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What can Tiger Woods teach you about poker?

There is a common mistake that just about all inexperienced players make. It is the same mistake made by many experienced players who, despite their experience, still lose tons of money at the poker table. Tiger Woods will teach you to stop making this mistake. Rather, Tiger Woods' golf swing, as interpreted by me, will teach you to stop making this mistake.

Ask yourself this, "When is the last time that I stepped out of a golf swing, despite the fact that I felt goofy or a noise distracted me?" If you are an amateur golfer like me, I will wager that your answer is, "never."

Very occasionally you see an amateur golfer begin to draw back his club, no doubt planning a mighty 300 yard drive to the middle of the fairway, only to step out of his swing and reset. Normally, though, when something goes wrong, does he stop? Nope. He carries on and the result is a 45 yard worm-burner or a 300 yard monster - 250 yards of which are spent launching his Nike ball three fairways to the left. In almost every case, amateur golfers do not stop their swing once they start.

I laugh at myself every time my swing starts to feel awkward on the way up, and I think to myself, "No problem, I will fix the problem on the way down." The problem is that at the bottom of my swing I achieve a club head speed of about 80 m.p.h. (most pros reach 100 m.p.h. and Tiger Woods reaches 125 m.p.h.). What am I expecting to remedy over the course of one second at 80 m.p.h.? Whatever my plan, it is doomed to fail most of the time (see above regarding worm-burners and wrong-fairways). The point is, once my back swing starts I am irrevocably committed to hitting the ball. I am unable to adapt.

So what can Tiger Woods teach me about golf and poker?

First of all, Tiger always has a plan. He has decided what shot he intends to hit right now. He has selected a club, and a draw, or a fade. He goes into his pre-swing routine like all the pros. And, he executes his plan. But he is planning this shot as a set up to his next shot. You should apply this lesson to your poker game.

Have a plan. "I have K-K. I want to raise enough to limit the field to one or two opponents in order to simplify my hand on the flop and beyond." And, execute your plan. "I will make it $300 to go."

You may be surprised that few players actually have a concrete plan. Or, if they do, it is rudimentary: "I will raise because I think I have the best hand." Your plan should, at the minimum, include this bet and the next bet. The shot you are making right now is setting up your next shot. Include as much as possible:

• What am I attempting to accomplish with my current bet?
• How will I respond if my opponent raises?
• What will I do on the next street if my opponent calls or raises on this street?

These are only three things that you might make part of your plan. The point is to anticipate what your opponent will do, and know in advance how you will respond.

If, for instance, you are playing in a no-limit tournament and you bet ½ of your stack with top pair but fold when your opponent moves in, then you probably have a faulty plan. Likely, a smaller bet in the first place will enable the same fold but cause less damage to your stack. By thinking ahead to your next shot ("What will I do if my opponent raises?") you are better able to plan this show ("I will bet 1/3 of my stack instead of ½ my stack because it will still tell me what I need to know about the strength of this opponent's hand without risking as much.").

Sometimes, step out of your swing altogether.

Tiger is well known for stepping out of a swing and glaring at the offending member of the gallery who has crinkled his Doritos bag in Tiger's back swing. When things are not going well, Tiger does not "try to fix it on the way down." Rather, Tiger stops everything, gives Mr. Doritos the Gypsy Eye, and then starts the whole process over again. In other words, Tiger adapts.

In poker, I consider "stepping out of your swing" to be abandoning the plan altogether. Sometimes, no matter how much you plan and how carefully you execute, you will run into situations you did not anticipate - the poker equivalents of a crinkled Doritos bag. Do not press on with your plan without regard to this new criteria. Throw your plan out, and start over.

For example, have you ever bet the flop, turn, and river on a semi-bluff against a little-skilled, low-limit opponent? I have, and lots of times. And every time I do, I kick myself. If he didn't fold on the flop or on the turn, there is almost no way that he is folding on the river. My plan was probably bad to begin with (bluffing against this sort of player), but it should have been abandoned as soon as it became apparent that he was not interested in folding.

In golf, plan your next shot.

In poker, anticipate your opponent's response, and plan your next action.

And, sometimes, recognize that your plan is flawed to begin with.

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