Learning No-Limit From Scratch ­- The Mind of a Good Gambler! Part I

Many highly knowledgeable poker players are net losers, and many winners lead stressful, unhappy lives. But, many good, but not great players win oodles of money and have a lot of fun doing it. At times, I think one player will win all the money, but then they fade fast when personal and psychological deficiencies catch up with him. These differences are caused by the players’ gambling management skills, not in their quality of play. Much of this is fundamental, but I see many highly intelligent great players miss this concept entirely.

Being a good poker player can be a great thing in your life. And learning is much easier these days; the correct game strategies are available in books and videos. Any reasonably intelligent person can learn them well enough to conquer the low and medium limits. A quality professional can live an unrestricted, challenging, and interesting lifestyle. Play very well, and the money can be good. A good amateur can have both a profitable and enjoyable hobby.

But in order to derive positive benefits from the poker world, you’ll have to manage your life well. There’s a dark side to poker, both in its culture and in its entrapment of the human mind. You’ll need to disassociate yourself from the dark side of poker and disentangle your emotions from poker. It will take discipline and mental training to actualize. There are good books out there that specialize in this area; psychologists Alan Schoonmaker and Jared Tendler have both written extensively on this subject.

Being a good gambling manager goes a long way in the poker world. Always putting out your best effort, continuously being in games with a large spread of ability between yourself and your opponents, making decisions at and away from the table that reinforce consistency, and staying away from the ever-prevalent traps that surround the gambling world should make you a winner, provide consistency, and make poker a pleasurable endeavor. If you understand poker strategy and make those types of decisions correctly, you’re going to have a financially successful poker career. And money is how we keep score. At least, it’s how I do!

The volume (the amount) you bet times your edge equals your expectation. Over many trials, that expectation will virtually equal your earn, positive or negative. That’s the fundamental math equation in how we add or subtract money in or out of our pocket playing poker. Understanding that fundamental poker concept is the key to winning. Get the best of it, and, over time, you’ll win money. Take the worst of it and you’ll often be digging into your pocket.

Making bets with the worst of it subtracts from the expectation of the positive expectation bets you place. Making poor plays when you know better, getting sloppy, playing poor equity situations because “you’re on a rush” or “on tilt” take away your earn. And it’s unnecessary. Train your mind to stay self-controlled with what’s correct. The raw math will win in the end; don’t fight it. Train yourself to work with it! The long run in poker is about the separation of skill level between you and your opponents. Focusing on luck while playing poker is for the short-sighted. And they’re going to be losers over time.

That said, being disciplined to always put forth your best effort is easier said than done. The emotions of winning and losing effect us all; we all have our weak moments. The key is being in tune with yourself, recognizing when you’re off, and being capable of adjusting your mind back to the right place. Take breaks, use self-talk and affirmations. And if you can’t do that, leave no matter what the situation is.

Treat poker like it’s a business. Our culture emphasizes winning, and we’re all trained to try to win. But in poker, it’s not about winning this session, or this month. It’s about playing good hours, those with the highest expectation, ones where you’re feeling well, playing well, the spread of ability is high, hours that will turn you into a long-term winner. Whether you win or lose on a particular day is meaningless in the long run. This concept speaks to focusing on always trying to play your best, performing at a high level, and being aware when there is a great spread in ability between yourself and your opponents.

Don’t stay and play just to get even. Don’t play just to play when the spread in ability between yourself and your opponents is small. It’s not just about having an edge; it’s about having a significant enough edge to make it worth your while. Handicap yourself correctly; recognize that most people (likely including you) think they are better than they really are. It’s important that you don’t overrate yourself or underestimate your opponents. Be real! And keep in mind it’s not just you against them, the rake and tokes take a significant toll. To be a good gambler, you need to adjust your mentality to be correct for poker and ignore the psychological value you place on winning.

Make your focus about putting in good hours; ones where your edge is optimum. Masterplan where and when you’re going to play poker with that concept in mind. Poker has good times and bad times to play. Night games are generally better than day games; weekends are generally better than weekdays, etc. In resort destinations like Las Vegas, poker has a seasonal dimension. New Years, Super Bowl, March Madness, tournament times, and holiday weekends all play way better than standard Tuesday afternoons. Plan your poker sessions for when the times are good, and take breaks when things are slow. At the end of the year, if you’ve played your best, picked your games well, and strategized the optimum times to play well, you’re going to win.

In Part Two, I’ll go over the consistent mindset, how to develop it and how to live well in the gambling world. ♠

Roy Cooke played poker professionally for 16 years prior to becoming a successful Las Vegas Real Estate Broker/Salesman. Should you wish any information about Real Estate matters-including purchase, sale or mortgage his office number is 702-376-1515 or Roy’s e-mail is [email protected]. His website is www.roycooke.com. You can also find him on Facebook or Twitter @RealRoyCooke