Epistemology, Poker and Health

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that deals with knowledge.  What do we mean when we say we 'know' something?  When Carl Jung said 'I do not believe in God, I know...', did he mean the same thing as I do when I say 'I know that 3 plus 4 are seven', or 'I know that object is blue'.

There are two interesting tracks in Epistemology relevant to Poker.  I will cover just one now (and very briefly).  The second is skepticism which I will get to another day.

It has to do with two different 'kinds of knowledge' - conceptual knowledge (know about), and practical knowledge (know how).

Lets quickly take losing weight.  We all (conceptually) know about losing weight - fewer calories and more exercise (broadly).  Some of the fattest people could probably reel off the calorie count of half the items in the supermarket.  It does no good.

'Know how' is the ability to do that which we 'know about.'  What becomes interesting is someone who says, 'I know HOW to exercise, I just don't'.  We should treat this skeptically - KNOWING HOW to exercise is more than just knowing what to do at the gym, it is KNOWING HOW to get your body to the gym.

Take a Poker parallel.  I may 'know' that I can check-raise bluff this river profitably - villain never has more than a pair.  But, if in the moment, I freeze, 'wait for a better spot' or otherwise chicken out, do we really know HOW TO check raise bluff rivers?  If we can't overcome the anxiety (of putting in a lot of money with no hand), or the habit (of sitting on the couch rather than going to the gym 3-4x per week), can we accurately say we KNOW HOW rather than KNOW ABOUT?

The second point is that conceptual knowledge can be the enemy of personal change.  This is important, because you could say that CONCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE is  the bedrock or foundation of practical knowledge.  In fact, it can be the enemy of PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE.  How many times do we wave off advice, ignore criticism, or opportunities to learn and change thinking 'I KNOW THAT'.  I see this in my programs on personal effectiveness (time management) - people 'know about' time management (because it is pretty simple), but they suck at it.  They let the fact that the CONCEPTS are simple get in the way of the hard work of applying them.

When it comes to personal change, improving, learning, growing, KNOWING ABOUT is the booby prize.

Reno - Vegas trip report and update

Flying up to Reno from Vegas, for my first trip there, and my first Heartland was fun.  I loved being near the mountains in Reno - a reminder of how beautiful Tahoe (next door) is.

Poker went fabulously, I played 2 130 dollar satellites and won one, which put me in a 500 dollar satellite which i won easily (OMG satties are such gr eat value - from the 'i only play QQ+ guys that get blinded out' to the people who limp-call pre and then fold flops with 8BB.  to people who won't call shoves with AJ (i figured i was racing - yeah, right!)
I was basically card dead in the main - which can be good - because i can't spew off chips will silly steals....  finally some old guy put all his dough in with AQ when I had QQ (there was also a TT in there)... all of a sudden we are in the money....
sadly, at the final table, with 55k in sight, the eventual winner - quite the worst player i've ever seen - had the following action to him.... all in (from 8 BB stack), all in (from 15 BB stack - me) and he had J9s... he was covered by bigger stack...  ' well this is my lucky hand' - i call.  board K 8 4, turn Q, river T.... I'm crippled down to 3 BB and run into QQ three hands later.  still Im 7k better off...  had i held up, i would have been chip leader with 5 left and would have run them over...

after a nice year-end break with some excellent online success, i headed out to the circuit in Caesars...  to cut it very short, i limped onto the final table 10th in chips but managed second for 25k.

two days later, i was deep in a deep stack....  one of the most aggro donkeys i've ever seen was chip leader with 1/3 of chips with 20 left. he is on my left on button, i pick up 77, he 3 bets (like every hand), i jam and a) he has AK (how someone who is 3 betting every hand has ak now), and gets there....

still another 1200 bucks...  my backer very very happy...

don't feel i ran that super well.... bounced out of one tournament (the 1600) when set was run down by draw, and out of another when AA was cracked by AA...

I did play my socks off - and i really am becoming a strong live player... people (pros) tell me that.... lets keep it up...

however, bad news is my health practices deteriorated in dec, jan and feb - i finally hit rock bottom this monday - bought an e-cigarette, got back on the various anti-psychotics (just kidding ADD) i'm supposed to take, got a new CEO-type for Healthy Poker, and finished 2012 goals - which include losing this 10kilos and winning 500k at poker...

my other work (university teaching) has recently collapsed - so for right now - unless i go back into the business world, poker is it....

better be healthy then, and keep running ok....