When I was a Donk: Rep Porter

In this series, Card Player asks top pros to rewind back to their humble beginnings and provide insights regarding the mistakes, leaks, and deficiencies that they had to overcome in order to improve their games.

Rep Porter has two World Series of Poker bracelets, along with six final-table finishes. The Woodinville, Washington family man left a career on Wall Street to try his hand at the poker tables and it has paid off to the tune of $1.5 million in career earnings, which only accounts for his tournament winnings.

Here, he talks about his initial approach to poker and how that changed when he made it his profession.

“_I’d like to think that I’ve always played perfectly, but we all know that nobody starts off playing the game that well. My first experiences with poker were family games around the kitchen table._

“In those games, there were always six people taking every hand until the end. It didn’t even occur to people that folding was an option. Obviously, this strategy didn’t really translate well to the local card rooms, where we played $1-$2 dealer’s choice.

“It took about a week before I realized that chasing every hand down to the end probably wasn’t the best way to play and that folding should be done more frequently. That was kind of my donk moment as a beginner, but there were even more adjustments to be made once I started playing professionally.

“When I left poker to work on Wall Street, I was forced to redefine my decision making in a way that poker hadn’t. Ironically, I became a much better poker player during that stretch, even though I wasn’t even playing the game.

“When I came back, I noticed that there were a lot of people playing it too safe, a dumb downed version of the game. They gave themselves a basic set of rules to follow, while giving up small advantages to reduce their volatility.

“That’s not me though. I can see how that works for some people, but as a poker player, I need to be pushing those edges and thinking about the bigger picture.” ♠