You heard me right. . . There may be times you really want to lose the pot. How is that possible?

As we continue down our road of discovery by examining various elements of our game to determine if our own inflated view of just how great we really are is indeed accurate, today let's delve into the subject of slow playing a strong hand. Slow playing can be defined as checking and/or just calling an opponent's bet when holding a strong hand with the intention of winning more money in the later rounds of betting. Why do players slow play a hand? Well, according to the definition, it would be to make more money than if they played the hand more aggressively and less deceptively.

[Editor's Note: Also read the results from this WSOP circuit event]

Jerry Reed tops field of dreamers and wins his first WSOPC championship

Poker has come a long way in Arizona since the days of the Wild West, when five-card draw, stud and Faro were king of the casinos in historic towns such as Tombstone, Bisbee, Prescott and others that have long passed on into legend or been forgotten. For many years after poker was outlawed in Arizona, next-door neighbor Nevada was the only choice for legal poker games.

Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States, played politics like a game of poker. He was aggressive, cunning and always played to win.

Growing up in the vast Hill Country of south central Texas, Lyndon learned both games - politics and poker - from his father, Sam Johnson, a five term state legislator. There were nine children in the family. At the dinner table "serious issues", politics and government, were the conversation.

It was a friendly home game with seven friendly players. None of them were particularly aggressive. None of them were terribly tough or tricky. Why was I so sure of this? The game was at my house and I hand picked the opposition. Pretty sweet setup, no?

But things didn't go as planned. It wasn't the cakewalk I had anticipated. All of the high alcohol content beer and the extra salty chili meant to encourage them to drink it didn't seem to be working. I was losing.

Stu Ungar generated a lot of buzz in his 45 years as he traveled the fast lane through poker's biggest games and tournaments.

Those who either watched or sat at the same tables with him say his no limit skills were unsurpassed.

Veteran poker executive Eric Drache remembers first hearing about Stu Ungar, in the private clubs and games around New York City during the 1970s, coming off as this "brash and arrogant" teenager taking on all comers as a gin rummy player and usually sending them home disappointed.

"Time Brings All Things to Pass" -Aeschylus
Thomas Edison wrote: "Hang in there. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Michael Jordan said: "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot...and missed. I have failed over and over again in my life. And that's why I succeed."

5. Good players play at lower stakes on line than in casinos. In casinos, it is unusual to find a really good player in a game below $5/10. On line, there are often good solid players at the $3/6, $2/4 and $1/2 table. If you don't adjust your starting requirements and playing style to suit these tougher opponents then you will often lose your bankroll to them.

Is there ego in poker? Obviously. But that ego doesn't always relate to winning or losing. Often it relates, instead, to bluffing. Some players take bluffing personally. They feel wounded when they're the victim of a bluff, and they feel euphoric when they succeed by bluffing.