Freud and Poker

Sigmund Freud never played poker, but understanding his theories can really improve your game. He emphasized unconscious, irrational forces, while most of his predecessors and peers focused primarily or exclusively upon conscious, rational thinking. They assumed that people were rational, while Freud insisted that everybody is driven by unconscious, irrational thoughts, feelings, and impulses.

That ancient assumption of rationality still dominates the poker literature. Nearly all poker writers seem to assume that most or even all poker players are guided by reason, that they try to win, that the only obstacle to playing well is a lack of information and skill. They emphasize how you should play while ignoring the unconscious, irrational forces that prevent you, me, and nearly everybody else from playing our best.

If you look at what actually happens at poker tables, it's obvious that these impulses affect everyone. Some people are crippled by them; they are literally incapable of acting rationally. Others act logically most of the time, but everybody – even the greatest champion – occasionally yields to these unconscious forces. How else can you explain all the stupid things we see and do every night? People know better, but still take self-defeating actions.

Unfortunately, most of us don't admit that these drives affect us. We rationalize, giving good reasons for our actions, not the real ones. We say, "I called that bet (or raised, or joined this game, or didn't take that little old lady's last chips, or whatever else we did) because I expected to profit from it." We don't admit, not even to ourselves, that we really don't know why we did something, or that we did it because we were bored, or angry, or ashamed, or just felt like it.

The best way to reduce their impact is to understand these forces. Please note that I said "reduce" their impact, because we can never eliminate it. From birth to death, these drives have a huge impact on everything we feel, think, and do.

Understanding them will also help us to understand, predict, and manipulate other people, but they are secondary benefits. The first player we have to understand and control is ourselves.

The Structure of Personality

Freud said that everyone's personality contains three components: the id, ego, and superego, and they constantly battle each other. Most people grossly misuse these terms, especially "ego." In fact, they often use the term ego in exactly the wrong way. When someone says, "He's got a big ego," I want to say, "Oh, no he doesn't." In fact, most "big ego" actions are really caused by the ego's being too weak to control the id and superego.

The id is entirely unconscious, and it contains our primitive, biologically based instincts and urges. It operates on the pleasure principle, demanding instant gratification of all its desires and immediate relief from discomfort. It is totally unreasonable, accepting no limitations or delays. A baby is pure id, demanding immediate satisfaction of all of its demands, ignoring all constraints. Every parent knows that you can't reason with a baby, and part of us never outgrows that primitive demand for instant gratification.

The id causes many stupid actions. For example, it doesn't want to wait for good cards; it wants to play now. It also wants to punish people, show off, and get the kick of wild gambling. If you can't harness these impulses – and nobody can control them completely – you will reduce or eliminate your edge.

The ego is the rational part of our personality. We slowly learn that the world is not part of us, that it does not do what we want it to do, and that we must adjust to it and obey its rules. Because the ego operates on the reality principle, it is able to understand and relate to the external world. It is much weaker than the id, which is the exact reversal of the common belief that people are primarily rational. The rationalists – including most poker writers – might reluctantly concede that irrational forces occasionally affect us, but they would never agree that these forces dominate our logical minds.

The debate between the Freudians and rationalists has lasted for more than a century, and it will probably never be resolved. I side with the Freudians. In fact, I wonder how anyone can watch the evening news and see how often people slaughter each other and destroy themselves, but still insist that we are primarily rational. If you look at the news or at all the crazy things people do at the poker table, you should realize that irrationality is the norm, not the exception.

The superego starts as part of the ego, but slowly separates itself and becomes a demanding and punitive censor, our "conscience." It operates on the morality principle, insisting that we obey the rules of our parents and society, creating strong, often destructive feelings of guilt and shame. It can have an immense impact on our play, because poker is so predatory, devious, and deceptive. If the superego makes us feel guilty when we bluff, sandbag, exploit a drunk, or bust someone, we're at a tremendous disadvantage. We can't do the things that others will do.

In fact, if we are as skilled as our opposition, but feel guilty about being deceptive and predatory, we probably can't win. The rational ego may tell us to do something, but the superego will stop us or cause us to act clumsily. For example, we all know people who can't bluff well because it embarrasses them, others who won't take someone's last chips, and others who tell weak players how to protect themselves.

The stronger the superego, the more inhibitions we have, and the less effectively we will act. To put it bluntly, if our superego prevents us from eating the weak, we're at a tremendous disadvantage against uninhibited players.

Who Cares?

A close friend and successful pro told me that he couldn't read this column because "Freudian psychobabble" has no relationship to poker. I obviously disagree. The evidence clearly indicates that everyone acts irrationally at times, and that these actions are driven by unconscious forces. If you don't understand the forces that affect you and other people, you can't play your best, no matter how skilled you are. You will take foolish actions for unconscious reasons, and you cannot understand how these drives affect other people.

First and most important, if you really want to win, accept that you need more ego, not less. I'm using "ego" in the Freudian sense. His ego deals with reality, while "ego trips" deny or distort it. To win at poker, you must avoid ego trips and constantly try to apply the reality principle.

Second, accept that you can't increase the ego's control unless you understand how your id and superego affect your play. You should therefore examine why you have taken actions. The poker culture is extremely anti-introspective. Instead of analyzing why we do things, we just assume that we are motivated by a desire to win, that we think rationally, and that we try to maximize our profits. In fact, most of the poker literature looks as though it was written before Freud identified these unconscious forces. I've read countless articles about how to play, but hardly any about why people don't apply the principles they already know. Since there is no rational reason not to apply them, the reason must be unconscious and irrational. Ignoring these forces doesn't make them go away. It just maximizes their destructive effects.

Third, discover how your own and other people's minds actually work, not how people say they should work. All psychoanalysts spend years in analysis learning how these forces affect their own thoughts and actions. I'm certainly not suggesting that you take analysis or any other sort of therapy, but examining your own thinking processes will help you to understand why you act the way you do, reduce the effects of unconscious drives, and increase your ability to get into other players' heads.

It isn't fun or natural to examine our own motives. We all want to pretend that our only motive is to maximize our profits, that we think rationally, and that all we need to succeed is to learn new strategies. But we already know much more than we apply, and something is preventing us from getting the full benefit of all that knowledge. So, take a hard look at your unconscious. You will probably find that it's doing a lot of damage.

Author's note: Thanks, Cinch (Dave Hench), for getting me started with your e-mails about "the role ego plays in poker."

Editor's note: If you would like to learn more about yourself and other players, you can order Dr. Schoonmaker's book, The Psychology of Poker. See the Two Plus Two ad on Page 115.