Poker

PsychologyBy Tyler Coates

Sport

s Ps

ycholo

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 Ps

ycholo

gy

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.

Min

d S

port

Mind Sport: a sport or a

game of skill, where the

mental component is

much more significant

then the physical.

Wagers The act of wagering

ones money on a sport

or game of skill amplifies

the psychological factors

that influence performance.

Sport

s vs

. 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 M

illio

n D

olla

r Q

uest

ion

“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?

Menta

l Coach

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 A

re

You R

eally

?

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/100

C game: wins at 3BB/100

D game: ranges from break-

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

break even

Perf

orm

ance

vs.

Vari

ance

Performance always trumps variance. When

you perform above expectation, then your

winning at a bigger rate.

Higher win rates equal

less varianceVice-Versa

Legendary

Pe

rform

ers

My

Gra

phs

From

2010

Out

of

Contr

ol

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?

Proce

ss

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.

Choic

es

That

Aff

ect

Futu

re P

erf

orm

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

mit

ment

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.

Confidence

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.

Sig

ns

of

Low

Self

Confidence

-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

Managin

g L

ow

C

onfidence

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

Sig

ns

of

Hig

h

Confidence

Le

vels

-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.

Managin

g H

igh

Confidence

Le

vels

-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

Vir

tuous

and

Vic

ious

Cyc

les

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.

Vir

tuous

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 V

icio

us

Cyc

le

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

Leve

l Lo

w P

erf

orm

ance

abili

ty

Whic

h w

ay

is

your

ball

movi

ng?

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.

Change is

Li

fest

yle

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.

Concl

usi

on

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.