Tom Bostic

While up late one night I caught the beginning of a movie called "First Knight". Filmed several years ago, it is set in mid-evil Camelot with Richard Gere playing the part of Lancelot, a fearless sword wielding ladies man. I had no interest in watching the movie, however, the opening scene caught my attention. Bear with me as I take you through it, as I feel it illustrates a good point when applied to Poker.

Scene: Lancelot (Gere) is in a mid-evil village with his sword in his hand. A crowd is gathered around as he challenges any of the villagers to a sword fight.

Lancelot: "Once in a lifetime, you meet a man so fearless. No man can touch him...while you're waiting for him, you can practice on me (villagers laugh). For as sure as the sun will rise, there's a man who's better than me. He could be here. It could be today."

A camera pans over to a man who is being goateed by his family to challenge Lancelot. He points to him and says:

"It could be you."

They then engage in a sparring match in which the man can not even come close to striking Lancelot. He toys with him before eloquently dashing the sword out of the man’s hand with ease. Looking on with amazement, the challenger says:

"How did you do that? Was that a trick?"

Lancelot: "No. That's the way I fight."

Challenger: "Could I do it? Tell me. I can learn."

Lancelot: "First you must study your opponent, so you know what he'll do before he does it.

Challenger: "I can do that."

Lancelot: "And wait for the critical moment."

Challenger: "I can do that."

Lancelot: "And you must not care whether you live or die."

The challenger just stares at Lancelot with silence. No reply "I can do that" to that suggestion.

I love to find poker advice in unlikely places. I won't dumb things down and explain why this concept is important while playing poker (especially no limit), but I challenge you to think about it, and apply it to your approach to the game, because it is truly what separates the winners from those who are afraid to lose.

I encourage everyone to look beyond the poker books, strategy columns, forums and even hours of playing to find useful advice in unlikely places.