Ego and mental stability

Poker Strategy / Marcus Bateman / 08 July 2010 / Leave a Comment

'Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves'

Confucius.

Poker is a game that not only throws up tough situations, but one that also throws up tough people. Abuse, needling, spiteful comments, the list goes on and on of the nasty things that people can do to you at the table, but one of the most important things to keep focussed on in poker is keeping your ego in check.

The proverb quoted (in the blue box on the right) was first told to me by an older, highly experienced pool player while I was in the middle of a match against a weaker, abusive player in a pool hall. The abusive guy had been playing well and getting under my skin equally well, and I was stuck a decent amount to him. The older guy took me aside and explained to me that in this situation, even if I played on and managed to break even or win, I would still be an over all loser.

I couldn't understand this until he explained that if I carried on playing I would either:

a) Keep on losing a lot more and probably go broke;

or:

b) Get even and reinforce the bad habit of carrying on when players are getting to you.

Of these two options, a) is by far the most likely, so if we compare the expected value of both the plays, most of the time I have a very big loss, and a small amount of the time I break even - clearly a bad bet considering I could just walk away with a small loss at the time. Not only this, the prospect of breaking even actually increases the likelihood of future big losses, through reinforcing the behaviour of chasing losses in bad situations. Even if I get my revenge, I'm digging my own future grave in the process.

Although this first happened to me in a pool game, it is as relevant and true in poker as it is in billiards. If there is someone at the table - even someone worse than you - who is getting to you and making you deviate from your regular game and usual state of mind, you should seriously consider quitting.

As the 'Mad genius' of poker, Mike Caro so rightly observed, money you don't lose is just as important as money you win in poker, and keeping yourself away from situations where a big loss is possible is crucial to long term success. Although abusive players can seem to give it out well when they are winning, they are usually the opposite when steaming, and huge wins can be got from these players when the shoe is on the other foot - something which soon adds up to a huge edge if you can simply keep your head in the situations where they lose theirs.

Related Entries

Fancy play syndrome
Dealing with downswings
Buying in short - cash game strategy
Stemming losses from the blinds