The shortcomings of traditional poker psychology

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The shortcomings of traditional poker psychology

The shortcomings of traditional poker psychology

My experience in sports psychology in the late 1990s is now reflected in what clients say about traditional poker psychology: 'It helps up to a point, but you can't rely on it at the crucial moment'. Such psychology proposes to deal with 'bad' variation and other psychological aspects of the game by deep breathing, taking breaks from the game, visualisations, meditation, neuro-linguistic programming and even hypnosis. Each of these strategies may be an excellent choice in the moment (in the short term), but it is necessary to address the deep-seated problems of psychological play. Otherwise they will keep coming up, like weeds that have not taken root.

My experience in poker has only confirmed what I learned from golf: applying a deeper strategy to the mental game can help you find more than temporary solutions to problems. A deep understanding of theory and the ability to develop psychological playing skills in real life is something that traditional poker psychology has lacked so far. Conventional wisdom knows how things should be, so players are told to be fearless, confident and to not let variation throw them off track. But for many players, that is not enough. It is one thing to know how things should be, but it is another thing to have to take real action to try to solve the problems that are getting in the way of success.

Psychological game fishas

Fishai available at fishai partly because they believe what is not true. They are playing at a significant disadvantage to their opponents, but they do not realise it. They suckautina once and thinks they've played well. They get outplayed by a stronger opponent, but they think it's just bad luck. They think they don't need to improve their game, but even if they did, they wouldn't know where to start. They have no idea what they can and cannot control at the poker table. You will often hear them say, "I knew that king was going to bust" or "I always win with A-Q".

You may be a solid, winning player who recognises your opponents' weaknesses, but in terms of understanding the psychological aspects of the game, you're probably fisho you are no different. In the psychological game you are fishas if:

  1. You change a proven successful strategy while you are doing badly/well.
  2. You don't understand when someone plays well against you, or when you think that everyone is playing badly but they keep getting better.
  3. Trying to win every hand
  4. You think that the outcome of the division may be determined by shouting, praying or having a "lucky hand".
  5. You get annoyed when a bad player plays badly and even try to explain why he plays badly.
  6. You feel unhappy when you lose a hand you played profitably.
  7. You think you can end a bad period by stopping playing or changing your limits.
  8. You think you know everything when you read a poker book.
  9. You watch Phil Galfond's instructional videos and think you can play like him.
  10. You think you are under a spell or that others are luckier than you.
  11. You think it's possible to immerse yourself in the soul of another player.
  12. You play more hands when you win/lose.
  13. You play fewer hands when you win/lose.
  14. You play badly when the stakes are too low to make an impact.
  15. Getting personal with other players.
  16. For all who are listening, you tell bad beat stories, while at the same time not trying to improve their reactions to those bad beatus.
  17. You say "once" (one time)

This series of articles is based on Jered Tendler's book on the psychology of poker, The Mental Game of Poker. If you would like to purchase the original, which is available in English, you can do so at amazon.com

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