Discipline

The Aug. 17 issue of TIME Magazine contained a provocative article titled “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin,” by John Cloud. His basic argument is that exercise has not proven to be a reliable method of weight loss. He contends that this is probably due to a combination of two factors. The first is that exercise burns calories, and therefore makes us hungrier. The second is that we feel entitled to reward ourselves for exercising. The combination of additional hunger and seeking a reward leads us to consume more worse things than we normally would eat. Among the studies supporting this theory is a paper in which the authors observed that “self-control is like a muscle: it weakens each day after you use it.”

Why is this important to gamblers, in general, or to poker players, specifically? It is clear that self-discipline is one of the most important traits required to become a successful player. Before you even start to play, you must have the discipline to study the type of gambling at which you want to improve, and to wait for situations in which you have positive equity (that is, wait for good games). Even when you possess the appropriate knowledge to beat a game and you find a game in which you are sure that you will be a favorite, you must be certain that your bankroll is adequate enough to play in it and sustain some losses. Once you start to play, you have to wait for good situations in order to get involved. The greatest players in the world can play more hands profitably than the rest of us can. But, even they must throw away a lot of hands. Discipline is required prior to the game and during the game. In fact, even after the game, you have to be disciplined. You can’t afford to waste your gambling bankroll on other things.

The fact that discipline or self-control is a major component of success in playing poker seems to be beyond argument. Given that this is the case, anything that enables us to increase our self-control will help us achieve better results, while anything that diminishes our discipline will hurt our performance. Certainly, there are many good reasons to learn about self-control, and what causes it to increase or decrease. The theory that self-control is like a muscle needs to be examined quite closely. If it is like a muscle, it is weak immediately after use. The psychological literature seems to support this contention, but I wondered if I could find some anecdotal evidence to add more support to it.

One obvious example is seen frequently in the case of people trying to quit smoking. Nicotine is extremely addictive, and it requires a great deal of discipline to quit. People who stop smoking often gain weight. Could it be that they exhausted their “discipline muscle” in their effort to avoid tobacco, and couldn’t muster up enough to avoid overeating, as well? This phenomenon is also mentioned in the psychological literature. But how does this apply to poker players? When a new game starts up, it is very common for all of the players to begin by playing a relatively disciplined, conservative game. As time passes, especially if some tough beats occur, these same players frequently become wilder and less disciplined. Their discipline muscle has gotten tired. This might explain why some of the best games occur late at night or early in the morning. The disciplined winners have gone home. What’s left are the players who may not have been that strong in the first place, and who are now exhausted both physically and mentally. Plus, their self-control has been exhausted, as well.

Another piece of supporting evidence comes from the non-poker behavior of winning players. They are capable of maintaining their self-control for many hours of poker play, but by the time they leave the game, their self-control is used up. Without mentioning any names, many of the top players have had problems with self-control in other areas. They have issues with substance abuse — smoking, drinking, or using drugs. They have problems with their weight. The percentage of poker players who have elected to undergo some form of gastric bypass procedure (having their stomach “shrunk”) to enforce disciplined eating is much higher than the population as a whole. They often are undisciplined in other forms of gambling. It is common to see successful poker players lose consistently at sports betting or craps, and not be able to quit those negative-equity pursuits.

There is another important implication of the hypothesis that self-control operates in a fashion analogous to muscle strength. Muscles that are fully stressed and then given time to recover are strengthened. This may well apply to developing increased discipline and self-control. If so, it should be possible to push your discipline muscle to maximum exertion, and then allow time for rest and recovery. On the next occasion, you may be able to continue in a disciplined state for a longer period of time or maintain a higher, stronger level of self-control than previously. Over time, it should be possible to develop quite a bit of strength in this area.

Conclusions and advice for the poker player:
1. Work to develop your discipline muscle.
2. Find opponents whose discipline has been exhausted. They will be tired, and playing too many hands.
3. Avoid playing when your discipline has been exhausted. (Of course, this is much easier said than done. It is difficult to dredge up the discipline to quit when your supply of discipline has already been depleted.)

Steve “Zee” Zolotow, aka The Bald Eagle, is a successful games player. He currently devotes most of his time to poker. He can be found at many major tournaments and playing on Full Tilt, as one of its pros. When escaping from poker, he hangs out in his bars on Avenue A — Nice Guy Eddie’s at Houston and Doc Holliday’s at 9th Street — in New York City.