The Art of Texas Hold'em by Sun Tzu Sklansky : Allgemeines

[the mind Profil]

52 Concepts That Will Transform Your Game

By Dailey Pike

Special thanks to Lionel 'Pocket Rockets' Giles

FOREWARD

Sun Tzu Sklansky was a Chinese general whose concepts of warfare are still studied today. These 52 concepts apply to various aspects of Hold 'Em (and PokerLife in general), some to more than one. Strategy, Attacking, Defending, Deception, Tells, Variance, Tilting, Short Stacks, Raising, Bluffing, Position, Psychology, Odds, Winning, Losing, Reading Hands, The Chase, Tournaments, Traps. All are covered.

However, I attach no specific aspect of Hold 'em to any of these Concepts, as readers will make their own interpretations and evaluations as to how the wisdom and knowledge of Sun Tzu Sklansky are relevant to their game.

Here now are the 52

Sun Tzu Sklansky said The Art of War is important to the State (player). It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

The general (player) that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it will conquer. The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it will suffer defeat.

While heeding the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules. According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans.

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.

If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.

If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. Attack him where he is unprepared; appear where you are not expected.

The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat--how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.

Though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays. In war let your great objective be victory, not lengthy campaigns.

To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

The highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.

The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the assault like swarming ants, with the result that one-third of his men are slain. Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.

It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him. If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.

Hence, though an obstinate fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the larger force.

Thus, we know that there are three essentials for victory He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.

Sun Tzu Sklansky said, "The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy."

To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy. Hence the saying, "One may know how to conquer without being able to do it."

Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.

The general who is skilled in defense hides in the most secret recesses of the earth; he who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven. Thus, on the one hand, we have ability to protect ourselves; on the other, a victory that is complete.

To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence. Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer, and the whole Empire says, "Well done!" To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength; to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight; to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear.

What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease. Hence his victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit for courage. He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.

Hence, the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy. Thus, it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.

The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep. In all fighting the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. Indirect tactics efficiently applied are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.

In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack: the direct and the indirect. Yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers. The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn. It is like moving in a circle; you never come to an end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?

The quality of decision is like the well-timed stoop of a falcon which enables it to swoop and destroy its victim. Therefore, the good fighter will be terrible in his onset and prompt in his decision.

Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all; amid confusion and chaos your array may be without head or tail, yet it will be proof against defeat. Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline, simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength.

He who is skillful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to which the enemy will act. He sacrifices something that the enemy may snatch at it. By holding out baits he keeps the enemy on the march and lies in wait for him. By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord. By inflicting damage he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.

The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him. If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him. If well supplied with food he can stare him out. If quietly encamped he can force him to move.

Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend. March swiftly to places where you are not expected. An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not.

You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.

Hence the general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend. He is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.

O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible and inaudible. Hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands.

You may advance and be absolutely irresistible. If you make for the enemy's weak points, you may retire and be safe from pursuit if your movements are more rapid than those of the enemy.

If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.

If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.

By discovering the enemy's dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated. If we are able thus to attack an inferior force with a superior one, our opponents will be in dire straits.

Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible Attacks, numerical strength from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.

Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order to fight.

Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting. Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success. Rouse him and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself so as to find his vulnerable spots.

Carefully compare the opposing army with your own so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient. In making tactical dispositions the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them. Conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains.

How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy's own tactics, that is what is the multitude cannot comprehend. All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved. Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.

So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows. The soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning may be called a heaven-born captain.

The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally predominant. The four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long. The moon has its periods of waning and waxing.

Let your rapidity be that of the wind, your compactness that of the forest. Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night. When you move, fall like a thunderbolt.

He will conquer who has learnt the artifice of deviation. Such is the art of maneuvering. A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen and attacks when it is sluggish and inclined to return. This is the art of studying moods, disciplined and calm, to await the appearance of disorder and hubbub amongst the enemy. This is the art of retaining self-possession.

To be near the goal while the enemy is still far from it. To wait at ease while the enemy is toiling and struggling. To refrain from intercepting an enemy whose banners are in perfect order. To refrain from attacking an army drawn up in calm and confident array. This is the art of studying circumstances. It is a military axiom not to advance uphill against the enemy nor to oppose him when he comes downhill. Do not pursue an enemy who simulates flight. Do not attack a soldier whose temper is keen.

The wise general's plans considerations of advantage and disadvantage will be blended together if our expectations of advantage be tempered in the way we may succeed in accomplishing the essential part of our schemes. If on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.

Reduce the hostile chiefs by inflicting damage on them. Make trouble for them, and keep them constantly engaged. Hold out specious allurements, and make them rush to any given point.

The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.

There are four dangerous faults which may affect a general: recklessness, which leads to destruction; cowardice, which leads to capture; a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults. And, the fourth fault, he who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to be captured by them.

Rapidity is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness. Make your way by unexpected routes and attack unguarded spots.

Therefore, success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy's purpose. If the enemy leaves a door open, you must rush in. Move not unless you see an advantage. Use not your troops unless there is something to be gained. Fight not unless the position is critical. If it is to your advantage, make a forward move. If not, stay where you are.

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