This is exactly what I was talking about yesterday.

I stepped away for a couple minutes, and the live stream was still showing that same table when I returned.  They were discussing the table dynamic, and Boeree made a comment in response to a question from one of the commentators about the amount of good-natured talk at the table.  This may not be exact, but it's pretty close:

"Oh, yes, that's why I love these high roller events.  They feel like a home game, they're so much fun."

So the high-roller events, the tournaments with the highest buy-ins, are the most fun because people are treating them like home games.  What I deduce from that is that other people, low-level pros and amateurs playing in the lower buy-in events, take the game too seriously. Why that is, I don't know.  Maybe they feel like that is the best way for them to play, maybe they feel pressure because of the amount of money they have at risk.

That's not me - I don't feel that's the best way to play, I don't feel that kind of pressure (anymore), and I'm certain playing like that would make me miserable, even if I was winning.  There are times where I may shut down and focus to a greater extent, but that's not my typical M.O.

Or, as I said to myself earlier (and this IS an exact quote), "Fuck it.  I'm there to have fun."

This approach may go against me becoming a better player.  Maybe it won't.  Maybe I'm short-changing myself, even now.  I may be terrible.  I probably AM terrible.  But here's the thing: I don't know that for sure.  And in the absence of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I am forced to believe I'm better than average, with even more potential.  It's all relative, but remember - I haven't been playing for very long, and I have a grand total of twenty and a half hours of live, non-home game play.  Or, as Phil Laak would call it, a Tuesday.

Even if results or other evidence point towards me not being very good, I always want to THINK I'm good, because that confidence, even if it's irrational, breeds success.

Let's get to the felt.