“There are those who believe that the sole duty of the poker gamesman is to build up his reputation for impenetrability and toughness by suggesting that he last played poker by the light of a moon made more brilliant by the snows of the Yukon, and that his opponents were two white slave traffickers, a ticket-of-leave man and a deserter from the Foreign Legion. To me this is ridiculously far-fetched, but I do believe that a trace of American accent – West Coast – casts a small shadow of apprehension over the minds of English players.”

— Stephen Potter

The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship (1947) pp. 82-83

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "There are those who believe that the sole duty of the poker gamesman is to build up his reputation for impenetrability …" by Stephen Potter?

Stephen Potter 7

British writer 1900–1969

Victoria Coren (1972) British writer, presenter and poker player

Responding to Stuart Wheeler's suggestion that women are not good at chess, bridge or poker.
Evening Standard Quote of the Day, Friday 16 Aug 2013, p. 16

“The more a person believes he’s free to think, the more I believe he’s a slave of his thoughts”

Ali Al-Wardi (1913–1995) Iraqi sociologist

“Mr. Pritchard was a businessman, president of a medium-sized corporation. He was never alone. His business was conducted by groups of men like himself who joined together in clubs so that no foreign element or idea could enter. His religious life was again his lodge and his church, both of which were screened and protected. One night a week he played poker with men so exactly like himself that the game was fairly even, and from this fact his group was convinced that they were very fine poker players. Wherever he went he was not one man but a unit in a corporation, a unit in a club, in a lodge, in a church, in a political party. His thoughts and ideas were never subjected to criticism since he willingly associated only with people like himself. He read a newspaper written by and for his group. The books that came into his house were chosen by a committee which deleted material that might irritate him. He hated foreign countries and foreigners because it was difficult to find his counterpart in them. He did not want to stand out from his group. He would like to have risen to the top of it and be admired by it; but it would not occur to him to leave it. At occasional stags where naked girls danced on the tables and sat in great glasses of wine, Mr. Pritchard howled with laughter and drank the wine, but five hundred Mr. Pritchards were there with him.”

John Steinbeck book The Wayward Bus

Source: The Wayward Bus (1947), Ch. 3

“Poker is poker.”

Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz (1959) Polish politician

On negotiating the budget for the European Union, 2005.
Edward Stourton (2006-03-13) Inside the British Presidency. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/insidebritishpresidency.shtml BBC Radio 4.

“Sex is good but poker lasts longer.”

Alan Williams (novelist) (1935) novelist

Spanier, David. Total Poker. London: Secker & Warburg, 1977. No page number. (Cited in Poker Wit & Wisdom: Quotes and Writings on America's Favorite Card Game. A. D. Livingston. Globe Pequot (2006); pg. 50).