Poker and Golf – Green Felt and Fairways
With Tiger Woods’ comeback win at Bay Hill, Paul Casey’s playoff victory at the Shell Houston Open, and the start of the Masters coming this week, the tournament golf season is in (pun intended) full swing. What does golf have to do with poker? More than you might think.
Many top poker pros love to take their games from the green felt to the green fairways. Poker legend Doyle Brunson is an avid and talented golfer, even at 76. Recent Poker Hall of Fame inductee Dewey Tomko once made his living as a golf “hustler.” World Series of Poker Player of the Year Erick Lindgren once played four rounds of golf during one of the year’s hottest days – and shot under a hundred each game!
Of course, the poker action around the golf course isn’t limited to big-name, big-dollar Vegas pros. Almost every country club and golf facility has a “backroom” game, sometimes violating official club rules. Doctors, lawyers, and business people gather at the table after their rounds while caddies and servers go all-in with their tip money.
Aside from the obvious gambling connections, poker, and golf share many of the same criteria for success. Whether you’re a scratch player, a high-handicap duffer, or have no experience on the links beyond your local putt-putt course, you’ll soon notice the similarities between making ship shots and growing short stacks.
Physical Endurance
During a golf tournament, players walk up to five miles and make seventy to eighty shots per round daily for four days. Most people may not think that poker tournaments call for that same level as a physically demanding activity. However, many players, especially veteran players in their forties and beyond, subscribe to a fitness program. Most major poker events require players to stay alert for twelve to sixteen hours a day for four or five days straight. The level of stress players experience during the critical stages of a no-limit tournament can match anything you see on the eighteenth green at the US Open.
Mental Resiliency
Most people now acknowledge the links between physical stress and mental fatigue. Each affects the other positively or negatively in an ever-building cycle. How you emotionally handle a golf shot that finds the rough, sticks deep in a bunker, or rolls into a water hazard will give the other players a strong indication of how you’ll take a bad beat or get your brilliant bluff picked off. Golfers call it “getting up and down”; the ability to bound back from a bad shot and save par. Even Tiger hits his ball into the high grass sometimes – his ability to put himself in a position to win from there makes him great. Poker pros need that same ability to prevent “tilt” and get back into contention after the worst happens.
“A Hard Way to Make an Easy Living”
At some point, every public links player or country club weekend imagines teeing up at Pebble Beach or St. Andrews against Mickelson, Garcia, or Singh. Likewise, every poker home game hero or local cardroom has recurring dreams of matching chips and wits with Negreanu, Ferguson, or Ivey. They dream of big prize money, TV exposure, and endorsement deals.
In both cases, the reality is much harsher. For every big-money tournament winner, hundreds of players come up short. Unless players reach an elite level, they often have to pay their expenses out of pocket. With the travel involved in the tournament circuits, be it the PGA Tour, the Nationwide Tour, the World Series of Poker Circuit, the World Poker Tour, or any of the other international tours), a player often has to play multiple days to make the cut and see any money at all. Even if they reach the cash, they still need a strong finish to cover their travel expenses and household bills. This financial inconsistency can affect the player’s decisions during the game. Do I lay up for an easy par or go for the birdie? Do I call all in with pocket queens, try to double up, or fold my way into the money? One bad shot, call, or beat can impact a player’s future far beyond that moment. Just ask Sean O’Hair about the sixteenth hole at Bay Hill.
Lessons, Books, and Videos
In addition to equipment, club memberships, and greens fees, golfers spend even more on books, videos, and private lessons. Golf instruction has become an industry that rivals that of the game itself. With the explosive growth in poker’s popularity in recent years, a cottage industry in poker instruction has sprung. Almost every major pro poker player has authored at least one poker book. Phil Gordon, Howard Lederer, and Phil Hellmuth have produced instructional videos. Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu each have created a series of web-based video lessons detailing their recommended methods. Poker “boot camps” like the WSOP and WPT Academy offer live teaching sessions with past champions. This unprecedented abundance of educational resources (such as Pokerology.com) has helped new players not only improve their skill levels but allowed them to do so in a way that saves them both time and money.
Skill vs. Luck
According to poker author Mike Caro, the game’s object is to make the correct decisions given the limited information available. If you call an all-in bet preflop with pocket kings and your opponent turns over pocket aces, was that a bad decision, or just bad luck? If you slice your tee shot, the ball hits a tree and bounces onto the fairway, was that a great shot or a lucky one? While the results of fluctuating probabilities (better known as “luck”) are more evident in poker, such variances can also occur on the course. Whether you have to decide between short irons or bet sizes, the best choices often lead to the best results, regardless of four-leaf clovers or lucky socks.
So the next time you play in a foursome, watch your playing partners’ styles. Does the big bruiser with the Big Bertha driver like to bet big and bully the table? Does the player with a tricky bunker shot treat it like a tap-in putt? Do you hear a string of curses from the woods as one player tries to find his ball? File these tidbits away and remember them when you get to the clubhouse. You can still take them to the table even if you can’t beat them on the greens.
