By Samantha Williams
Play poker and undoubtedly you will find this is a head game, experts talk about poker psychology all of the time. Some players don’t get this and they believe poker psychology is all about the bluff; nothing could be further from the truth. According to Anthony Holden ~
“Whether he likes it or not, a man’s character is stripped at the poker table; if the other players read him better than he does, he has only himself to blame. Unless he is both able and prepared to see himself as others do, flaws and all, he will be a loser in cards, as in life”.
And this describes poker psychology to the very last chip on the table.
Like any other sport you partake off; just because you win an Olympic Gold at age 18, does not mean you have reached the pinnacle of your success. If you think you are the best at this stage; whether you are swimming a relay or potting a polo puck (is it called a puck?), then your ego will never allow you to improve. Four years later when you return to the Olympics, if you have not improved, you will be at the bottom of the pile. When you play poker exactly the same applies. In order to understand you game better, you have to strip yourself bare, be true to yourself and never cow-tow to an ego
The major difference when you play poker; is you generally don’t have a coach to help you identify holes in your game. Anyone in the whole world can walk up to a WSOP Main Event, as long as they have their $10 000 buy-in! Plunk the money down at the registration table on the day the event starts and participate, so it is every man’s or woman’s game! You have to be 18 to play, but you don’t have to be 70 to stop and this is also what gives people who play poker a psychological edge right away. They know there is no limit of possibility to this game. Age, sex, color, creed, level of disability or ability, does not matter, all you need to be concerned about is – can you play poker?
No Fairy Godmother is going to wave their magic wand and improve a hole in your game – they are all too busy at Disney. This is relative to psychology not skill. If you think you are a really great player and cannot look inside yourself sufficiently to see that you play poker and stink, then you would be better off playing bingo. Play poker and the learning never stops, there is always possibility to improve your game and be realistic about it.
In a nutshell, anyone can play poker and anyone can play successfully, but only the player with the ability to strip down his own character and understand it well, will be a truly winning player.
