I was curious to know if any other card game held secrets for the poker player. Then, I ran across this book, the Tao Of Bridge: 200 Principles To Transform Your Game And Your Life (Tao of)
Here are some of Manley's transforming thoughts that can apply to life as well as bridge, and as you will see, to poker, too.
1) "Many elements of bridge do not lend themselves to formulas, and you will have to teach yourself to think at the table." Page 3.
2) "The fact is that luck is a hugh factor in your success as a player. When you accept that and strive to maintain your equilibrium in the face of luck - good as well as bad - you will be on your way as a bridge player." Page 4.
3) "If you want to be a good player, you will need some imagination and creativity. You are free, within the proprieties of the game, to deceive your opponents..." Page 23.
4) "Seizing the initiative is almost always a good idea." Page 26.
5) "One of the challenges of bridge is walking that fine line between safety and aggression." Page 27.
6) "No one wants to be thought of as ho-hum or predictable. You want your opponents to respect your creativity. You want to put pressure on them through aggressive bidding." Page 54.
7) "Wild is not necessary. Aggressive will do just fine." Page 59.
8) "As long as you shun needless risks, you can counter their moves with moves of your own." Page 75.
9) "No one in any sport succeeds by playing down the middle all the time...The winners are usually the competitors who are willing to let it all hang out on occasion...The key, as with most competitive exercises, is picking your spots." Page 93.
10) "There's a famous saying in sports that "it ain't over 'til it's over."...Learn to play with dogged determination. Never give up, even when things seem the most hopeless." Page 111.
Sound familiar? It would appear that the Tao of Bridge could easily instruct the poker player, or any competitor. As I have suspected, all mental games and sports have a lot more in common than we might think. In fact, that is the thing they all have in common - competitive thinking.
See more books by Brent Manley and about following The Way located bottom of this page. And, before you place a book order, look at the Free Offers page.
R. Steve McCollum
____________________________________________________________________________________
Order these books from Amazon.com. You can be certain of amazingly low prices, oftentimes free shipping, and really fast service.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright 2009 R. Steve McCollum
