in 1975 a young kid walked into the Dunes, sat down in a $1,500 game he had never played in his life, and lost his shirt on purpose. that kid became one of the greatest all around players who ever lived, and years later he sat down and explained why taking those lumps was the only way anyone learns to price risk. MIT this is not. it is a short recorded talk that has quietly floated online for years, and almost nobody outside serious players has watched it. his point cuts against everything a beginner wants to believe. you cannot read your way to an edge. other professions let you study the books and arrive good. poker does not. you have to sit at the table for hours and actually feel the situations before the math means anything. the man talking is Chip Reese, considered by many the best all around cash player who ever sat down. here is the part worth slowing down for. he took an economics course on risk once, and the line that stuck with him was that in business risk is a sequential decision making process. no limit does not have that. you guess for all your money and it is one all in pop. but the stud games, razz, stud eight or better, they hand you decision after decision. you can fold a big hand and be right. you can make a value bet. you gain edge by throwing hands away, not just by betting. that is the whole reason he refused to be a specialist. the specialists of 1974 got left on the rail when the popular game changed. the ones with no fear who jumped into everything survived. no book. no shortcut. one seat and the willingness to take your lumps early. a friend I play with treats this exact talk as required listening before a mixed game. people torch six figures learning this the slow way. he learned it in one game at the Dunes and gave the lesson away for free. watch it first, then read the article below.