Part I said, "You should always be in touch with and in control of your emotions." My co-author, Preston Oade, developed a system that will help you to:
• Take your emotional temperature before and while playing
• Understand how various emotions affect your play
Before Playing
Ask questions to assess your feelings and try to answer them honestly. We will suggest some questions, but you should customize this list by trial and error. Emotions are so individualistic that the ones that help or harm our play may not affect yours.
Am I "Up" or "Down?"
This question is the most general and important one. You may want to use different words, such as: Do I feel good or bad? Anxious or relaxed? Confident or insecure? Winning poker requires decisiveness, and you aren't decisive when you're feeling down. You may check when you should bet, or call when you should raise. Your more perceptive opponents will recognize and exploit your indecisiveness. If you're down, don't play.
Am I Looking Forward or Backward?
Learn from your mistakes, but don't dwell on them. If you feel bad about your recent luck or play, stop thinking about it and concentrate on what you should do now. If you can't concentrate on now, don't play.
Am I Committed to Winning?
Winning players know why they are playing and are determined to win. Others play to socialize, gamble, get a kick from challenging tough players, or just to relax. If you're not committed to winning, you may chase with weak draws, call when you know you're beat, and make other bad plays. With commitment, you are much more likely to play like a winner. Without it, don't play, except for fun.
How Long Can I Stay Focused?
This question is particularly important for tournament players, because tournaments can take many hours. If you don't have the time and stamina to play long enough to take first place, don't play.
Am I Distracted by Somebody or Something?
Oftentimes we are distracted before playing by friends, family, traffic, and so on. You can't play well if you are dwelling on something else or if you are mad or irritated at someone. If you are so distracted that you can't focus on the game, don't play.
Do I Have Excuses for Losing?
Find them before you play. You may have:
• Other time commitments
• Pressing family matters
• A bad night's sleep
• A tough day at work
If you can't put these issues aside or deal with them before playing, don't play.
While Playing
Since emotions can become a problem at any time, you should stay in touch with them while playing. Monitor the way your feelings change and how they affect your play.
Occasionally (perhaps every hour or two) ask the questions listed earlier, because they apply just as much while playing. Even if you were in great shape before playing, your emotions can change very rapidly. For example, if you take a bad beat and can't stop thinking about it, you may lose far more from bad play than you lost in that pot. If you feel very angry or depressed by anything, and you can't get over those feelings, quit. You also should ask at least two more questions:
What Do I Believe About My Opponents?
Do I believe that I play better than they do? Note the use of the word "believe." When comparing yourself to others, there is both an objective, intellectual component, and an emotional one. It often outweighs your judgment, sometimes with disastrous effects.
If you feel confident, you probably will play well. If you feel overconfident, you probably will play too many pots and take too many chances. If opponents seem too tough, you may be weak-tight, and they probably will run over you.
Does someone irritate me? You may try too hard to beat him, and give your chips to him or other players. Or, your irritation can be so distracting that you play carelessly.
Do I feel sorry for someone? Pity, sympathy, and empathy make us nicer people, but poker is not a "be nice" game. If you feel sorry for someone, you may give up bets by not betting or raising properly, and you may even lose a big pot because you didn't protect your hand.
Try to set these feelings aside. If they are too strong to ignore, quit.
Why Did I Do That?
Whenever you make a play you would not normally make, especially a mistake, question your motives. You will often find that irrational motives and emotions affected you.
• You played weak cards because you were bored, angry, believed you were on a rush, thought you were due, or that K-10 offsuit looked good after 9-3, 7-2, J-4, and so on.
• You raised because you were angry.
• You wanted to challenge someone, perhaps for macho reasons or to prove something to yourself or other people.
Many players don't want to examine their motives. They rationalize by giving good reasons, rather than the real ones, for their actions. For example, a friend described another player as "the best $2-$5 no-limit hold'em player he had ever seen." This excellent player raised from under the gun, and my friend called from the button with K-J suited. After describing the flop and turn action, he asked me what he should have done.
I made the obvious reply: "Why did you call the under-the-gun raiser with a marginal hand?"
He said, "I thought I could outplay him after the flop."
"Didn't you just say he was the best $2-$5 player you've ever seen?"
"Yes, but … uh, well … uh." Then he got angry and said that he had position, you have to play against tough players to develop your game, and other nonsense. I do not know exactly why he got involved, but I am certain that his desire to challenge this tough player was a factor, and poker is not about macho challenges; it's about winning money.
Bottom Line
Accurately assessing your emotions before playing is always important, but - for the reasons described in Part I - it is critical in tournaments. In addition, after buying in, you're committed. You can quit a cash game, but quitting a tournament forfeits your buy-in.
If you doubt that your emotional state affects you play, make a note about your feelings, relate them to your play, and look for patterns. For example, you may find that being angry at your boss doesn't affect your play, but your game falls apart after a fight with your spouse. If you take enough notes and study them, you will know when to play or go home.
Once you start playing, continue to monitor your emotional state. If you think that you are losing control, either quit (if possible) or do whatever it takes to regain your emotional balance. Our next column will recommend ways to re-establish that indispensable emotional balance.
Preston Oade often documents his emotional state before and while playing and relates it to how well he plays.
