The debate on control is as old as the world. But most of the time, we don't have as much control as we tend to believe we do. This is not the most pleasant news for even the most enthusiastic player. But it has to be.
Until now, we have used the metaphor of the computer to refer to the human mind. Most scientists who study the mind and how it works think that it is a good analogy to describe the workings of the brain, and is therefore worth looking at in more depth.
So far we have accepted that conscious poker theory works like a computer program, but we can say that know-how is also a computer program, which is simpler, faster, etc. So when we sit at the table our know-how program is buzzing around in our minds, telling our fingers what to press, interpreting our perceptions and giving us answers.
But like every programme, this one is also built on a certain code. Therefore, if there are bugs in your code, it will force you to do the wrong thing and you won't be able to avoid them. They will be repeated over and over again until you rewrite your internal know-how code.
You may notice that this metaphor is limiting, preventing us from playing better or worse at any given moment, when in fact we are. So you may find it too restrictive. But think about it, when you sit at the table and play poker, what are you really controlling? You see, at any given moment, all your strategies that you would use in response are already in your neural network, so the internal code is already written. During the game, you have no conscious control. This means that you cannot suddenly "decide" to use a strategy if you don't know that it is a good strategy, or "decide" to make a mistake in a spot where you are already inclined to do it.
Of course, over time, you can change your inclinations, tweak your neural network, rewrite the code of your mind. But it is a gradual, piecemeal process, where you slowly break bad habits and develop good ones.
There are a few factors that do affect Pure Consciousness that can be controlled. What are they?
Firstly, you can control your initial standards for game selection - for example, the level of players you sit with at the same table. I emphasise the word 'initial'. If you tilt, there's a good chance you'll scrub all your standards overboard and play with anyone. Tilt is usually triggered by the limbic system, which forcefully pushes aside most conscious processes. So what you can really consciously counterbalance is the level of players at the tables you sit at. However, if you tilt, there is only a 5% chance that you will resist the tilt and move on. Over time, this problem can be solved, but in the current
the session is part of you.
The second thing you can control is when and in what state you start playing. You might choose to play in the mornings or at night, during the day, or maybe before you eat breakfast, when you are in a stressful situation, etc. Each of these options will affect your play and the choice is entirely within your control.
Thirdly, you can control the rituals you perform before or during play. This is very important. Rituals are things like watching a hand or poker video before a session, inspiring or
reading educational literature, doing a mahsha, chanting a mantra, stretching or breathing exercises, etc. It can also be taking breaks every so often, playing at a certain time or dropping down some buyins, playing without distractions, etc. Rituals are valuable in that they can help the consciousness to achieve its goals. Even if the ritual is only in the middle of a session and catches you in a place where your consciousness has already 'switched off', it will force you to come back to the moment and reunite with your conscious intentions.
So we're not completely powerless, but without a few of these things, almost everything that happens in poker is out of our hands. Who's sitting at your table, how badly they're playing, how long the fish stays in, how many kings versus aces or aces versus kings you get, how many times you've seen the fish, how many times you've busted - all of these are as much in your control as the three factors listed above. Anything else is just a combination of what was already there, one of the probabilities that could have happened when you started playing.
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