Poker Psychology

Poker

PsychologyBy Tyler Coates

Spor

ts

Psyc

holo

gy

Sports Psychology: the study of the psychological and

mental factors that influence and are influenced by participation and

performance in sport, exercise, and physical activity.

Poke

r Psy

chol

ogy

Poker Psychology: The study of the psychological and

mental factors that influence and are influenced by participation and

performance in mind sports that contain a monetary wager.

Mind

Spo

rt Mind Sport: a sport or a game of skill, where the mental component is much more significant then the physical.

Wag

ers The act of wagering

ones money on a sport or game of skill amplifies the psychological factors that influence performance.

Spor

ts v

s. Po

ker

Psyc

holo

gy Sports Psychology

focuses on the mental aspect of physical sports. While Poker Psychology

takes these studies and applies them to mind sports that involve wagers.

The

Millio

n Do

llar

Ques

tion

“Why is there a disconnect between ones skill and level, and how they perform?” Why are we unable to consistently compete at the top of our abilities, and how does one train themselves to perform better?

Ment

al C

oach

ing

-The role of a mental coach is to

help students play as good as

they already know how. Everyone

performs at a level much lower

then their skill. -A winning player posses the

ability to beat, at least, two limits

higher then they are currently

playing. -The most efficient way to move

up is to improve your ability to

perform at the higher level. You

already have all the necessary

poker skills. -U.S. Open

Win

rate

s

Win rate does not portray

ones skill level, instead it

represents average performance.Using the grading scale

A: Exceptional B: Above AverageC: Average D: Below AverageF: Full Blown Tilt

How

Good

Are

Yo

u Re

ally?

If someone’s win rate is 3BB/100, then what does this

really mean?A game: wins at a much higher rate ~10BB/100+

B game: wins at a slightly

higher rate ~4BB-10BB/100C game: wins at 3BB/100

D game: ranges from break-

even to 2BB/100F game: Anything worst than

break even

Perfo

rman

ce v

s. Va

rianc

e

Performance always trumps variance. When you perform above expectation, then your winning at a bigger rate.

Higher win rates equal less varianceVice-Versa

Lege

ndar

y

Perfo

rmer

s

My G

raph

s Fro

m

2010

Out o

f Con

trol It’s important to

understand that how well you perform on any given day is completely out of your control. If this was under your control, then wouldn’t you choose to play A+ game all the time?

Proc

ess

What is under your control are the choices that you make right now. Decisions made in the present, affect your ability to perform in the near future. There is no way to guarantee a good performance, but there are ways to increase/decrease the

likelihood.

Choi

ces T

hat A

ffect

Fu

ture

Per

form

ance

-Playing too much/not enough-Balancing poker and life

-Being well rested, nourished,

and hydrated-Having too much to drink-Reaction to losses, either by

learning or self-pity. -meditating/yoga-Bankroll/Money Management

Com

mitm

ent

Having one good dinner here and there, or meditating a few times a month will have little to no

affect on performance. This

process should be treated

like exercise for the brain,

all pieces of the puzzle are

required to see results. Exercise means nothing if

it’s not regular, and regular

exercise means little without proper diet.

Confi

denc

e

Levels of confidence is what most drastically affects ones ability to perform. Ask yourself how

confident you feel about your game, and get a really

good idea of how you’re going to perform. If you can

be honest enough with yourself, then you can learn to greatly minimize downswings, and maximize

on upswings.

Sign

s of L

ow S

elf

Confi

denc

e

-Low energy levels/motivation-Doubting your reads-Feelings of self doubt/pity-Unconstructively

focusing on the past-Feeling like everything is out of your control

Mana

ging

Low

Confi

denc

e Le

vels

-focus on what’s under your

control-Drop down in stakes-Cut back on number of tables

-Review your play-Recognize common mistakes

and causes-Admit feeling guilty-Focus on learning instead of

winning-Get into the beginners state of

mind-Take a break

Sign

s of H

igh

Co

nfide

nce

Leve

ls

-Easily accessing empowering emotions

-feeling passionate, invigorated, enthused and

energetic-feeling completely in control -having full trust in your

reads-trusting your abilities to cope with the everyday stresses of poker.

Mana

ging

Hig

h Co

nfide

nce

Leve

ls

-Challenge yourself, and get

out of your comfort zone-Take aggressive shots when games are good

-Add on a table or two-Get in as many hands as

possible-Watch out for feelings out

arrogance/overconfidence-Remember that poker isn’t

always this fun and exciting

Virtu

ous a

nd

Vicio

us C

ycle

s

Virtuous and vicious cycles are economic terms that refer to an event that reinforces itself through a feedback loop.

Most commonly referred to as the snowball effect. Confidence works in this

type of cycle.

Virt

uous

Cyc

le When you feel confident

about your game and motivated to play, then you will perform at high levels. Good performances

lead to good results, which

increase levels of confidence. More confidence leads to even better performances, and

so on.

The

Vicio

us

Cycle

The vicious cycle occurs when low levels of performance lead to losing.

Losing leads to self doubt

and feeling contempt. Thus

motivation levels drop, and

less time is spend playing/practicing. The more intense vicious cycles

can put even the biggest bankrolls in danger.

Insa

ne S

kill L

evel

Lo

w Pe

rform

ance

ab

ility

Whi

ch w

ay is

yo

ur b

all

mov

ing?

Variance is what gets the ball moving in either direction. Virtuous and vicious cycles add momentum, which we can never fully control. However, we can increase performance exponentially by learning how to better manage these cycles.

Chan

ge is

Lif

esty

le

Doing so requires a change in

lifestyle.This is not easy, if it was everyone would be crushing.

Learning advanced poker strategy has recently become

relatively easy.And guess what? Relatively,

everyone is doing it, however

they aren’t all winning!Learning how to perform requires complete dedication

and commitment.

Conc

lusio

n

The ability to perform, is much more valuable then

level of skill. Sophisticated

strategy is useless without

execution. Beating lower limits simply requires the ability to execute fundamentals. Properly implementing the advanced concepts that you already know is all that

it takes to win at higher limits.