FIRST CAST : JUSTIN ONSLOW
the life of gamblers
My first couple years in college were largely spent in the common lounge area of my dorm playing No Limit Texas Hold ‘ em with a handful of people I still call friends to this day . I fell in love with poker during those couple years , not just playing but also watching it on TV ( this was during the poker renaissance perpetuated by ESPN ’ s constant coverage of the World Series of Poker ) and consuming every poker book I could get my hands on , from Doyle Brunson ’ s “ Super System ” to “ Hold ‘ Em Wisdom for All Players ” by Daniel Negreanu . In another life , I may have pursued a career that led me down a similar path as those players I idolized .
I still play on occasion – and there are some absolutely fantastic poker vloggers on YouTube carrying the torch for the game whose videos I rarely miss – though I ’ m admittedly more of a casual fan these days now that I ’ m no longer an unfettered undergrad playing for peanuts in a dormitory for 10 hours a night .
Recently , I got to thinking about the lifestyle of a professional poker player – the long days and long nights , the incredible selfconfidence and work ethic required to make money playing the game , the gambler mentality of it all . And it hit me : Many of those personality traits are requisites for making a career of bass fishing . Truly , those who pursue bass fishing as a career are the rounders of the modern sporting world .
Consider : Every man or woman who enters a fishing tournament puts money on the line ( and in many cases , a lot of money ) with the belief that he or she is capable of winning more than the stake , knowing it ’ s possible to walk away with nothing . Even those with sponsor help know how quickly that can dry up . Belief in oneself is the supreme difference maker between winning and losing , big paydays and big zeros .
The gambler mentality is touted often in bass fishing ( for proof , read Joe Balog ’ s column on page 24 in which Dakota Ebare explains going all-in on winning instead of playing bubble boy to earn a check ). Those who can afford to miss a cut often take the biggest swings . Those who are willing to risk their whole stack are the ones who make history . As Mike McDermott ( played by Matt Damon ) explains in the poker movie “ Rounders ,” “ You can ’ t lose what you don ’ t put in the middle . But you can ’ t win much either .”
The more I thought about it , the more the similarities became strikingly obvious . Just as poker theory has evolved , turning studious players into statisticians extraordinaire , bass fishing theory has taken off with the advent of space-age electronics and the spread of information across the internet ( from Google Earth to YouTube ). Gone are the days of simply reading the player across the table and pushing your whole stack across the betting line because you spotted a twitching eyelid or a pulsing vein . And in bass fishing , rarely is a tournament won these days without ample preparation and the aid of the newest and best information , gear and electronics .
Ultimately , though , the best poker players and the best bass anglers on the planet all have one fundamental trait in common : They trust their instincts . They ’ ve seen it all and they know all the odds and angles . And when it comes time to play those angles , there ’ s no second-guessing . Greatness leaves no room for self-doubt , and you ’ ll find none among the likes of Jacob Wheeler and Michael Neal and Kevin VanDam and so many other superstars of our sport .
A “ fish ” in poker is a player who is considered an easy target – a weak player whose money is fair game . I ’ ve yet to meet a bass that was a “ fish ” in that sense of the word , but I guess that ’ s why I ’ m not a pro .
justin onslow , managing editor
6 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | DECEMBER-JANUARY 2023