What is Poker Psychology?

Here is a little secret about Mental Health Therapists.

Even though we help others in their time of turmoil, we are not always in control of our own emotions. We don't always actually follow the advice that we give our clients. We, Counselors, are far from perfect. That being said, please forgive me for being a bit frustrated about the current status of what you know as Poker Psychology.

I've read the columns in poker magazines and perused the chat forums on sites that discuss the topic. What I found is pretty much laughable. It just seems like most poker writers and poker players just simply do not understand what poker psychology truly is all about. I have to admit, this total disregard for this vital aspect of the game is getting me angry. Don't worry, I'll counsel myself to take a deep breath and re-frame my self-talk. I have facilitated many Anger Management support groups, after all. OK, I'm feeling better already.

In this series of articles on the psychology of poker, I hope that each reader will begin to understand that poker psychology is not just about tells and tilt. I hope that you will start to see that not everything you read about poker psychology is accurate, such as the notion that we should never play when tired, hungry, or emotional (um, isn't that what tournament poker is all about?) Maybe you think that a list of common tells is poker psychology (if so, you're not understanding where I am leading here). Mostly, I hope that you will learn about yourself, your game, and about your opponents. To take it a step deeper, we'll attempt to "get inside" the mind of some of the biggest-name pro's to play the game such as Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, and more.

True Poker Psychology

We've all heard that professional sports teams hire Psychologists and Counselors to help meld the minds of their players. They harp on confidence, teamwork, visualization, and more. If it is recognized that athletics involves a heavy dose of psychology, it is pretty foolish to think that we can muster through poker without mastery of psychology. In essence, poker is the most psychologically pure contest that we can find.

First, let's break down poker psychology into two separate entities: intrapersonal and interpersonal. Interpersonal psych focuses on interactions with others. This is what we see the most writings and discussions on: reading others, tells, assigning opponents to a certain playing style, etc. In my opinion, the skills that fall into interpersonal poker psychology are a refined skill, which amateur players should wait to delve into until other skills are honed. As we go, we will explore this more complete avenue of the game.

Our first task in poker psych is personal in nature; it comes in the form of intrapersonal poker psychology. Intrapersonal is "within self," and often involves key skills and characteristics such as patience, confidence, instincts, and goal setting. The best poker players understand that optimizing your intrapersonal psychology is the true key in maximizing your winnings. Likewise, it is the key to improving. Each session that you play, each deal that you take, the goal is to improve your knowledge and ability. When I say the goal is to improve, I do not just mean improving your strategic skills of using position and pot odds. Remember that we are talking poker psychology, so with each hand you should be getting more confident, more patient, more self-understanding, etc.

What Drives You?

I came across the following post at a poker chat forum for poker players to think over and reflect upon. Your feelings may provide insights on what drives your motivation to play the game.

Which of these would two you rather do ---

a) outplay one of the great players in the game today (pick the pro you'd most like to outplay, perhaps Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Evelyn Ng, Phil Ivey) for a small/medium pot. After your pro player opponent made a bet at the pot, you re-raised for a total bluff for the win. You only won a small/medium sized pot, but…
b) get outplayed pre-flop and after the flop by a no-name player. After you go all-in and expose your hole cards, you realize you have only one out to win the pot. You get amazingly lucky to hit your one out on the river to win a huge pot for big dividends!

No, you can't respond that you'd like to do both. Choose one of the two, only. Basically, do you find that you are driven by the allure of the possible profit and choose the lucky big win? On the other hand, are you driven by the competition and salivate at the thought of beating one of you poker idols?

Shuffle up and Deal!

Welcome, my friends, to true poker psychology. Lie on the couch and get comfortable. We will be getting deeper into your poker mind than you ever imagined you might.

♣ Back to the index of articles about poker psychology.

Poker Player Profiles

♣ Andy Bloch
♣ Annie Duke
♣ Antonio Esfandiari
♣ Chris Ferguson
♣ Dan Harrington
♣ Daniel Negreanu
♣ Doyle Brunson
♣ Greg Raymer
♣ Gus Hansen
♣ Howard Lederer
♣ James Woods

♣ Jennifer Harman
♣ Johnny Chan
♣ Mark Seif
♣ Mike Matusow
♣ Phil Gordon
♣ Phil Hellmuth
♣ Phil Ivey
♣ Phil Laak
♣ Poker Hotties
♣ Sam Farha
♣ TJ Cloutier