Ep. 2 - Rock, Paper, Scissors. and Poker???
- Lance Palmer
- Dec 6
- 5 min read
So, this week I thought I’d expand a bit on Ep.1, but I wasn’t quite sure where to go with it. That is, until Wednesday night at Joe’s when the conversation turned to The Councilman’s Corner.
I want to be very clear on something. The entire purpose of doing this is about all of YOU, the league members. Let this be a place where we can openly discuss poker concepts,
experiences, and general information in order to help grow this league and the game in general.
Your comments matter. Your opinions matter. Your questions matter. This is YOUR opportunity to talk about what you want to talk about as it relates to the poker world and specifically the Misfits Poker League.
Now back to Wednesday night at Joe’s…Randy LeBlanc, Phil Davis, and myself were discussing situational poker and Randy mentioned that he had read somewhere about how
the game of poker and the kids game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors” were somehow intertwined and a quality analogy could be me between the two games. Phil mentioned that he too had read somewhere about this comparison, but again neither he or Randy could remember where they had seen it.
Enter the grand world of Google.
Since we had a few minutes to kill before the nightly game commenced, I took advantage and did a little digging into this analogy and who was responsible for it’s origin. Needless to say, it was a little difficult to focus between the loud music and interruptions of normal business before most Misfits tournaments, but I was able to find the who and where regarding the “Rock, Paper, Scissors” vs Poker analogy. I noted it and proceeded about my evening without giving it a second thought, other than, “This would make a great ‘Councilman’s Corner’.”
Fast forward to Wednesday night after the game and after I returned home. I was in the shower where, I might add, I do some of my best thinking. It clicked, I actually have read this book and, like most things, had forgotten about this book.
I jumped out of the shower, figuratively, of course, did my nightly routine and then settled into searching my kindle account for this title. Lo and behold, there it was, staring me right in the face.
It’s no wonder I didn’t remember…I purchased and read this book back in July of 2022.
I opened the table of contents and searched for the chapter that discussed the sought after subject. At first glance, I didn’t see it. Then, upon further review, Chapter 4, Meet the Weapons: Rock, Paper, Scissors. Actually, in the kindle version, they misspelled scissors as ‘scisors’, lest I digress.
So off I went as I began to read and digest chapter 4 , all 20 pages of it. By the time I finished, it was early Thursday morning, like 3 am early, and Katrina, my wife, was up and preparing for an unusually early day at work. I had managed to take a few notes, but I really needed some rest, so while she was off to work, I was off to slumber with sweet dreams of Poker, Rock, Paper, and Scissors.
Upon awaking later that morning, I began formulating my thoughts regarding Chapter 4 of Poker Tournament Formula. The following is a summary of those 20 glorious pages. Enjoy!!
The Three “Weapons” of Tournament Poker:
Snyder argues that in fast no-limit hold’em tournaments, you don’t just rely on the cards you’re dealt. Instead, you have three “weapons” you can draw on: your cards, your chip stack, and your table position.
He frames the relationship among them like the classic game Rock, Paper, Scissors:
Cards are the equivalent of Paper, Chips are the Rock, and Position refers to the Scissors. Let’s follow the logic.
Cards (Paper) beat Chips (Rock) i.e., a strong hand can overcome a disadvantage in stack size.
Chips (Rock) beat Position (Scissors), a big stack gives more freedom and power in early positions than a weak stack would.
Kinda like having a larger stack with 10/2 off suit in the Small Blind and all you have to do to see the flop is complete the bet. I won't poke the bear any farther than this.
Position (Scissors) beats Cards (Paper), having the dealer/button or late position lets you play (or steal) hands you wouldn’t play in early position; position often matters more than the absolute strength of your cards.
What does it all mean and how do you put it into practice?
Cards as a weapon: When you do have strong hands, you can use them to overcome a
disadvantage in chips or position. But because strong hands come relatively infrequently, leaning solely on cards is inefficient , you’d rarely get to use that weapon.
Position as a weapon: Often the most valuable. Snyder emphasizes that in fast-structured tournaments, position is arguably your most consistently useful weapon. Late position allows you to play more hands (or steal blinds) even when your cards aren’t great; this is key especially in small-buy-in tournaments where many players are passive or inexperienced.
Hint:
#1. Misfits Poker League is free to play in, hence ZERO buy-in, ALWAYS!
#2. We are a social league, lots of folks limp.
#3. There are people who don’t care about any of this and just enjoy hanging out and having fun, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Chips as a weapon: Use stack wisely: A bigger stack lets you apply pressure, bully shorter stacks, and pick up blinds and antes more aggressively. But having chips isn’t enough by itself, they’re only useful when combined with thoughtful timing, position, and aggression (or hand strength, see “Cards as a Weapon”).
Snyder warns against relying exclusively on one weapon; the best players shift among cards, chips, and position depending on the context of each hand. Context ALWAYS matters!!!
The bigger picture: Why does this framework matter for fast small-buy-in tournaments?
For many of the small buy-in tournaments the book is oriented toward, short starting stacks, quick blind increases, amateurs, traditional, conservative “tight-play” strategies (waiting for premium hands) are often counterproductive. Instead, exploiting position and stack dynamics, even without good cards, is more profitable as it relates to the game.
The “rock-paper-scissors” analogy helps players quickly evaluate which “weapon” gives
them the best edge in a given hand: maybe fold a mediocre hand in early position but play aggressively from late position with worse cards; or use a big stack to bully shorter stacks early on.
It underscores that tournament poker, especially in fast, small-buy-in events, is more about dynamics, timing, and structure than simply waiting for good cards.
If you are looking to become a better poker player, I highly recommend you check out Arnold Snyder’s book, ‘Poker Tournament Formula’, right here:
Kindle Version: https://amzn.to/4owJoyh *
Traditional Paperback: https://amzn.to/4oCy2sv *
Get a 30 day Free Trial of Kindle Unlimited (renews at $11.99/month): https://amzn.to/44K8YbR *
To Randy LeBlanc, thank you, thank you , thank you, for reminding me about this vauable poker read. Remember folks, these blog posts are about you and what you want to talk about, so feel free to hit me up at any of our venues, via text, messenger, or email. I am always willing to entertain your thoughts. Doesn’t guarantee that your idea will get used, but I can use what you don’t suggest.
Until next time, may all your cards be gems and may you never get stacked.
~The Councilman
You can reach the Lance at lance@misfitspoker.com or via FB messenger @lancejpalmer.
Catch him at a venue (our Locations) and ask for his number, he’ll give it to you.
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