Quote: If after ten minutes at the poker table you do not know who the patsy is - you are the patsy

[Dan Goncharoff]

The line is often attributed to Amarillo Slim, but with sucker instead of
patsy.

His 1973 book, Play Poker to Win, may be the source. It's not in GB.

DanG


On Sat, Jul 9, 2011 at 6:13 AM, Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Quote: If after ten minutes at the poker table you do not
> know
>              who the patsy is - you are the patsy
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Warren Buffett used a version of the saying in the subject line of
> this post in a letter he sent to the shareholders of his conglomerate
> Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The letter was dated February 29, 1988, and it
> summarized business activity in 1987. Buffett discussed a metaphorical
> figure called "Mr. Market" and indicated that a skilled investor
> should have knowledge that is superior to that of "Mr. Market" [BHWB]:
>
> Indeed, if you aren't certain that you understand and can value your
> business far better than Mr. Market, you don't belong in the game.  As
> they say in poker, "If you've been in the game 30 minutes and you
> don't know who the patsy is, you're the patsy."
>
> However, Buffett did not claim that he originated the saying; instead,
> he suggested it was an aphorism used by poker players. I have located
> four instances of the saying in 1979 and these appear to be the
> earliest currently known though I suspect that earlier examples exist.
>
> In 1979 the book "The Aggressive Conservative Investor" used a
> statement of the advice as an epigraph for chapter ten where it was
> identified as a "Poker Proverb" [ACPP]:
>
> If after ten minutes at the poker table you do not know who the patsy
> is - you are the patsy.
>
> POKER PROVERB
>
> More details for interested individuals are given here:
> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/07/09/poker-patsy/
>
> If a list member can find an earlier instance of this adage I would be
> thankful.   Garson
>
> [BHWB] 1988 February 29, Letter to the Shareholders of Berkshire
> Hathaway Inc. from Chairman of the Board Warren E. Buffett, Topic:
> Summarizing 1987. (Accessed at berkshirehathaway.com on 2011 June 3)
> link
>
> http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1987.html
>
> [ACPP] 1979, The Aggressive Conservative Investor by Martin J. Whitman
> and Martin Shubik, [Freestanding quote at beginning of Chapter 10],
> Page 154, Random House, New York. (Verified on paper)
>
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>

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