Doyle Brunson’s: It’s A State of Mind
Of course you have all heard about Doyle Brunson, right? One or two of you guys out there probably even idolize this poker great – I sure do. Well, I ran across something he wrote just the other day at Poker Player. Coming from a man of his great experience, the thoughts expressed in the article were really provoking and insightful to say the least.
So his idea was basically about the mindset of the poker player when at the poker table. It is actually not something new. We’ve talked about that before I think – how your state of mind affects your playing to a certain degree. Yet coming from Brunson’s own mouth – or pen or keyboard in this case – the ideas just sank in all the more. Here are some excerpts of his article.
I’ve always been a believer in attitude. If a man thinks he’ll win at poker, then he’s more likely to prevail. Confidence won’t make you any luckier, but it can make you play better. Assuming you have enough skill to win, confidence will keep you from turning against yourself and letting self-doubt and panic prompt you to make poor decisions.
With those opening lines, who can’t help but continue reading, right? It does make perfect sense, not only in poker but in most other things in life as well. Confidence is surely not a guarantee of a win or success but it certainly does wonders as to how you perform, carry yourself, and react to whatever goes on around you. Here’s more:
He even convinced me to try a few of his experiments in self-confidence, such as imagining myself with all the chips piled in front of me. It seemed to work. As I’ve said, a player with confidence has a long-term advantage over one without it. There’s nothing supernatural about that, either. It’s simply that confidence is a psychological force that keeps you on target and unnerves your opponents.
In this paragraph he is talking about this poker player who plays mind games with himself all the time. It is quite funny actually, how Brunson narrates that guy’s attitude and frame of mind. However, it is the idea that your psyche has a great deal to do with your performance that really interested me.
Doyle Brunson does dole out a note of caution however. This guy Keith (yeah same guy above) decided to try pretending that he was losing in order for him to be in a winning mental state. Something like reverse psychology I guess. It worked for a while but blew up in his face in the end. I guess he was too much of a loose screw – he actually believed in his mental game!
Anyhow, I agree with Brunson’s parting words: I suppose playing mind games can be helpful or harmful, depending on how you use them. Personally, I stick to the simple stuff and leave elaborate mental experiments to more the more adventurous - like Keith. Poker players should have faith in their own abilities. That helps. And that’s as far as I take it.
Technorati Tags: poker, poker players, Doyle Brunson, mindset, poker psychology, strategy, insights
Written by Sasha on March 19th, 2007 with
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