GTO Poker Theories - The Parable of the Fisherman

Today we showcase a wise tale about contentment and ambition, reimagined through a poker perspective.

One of the real gifts poker has given me is that it has been a great jumping-off point to learn things from other disciplines like economics, AI, psychology, and Game Theory. So here is a series of articles where I bring some of the most interesting things I have learned from other subjects outside of poker which are applicable to this game we know and love.

I'd not heard the Parable of the Fisherman before and then I heard it several times in quick succession recently.

The story unfolds with a wealthy businessman encountering a fisherman in a small village. The fisherman, having caught enough fish for the day, was relaxing and enjoying the serene beauty of his surroundings. The businessman, puzzled by the fisherman's lack of ambition to catch more fish and earn more money, proposed a business plan. He suggested that the fisherman could work harder, catch more fish, and eventually expand his operations by buying more boats and hiring others. This expansion, he argued, would lead to vast wealth and success.

The fisherman, with simple wisdom, asked what would come after achieving all this wealth and success. The businessman enthusiastically explained that he could then retire, live in a beautiful place, fish a little, play with his children, take siestas with his wife, and enjoy the company of friends in the evenings. Unbeknownst to the businessman, he had described the very life the fisherman was already living.

The beauty of the Parable of the Fisherman lies in its straightforward yet profound message: true contentment is often found not in the relentless pursuit of more but in appreciating and enjoying what we already have. 

Hourly rate obsession

When I heard the Parable, I instantly went to something I have been thinking about for a while now. A mostly comical observation which has an element of truth to it. 

Poker for many is an escape. Those who do it as a career often do so because of the freedom that comes with it, compared to a 9-5 office-type job. 

Ironically, however, I have observed that many poker players obsess about their hourly rate. They will do a plethora of things to make minor increases to it like adding tables and late registering MTTs. Often errors are framed in terms of how much it is costing them an hour. I know players who often shun live poker precisely because of how bad the hourly is when you factor in travel time and costs. 

This is all good strategy, but I find it comical because obsessing about an hourly wage is something people in 9-5 jobs they hate also typically do. Escaping a corporate life where you trade hours for money is precisely the thing a lot of players come to poker for. 

This is not to discourage such thinking, but it did remind me of this parable and also the infamous quote about poker that it is 'a hard way to make an easy living'. 

What theories from outside of poker have helped your game? Let us know in the comments.

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