Kako moj dnevnik nebi bio samo o bad beatovima. Htio bih ovom prilikom dnevniku dati bar mali value. Upravo sam procitao jedan dobar clanak o poker mindsetu i koliko to utjece na nasu igru. Dijelim ga s vama jer jako dobar, preporucujem da ga procitate do kraja!
Poker Mindset (Fancy: Psychology)
The most obvious member of this group is emotional control. We usually use the word “tilt”.
But what is tilt? It’s very important that you understand what tilt is and what it is not.
Let me give you an example:
If a beginner calls an early position raise with A2o, it’s not tilt. He just doesn´t know any better.
If anybody who has had coaching with me or any other high stakes player and still calls, it is
definitely tilt.
Definition of Tilt: Knowingly making bad plays
That’s it ? Yes. As you can see, I´m not a huge fan of making things overly complicated in
order to look sophisticated. Now this doesn´t mean you can solve the tilt problem in one
sentence as well. But the most important part is to understand the essence of it.
One other part of the poker mindset are your views of the (poker-)world and how things work.
Let me just call it “your poker story”.
This is actually one of the most interesting topics and i´ve studied it for many years. What
we´re talking about works on a very deep level inside of you. It’s YOUR story. Your story
about the world, and in specific your story about poker.
I´m not gonna talk deep psychology here, but rather give you a short overview, so you will
understand the importance of this sub-skill.
The Theory goes like this: Every person has a story with himself as the hero in that story. We
feel, think and act in a certain way for many reasons. Some of it has to do with how we got
brought up. Other influences are our friends, books we read and networks we belong to.
Case Study: Phil, Normal Poker Player
Phil grew up in a normal middle class family. His parents and people in school often told him
that rich people are greedy and have no morals. They said that a lot of money makes people
bad.
When educating himself with poker he educates himself with rules such as “calling dominated
hands out of position is bad”. Phil loves to watch high stakes players. He loves to see how
they out-think (aka “level”) each other. Phil enjoys these mind games and tries to apply them
on the tables as much as he can. It’s all about outsmarting the other guy, isn´t it.
After reading more forum posts where a player made a huge bluff and made an opponent fold
trips, he moves on to the thread where some genius folds a set to a single bet, simply
because he got a “sick read”. Awesome. It’s exciting. Just like magic.
Phil talks to his other poker buddies. And when they have their beer together they share their
bad beats and in which spot they got unlucky today again. They talk about the latest graph of
a high stakes player and really, it’s all about having this “one sick good run”.
End of story.
Ok man, you´re reading this and you´re asking yourself “what does this have to do with
myself”. Here´s the deal, maybe you identify yourself with a few parts, but its not about that.
Let’s analyze some of the beliefs that Phil carries around. Beliefs that he isn´t even aware of,
because they´re unquestioned truths for him. Let’s also see how they will affect Phil.
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#1 : Phil thinks rich people are bad.
=> Subconsciously Phil doesn´t want to be a bad and greedy person. So his subconscious
mind will try to avoid to getting rich. And it works pretty well!
Insight:
It doesn´t matter whether rich people are “bad and greedy”. You can discuss that topic on a
political forum. All I´m saying is that whatever you believe, will have a huge impact on what
you will become.
So if you do wanna get rich, it for sure helps to have a positive belief about it!
#2 : Phil thinks that calling with dominated hands out of position is bad.
=> Every time Phil plays against Gordon or watches a video of Gordon (=the author of this
book), he thinks that Gordon is “crazy” and a “gambler” and just a “lucky bastard” who wins all
the time.
Why, because at times he will see me play more than 70% of hands out of position.
Something that in HIS view only donkeys do.
Now instead of reflecting what has happened in all these matches, he labeled me as a “lucky
bastard”. This is very common. In my Heads Up Course, you see this many times live on
video.
Look out on forums and count the times how often other players are called “lucky”. Now
psychologically this is called a “defense mechanism”. It’s very conveniant to call somebody
lucky, because you can pretend that it’s not your fault. It’s not like your opponent was smarter
than you. It was just “luck”. Easier to live with that. Easier for your EGO.
Since people HATE to change their beliefs (ever seen a religion vs non-religion vs other
religion debate ???) , nothing is going to happen.
Insight:
Like most humans, Phil doesn´t question a belief. And his belief is of limited quality. And as
such, he will always stay a limited player.
Certain options are not possible for him, like a blind man that can´t see.
#3 : Phil thinks good poker is all about levelling, making crazy bluffs and huge folds
=> When Phil plays poker he is always searching for an oppurtunity to checkraise bluff his
opponents off a lower flush.
He constantly “induces” all-ins preflop with his ATs, because he feels that the player is going
to stack off very light. When he loses against AK, he chalks it up as a “cooler” (self-defense
mechanism for the win!).
In the frequent case when those “strategies” don´t work out, Phil makes clear through his chat
box what a donkey everybody else is and how they should know that his balanced range here
consists of 86,34% higher flushes. He goes back to his buddies and they all laugh about
those “donkeys” who stack off so light.
Copyright © 2011 Bestpokercoaching.com .All Rights Reserved.
Two minutes later, his other buddy shows a hand where he folds pocket 22 on a 2 8 K flop,
after a bet and raise in front of him.
“Sick fold” his buddies applaud him. WOW. Only good players can make those folds.
Insight:
Once again, we know how well defense mechanisms work. But we also see how strongly our
beliefs can influence our whole poker game. And you can see, all beliefs are “random”. I
mean, you could believe anything about poker. And I´m sure you´ll find just as much
evidence, just like Phil.
Now I could go on forever and talk about the effects his friends have on him and what his
beliefs are about the WAY to become rich. But I´ll spare that for another time. You can watch
more free videos on this topic here: Secrets of The Poker Millionaire Mind
Now here´s the BAD NEWS:
You are like Phil. In your own way. There is a little Phil in all of us.
Many, actually most of the beliefs that you hold are not beneficial for success in poker. They
may be beneficial for cutting trees or cooking pasta, but not for poker.
Summary:
The bottom line is that all of us have a baggage full of many different beliefs. Call it whatever
you want. This is not about semantics.
And you´ve just seen in an example how we are completely controlled by our beliefs. The
good part is if you are aware of them, you can identify them as what they are: Beliefs. And
you can change them, unless you´re too attached to them like most poker players are.
If you are willing to let your ego go, and do some real work on this topic, you have to check
out my Poker Mindset Courses such as “Secrets of the Poker Millionaire Mind” and
“TiltFreeToday”.
In this course we will discover all those hidden beliefs that prevent you from having success
at poker.
You´re also gonna learn which beliefs are helpful and supportive for success.
You can watch some free videos as well.