The Psychology of Winning Poker Players
Throughout the lessons in this course you’ve learnt about the different types of personalities who play this great game, and just how important psychology is in poker. Indeed, poker without psychology is like closing your eyes during a movie or putting earplugs in at a concert. Players cannot improve their poker without people skills. Likewise, if you believe what other players are saying, or accept their actions as authentic, you probably should not be playing poker.
In our intermediate lesson, “Poker Personality Types“, we explored the characteristics of the different types of players and provided some clear strategies for playing against them. We said that the makeup of a player’s personality (on and off the table) was based on their psychological and emotional tendencies, which it is. However in this lesson we’re going to focus on what makes winning, breaking-even, and losing poker players by exploring three main areas of their personalities, namely:
- Players’ Belief Systems.
- Skill levels.
- Psychological Permissions.
Let’s start by looking at the characteristics of winning players:
Characteristics of Winning Players
Winners have tell-tale characteristics. They avoid being self-defeating – especially when stress happens. This internal supportive belief system about themselves is one that will sustain a poker player in good times and bad ones. These winners will also show more positive and confident attitudes. A winner will present an authentic smile and while controlling the table, he or she will avoid being obnoxious about it. Other strong players like to control the table and be bossy. These are seldom the winners. Even when being deceptive, they have a presence of being who they are. This means being aware of what one can control, what one can’t control, while not being intimidating.
Winners only play with money they can afford to invest. No one will see these players betting on poor odds on a regular basis at any game. Regardless, when they are managing their stacks, they only risk what they can afford to lose. Their mentality is the same as investing their funds – not wasting money. These poker players also come with an exit plan. For example, in limit cash-games, some players will leave when they win 20 to 30 times the big bet. At the same time, good players will predetermine to leave when they have lost 60 to 80% of their stake. They know that time will cause them to win less and lose more. These players know what enough to win or lose is. Compared to people who play until they are broke or fail to leave when they are well ahead, winners can lay down good cards and leave before time forces them to give-up their profit.
Winners come with a tool shed of poker skills. This includes the wisdom to learn from their mistakes and to obtain the knowledge they lack. Poker skills come in figuring out what hands others have and in knowing how best to play marginal hands. A winning poker player will build a hand based on the chances needed to reach a goal. Winners think in terms of investing their bets on the pot odds. Making a bet depends not only on how many ways a potential hand can improve, but also how much return the bet will get if the hand is won. If these two (odds & value) are not substantial, winners have the patient to wait until the "market changes". Winners avoid being extreme and seem to be flexible and balanced in their approach. Although they are very logical and well informed about odds, winners can leave these tracks and allow themselves to play with less structure. They are also balanced in how aggressively and quietly they play. In short, a winner doesn’t just know when to hold and fold. Rather, a winner knows when to run, walk, skip, jump, float, bolt, or just wait.
They use standards such as pot odds to guide their play. A winner might say, “Well, I would have stayed with my pair of tens if two or three other people stayed”. This usually means that the player is thinking. A winner will be playing odds and not playing impulses. If several people are staying in, this implies that the pot will return better odds. It also could mean that other poker players have good odds of making their hands. So, winners must determine if their investment is aided by a multi-way pot or by playing heads-up when building a potential hand. This is because with more players, a winner knows statistically that he or she will get more back for risking. With more players contributing to the pot, a bet invested in a potential hand goes to 5-to-1 odds versus 2-to-1 betting odds in head to head play. Drawing on a straight or a flush will return more dividends in a multi-way pot. However, head to head may work better when going for top pair, two-pairs or trips.
Table 1 -Traits of Winning Players:
| Belief Systems | Behaviours |
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| Skills | Behaviours |
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| Psychological Permissions | Behaviours |
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Characteristics of Break-Even Players
Let’s now look at the poker players who consistently break. These players also come with certain tell-tale characteristics that are usually part of their personality make-up and not likely to change. This refers to consistent "almosters". All players will, at times, show some of these traits.
These poker players can be either highly structured or highly emotional. Mostly, if structured, they have a rigid system and apply it routinely. If impulsive, they are hunch players who rely exclusively on their intuition to poker play. "Almosters" are passive and don’t talk unless spoken to. Then, sometimes they don’t respond very much. They are introverts by nature and poker is ideal for them because they don’t have to socialize much. They seldom take chances or become aggressive in their plays and they tend to be "calling stations" when they do.
