After you have read several poker books and you are playing the game properly, you will find that some new obstacles arise. They say “ignorance is bliss” and that certainly holds true for poker. Learning the game will make you aware of all the bad players at the tables and the terrible decisions they make. While in theory you should be delighted they are making mistakes, the terrible players will still get lucky and win big pots that you expected to win.
Poker is unique when it comes to our natural learning responses. In most cases of learning something new, we are rewarded when we do it correctly and punished when we do not. Our normal response is to repeat the behavior we are rewarded for and avoid the behavior that has negative consequences. Poker throws a wrench into this natural learning process. It presents us with endless situations where we might do the right thing, yet we lose the pot because our opponent did the wrong thing. Likewise, we might make a serious mistake but still catch a miracle card to save us and we win a big pot.
What results is a very difficult learning process where we must always remember what the right and wrong actions are without paying any attention to the outcome. This is not easy. It means we have to emotionally detach ourselves from the game completely. This ability is one of the main things that separate the long term winning players from the losing ones.
At some stage in your poker endeavor, you are sure to encounter what is known as a “swing”. Poker is a game of variance. As long as you make the right decisions, you are certain to win in the long run. The catch is that the short run might not be as friendly. You can play perfect poker and still lose for what seems to be a statistically impossible length of time. This might lead you to start seriously questioning your ability. You will feel emotions you may not have experienced from poker before–frustration, anger, and even depression.
Many players lose control during these times and start to play badly. This is called “tilt”. Tilt can manifest itself in many ways. For some it might mean playing more hands in the hopes of finally winning one. For others it might mean playing like a maniac, or playing for countless hours without a break to try to win some money back.
The first thing you should know when this starts to happen is that you are not alone. There are countless books written about the topic which will help you learn how to cope with the psychological aspects of poker.
Here are the ones we recommend:
