Creating the Poker Mind

Most of us are guided by our emotions more than we care to admit. We often rationalize, giving good reasons, not the real ones, to justify our emotional reactions. The effects of emotionally-directed thinking at the poker table are enormous and not often in the player’s self-interest. Poker requires judgments based solely on logic; your emotions should not affect your analyses at the table.

Many players “play to their emotions,” which manifests itself in many ways. Players looking to “lock up a win” sit and play tight not because the game strategy dictates it but because they are afraid of “blowing back,” something they are emotionally uncomfortable with. Some fear losing and never put themselves at risk. Others enjoy the thrill of being at risk and put themselves into risky situations that defy logic. Some avoid high-fluctuation situations because they can’t handle the stress. Being in tune with your emotions, knowing how they affect your thought processes, and how to overcome them will make you a better player. Reducing or eliminating these types of emotional thoughts from your mind will cause you to make logically clearer decisions, translating into a greater edge.

Additionally, getting a line on your opponents’ emotions can be hugely helpful in reading hands. Knowing how your opponents react emotionally is often more important than knowing how they think. Just like you, they often respond to their emotions rather than their logical mind.

Numerous players put a huge effort into learning the games strategies, but lack the mental and emotional strength required to keep their emotions in check, making their game very inconsistent. When things are good, they play well. But when things get tough, they tilt or let outside issues influence their focus level. Their high level of emotion creates mental dysfunction. Their thinking is more limited, their focus misdirected or lost. This often causes a bad run, or leads negative personal issues to spiral out of control into highly damaging life issues that the player sometimes never recovers from.

Recognizing that you possess those emotional and psychological weaknesses affecting your poker game is the first step to combating them. Those in denial will never see the problem and therefore never fix it. They are doomed to fail. That said, if you know you’re of the psychological makeup to over dramatize or are overly anxious, take steps to limit its effect on your poker game. Design your life to be as solid as you can while sacrificing as little enjoyment as possible. Don’t let things fester, deal with negative situations as they occur, and solve them quickly. Not placing yourself into distressful situations or restricting the duration of negative events limits the number and intensity of negative downturns. It involves sacrifices, but your life as a whole will be better because of it.

When you feel yourself getting emotional at the table, acknowledge that fact and utilize self-talk to put yourself back into a logical mindset. Telling yourself “it’s a long-run game,” that “cards break even over time,” even a simple “relax, it’s OK, just play the next hand,” can often stabilize your mind so that you can focus on the game. Find the right statements and self-talk strategies that work for you; we’re all different. If you find the self-talk isn’t working, get up and take a break. Don’t sit back down until you’re relaxed and ready!

On a larger scale, taking care of your mind and body through exercise, diet and good sleep habits will reduce your susceptibility to becoming emotional as well as increasing your ability to concentrate. You can also train your mind to not get emotional, to develop yourself into the type of person who isn’t bothered by much and is capable of controlling his emotions. Focus mental energy on controlling your emotions. Whenever you become emotional use affirmations and self-talk to calm yourself down. Recognize what is setting you off and draw a logical answer to the issue. Repeat over and over with anything that induces emotion in you. Over time your mind will react less emotionally and be better suited for poker.

Many players want to win, but are unwilling to make the effort to do what it takes to be a winner. The exertion required to acquire the knowledge to play well is too much for them. And then there is the demand of consistently applying that knowledge while playing, no easy task.

Devote yourself to making that effort, train your mind to think and act like a poker player should. Work on improving your concentration; with practice your concentration will get better. If you work on becoming less emotional your emotionally-based equity loss will go down. Work on being a logically-oriented person; always defer to the logical side of everything. Your decisions will get better.
And most importantly, hit the flop :-) ♠

Roy Cooke played poker professionally for 16 years prior to becoming a successful Las Vegas Real Estate Broker/Salesman in 1989. Should you wish to any information about Real Estate matters-including purchase, sale or mortgage his office number is 702-396-6575 or Roy’s e-mail is [email protected]. His website is www.roycooke.com. You can also find him on Facebook.