They have a belief that things happen to them that they have very little control other than passively tolerating bad times or adapting to what others initiate. They tend to be followers more than leaders. Their whole approach to playing poker is to watch and let others do the risking. They will play so tight that when they do play, everyone else folds. So, when they have a good hand they can’t make any money. Their willingness to take risks is an important slice of their lives and usually identifies the break-even players at the table.
Unlike winning players, who are usually counting more money at the end than they brought into the game, break-even players are almost winners. They don’t lose. Yet, they seldom win. They usually leave the table with their original stake. There are three important themes in an "almosters" script of trying, trying, and trying. These break-even poker players are creating the repetitive theme of Sisyphus. Sisyphus in Greek mythology was condemned to an eternity of pushing a boulder up a hill. He was allowed to push and push, as long as he never got it to the top.
Table 2 – Traits of Break-Even Players:
| Belief Systems | Behaviours |
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| Skills | Behaviours |
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| Psychological Permissions | Behaviours |
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Characteristics of Losing Players
In poker, for every winner there’ll also be a loser – it’s sad but true. Of course, everyone who plays poker will lose sometimes, and what we’re referring to is consistent losers. All players will, at times, show some of these traits. Consistent losers come with certain tell-tale characteristics that can be overcome with awareness and the ability to change.
These players tend not to trust others and don’t believe in themselves. They don’t think of themselves as being as worthy as others. Their gaming usually involves playing only on hunches, feelings, and, in short, not thinking. It’s true that people can be lucky and often win on hunches. However, these players consistently let impulse rule their game, and they seldom take responsibility for how they play poker. Life and bad hands happen to them. Losers don’t realize that it’s okay and that it’s normal to lose. They also hide it, and frequently lie to others and themselves about their losses, and keep playing to make up losses that seem to mean that there is something wrong with them. They seem to think that unless they are always winning, then they have lost and the casino or other players have won.
A typical loser fails to build hands or to play the odds. They will passively let hands happen to him or her. Just as some people wait for success to come to them, losing players will whine about how bad the cards are. Yet, a loser will sit and lose, whine, and fail to change, and their favourite game is to play catch-up. That is, they lose and keep playing, hoping to win back their losses. Players who are being responsible will play poker with what they can afford and stop when they reach a pre-determined limit. True, both are losing. The difference between a loser and a responsible player who is losing is the feeling at the end. Losers will feel shame, guilt, anger, or remorse. Other poker players will be disappointed, but will not sulk for the rest of the day or stay to lose more. Other poker players may stay when losing because they have an hourly average win rate and to leave when having a bad run would prevent them from truly making up. Loser’s rather have an hourly loss rate.
They sabotage good hands and are easily controlled. Reasons for leaving or staying may change with the changing conditions at the poker table. Losers will just keep playing poker and losing. Their feelings in the end will be the negative pay off losers are accustomed to collecting. When winners lose, they’re disappointed and don’t collect such negative payoffs. Winners know how to lose. Losers cannot allow themselves to lose. Even when luck is against them, losers will chase their luck as if it is just around the corner. They are never allowed to win or feel good unless they are winning. They seem always in search of the "Holy Grail" of quick rich dreams. Eric Berne, MD, the author of Games People Play and a Psychiatrist, had a compulsive gambler in treatment. One day the patient said, "If only I had permission to lose, I don’t think I’d have this problem".
Table 3 – Traits of Losing Players:
| Belief Systems | Behaviours |
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| Skills | Behaviours |
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| Psychological Permissions | Behaviours |
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Conclusion
Which category do you belong to? Hopefully you’re a winner and have taken onboard the things you’ve learnt during the course to good effect. If you’re a break-even type player or worse, a losing player, then hopefully this lesson has helped to uncover some of the reasons why this might be the case. Is it due to a lack of skills or understanding of poker concepts? If so, then re-visit some of the previous lessons and work on them. If it’s more psychological, then be honest with yourself, because even though some aspects may be hard to reverse, many characteristics can be overcome with awareness and the ability to change. In our next lesson we’ll talk about how and why you should analyze your game, which is crucial if you want to be a winning poker player.
Next Lesson: Advanced Level » Module 3 » Lesson 2 » Analyzing Your Play