The Way of Poker

Results are none of my business

The mind loves to focus on results.
"Oh, I hope I get dealt Two pocket Aces, which are the best hand pre-flop in pokerAces."
"Oh, I hope I flop a Three of a kind, which is a very good handset with this pair of 3's."
"Oh, I hope my Having four of the same suit, hoping to get the fifth for a flush, which is an exceptional handflush draw comes in."
"I'm down $200 in chips, I really I hope I can win some pots so I'm up again."

All that is fine and normal. But it's all focused on results.
The more important place to focus on is mastery.
That means only really caring about playing each hand masterfully.
That's all you really have any control over.
Now, that doesn't mean try not to think about results, and try to only think about mastery.
That's a losing game.
The mind can't help but think about and desire good results.
No problem. Let it.
Let it have those thoughts and desires.

Just. Make. Sure. You. Don't. Let. Those. Desires. Influence. Your. Actions.

I'll say that again

Just. Make. Sure. You. Don't. Let. Those. Desires. Influence. Your. Actions.

Focus on results and you will inevitably try to force things and end up with bad results.
Focus on mastery and the results will take care of themselves.
Results are truly none of your business.
So, it's important to allow two parallel thought streams.

• Desire for results (out of your control)
• Desire for mastery (in your control)

Allow the desire for results to be there, while you nurture your desire for mastery. Do your best not to pay attention to or encourage that concern for results. Just keep your main focus on, and only allow your actions to be determined by, your commitment to mastery.

And the universe will be in harmony.

You have to master Folding before you can master Calling

Unless you are an extremely timid person (and if you are, you probably shouldn't be playing poker), Folding is not putting any more money in the pot and turning in your cardsfolding will be difficult for you.
Calling is matching a bet by putting more of your money in the potCalling is what your mind wants to do.
"I just want to see one more card and I'll pay anything!"
"I think he's just bullying me. I won't let him get away with it."
"I REALLY like my cards."

Folding is difficult for most poker players, but it's something you need to get really good at.
Know that the tendency is to want to call.
This could come from a basic mistrust of others, from attachment, from naive hope, or any other number of reasons.
Just know it is a strong tendency for most poker players to call too much.
So, you have to get really good at folding.
There are times to call and you need to identify those too.
But it is difficult to identify those when you are still in the habit of calling too frequently.

Until you know you can trust yourself to make A hero fold is folding a very good hand, because you suspect your opponent has an even better handHERO FOLDS, you will never know if this current situation is truly a good one for a A hero call is calling a bet with a weak hand, because you think your opponent is bluffingHERO CALL.

Losing

Poker is a unique sport, in that even when you play perfectly you can still lose on any given day.

Playing perfectly is making plays that have the best odds to win. But even when the odds are that something will happen, that doesn't mean that thing will happen every time.

If the odds of something happening are 90%, that means 10% of the time that thing will not happen.

So, you will have losing sessions as a poker player, no matter what.

The term for this in poker is Variance.

Now, here's the tricky part. You can lose a hand due to variance or you can lose a hand because you played it poorly. You need to know the difference. This first takes actually understanding what the correct play is, the second is being really honest with yourself if you didn't play it that way.

If you are losing because of variance, it is vital to accept that. If you are losing because of mistakes, it is vital to admit that and identify those mistakes so you don't make them in the future.

As far as handling the losing sessions due to variance, you need to have a powerful relationship with losing.

For myself, I can get really down when I lose. That is because losing has deeper meaning for me, beyond the table. It is associated with my experiences of loss early in life. This is an opportunity for growth. To find out what losing means for you, you need to deeply explore the feelings that come up, knowing they probably have nothing to do with the reality of poker.

Learning how to play poker

I am not teaching anyone how to play poker here. The inquiries I'm sharing should make you a better poker player, but they won't teach you the basics of this craft.
If you are a beginner or are not already a winning player, then I have three essential resources for you.
These three books (if applied diligently) will give you everything you need to be a winning poker player.

• Ed Miller - The Course (Cash games)
• Jonathan Little - Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker (Tournaments)
• Dara O'Kearney - Poker Satellite Strategy (Satellite Tournaments)

And for the mental game, I highly recommend these two books.

• Jared Tendler - The Mental Game of Poker
• Jason Su - Poker with Presence

Poker Strategy Insights - check this section out for my insights specific to poker that are not necessarily relevant to general life

Good Poker is the Opposite of Gambling

Gambling can be defined as - Getting your money in when the odds are against you, hoping to get lucky.

Good poker is the exact opposite of that - Getting your money in when the odds are in your favor (and hoping to not get unlucky.)

You can play poker any way you want. Bad poker players gamble. Good poker players don't gamble. It's as simple as that.

Bluffing - A Matter of Trust

In poker, bluffing is a big part of the game. That means bluff catching is also a big part of the game.

Bluffing is betting or raising with a hand you don't think is best, hoping your opponent will believe you and fold.

Bluff Catching is calling a bet with a weak hand, because you think your opponent is bluffing, and your hand is actually best.

There is art and science to bluffing and bluff catching. It includes analyzing elements like board texture, betting patterns, player types and history, physical and timing tells. In an ideal world, you are only using these elements to determine your play.

But certain psychological patterns can interfere with this. And they all have to do with trust.

If you are particularly mistrustful of yourself or others, you will have difficulty with knowing correct situations to bluff or bluff catch. This is one of the biggest problems I have had at the table.

Now, a certain level of mistrust is healthy and natural. Some people are actually too trusting. Too much trust in yourself can lead to arrogance. And too much trust in others can leave you open to manipulation by bad actors. The ideal state is to have a balanced relationship with trust - trusting yourself and others just the right amount, not too much and not too little.

An unbalanced relationship with trust can lead to many problems at the table.

• If you mistrust yourself too much, you will see a good opportunity to bluff but not take it because you doubted yourself. You will lose money you could have made if you bluffed.
  
• If you trust yourself too much, you will think too many situations are good to bluff. You will lose money, because people will call your bad bluffs.
• If you mistrust others too much, you will try to bluff catch too often and end up calling when they have you beat. You will lose money you could have saved if you folded.
• If you trust others too much, you will too often assume they have the best hand and fold when they bet. You will lose money you could have made if you called when they were bluffing.

For me, getting to the root of my unhealthy relationship with trust has been an essential part of my path to being a successful poker player. This takes really facing difficult feelings around having my trust betrayed in past situations.

When trust issues are healed and there is a natural and balanced amount of trust in your life, then this will no longer interfere with your poker game. You will see opportunities to bluff or bluff catch with a clear head.