Is it Bad to Feel Good at the Poker Table?

Is it Bad to Feel Good at the Poker Table?

It is no secret that negative emotions can affect the way we play the game of poker. Fear can turn even the strongest players of poker in a weak-tight milquetoast, while anger can be faster than wood chips overdrive shredders are discarded. The negative correlation between sensation and adverse outcome is usually simple and easy to recognize. But what about the other end of the emotional spectrum, so-called "good" emotions? How feelings like love, happiness and compassion can affect the way we play? We have become conditioned to associate these beautiful, beautiful emotions with all that is good in life, it is obvious that these great feelings help us to become better poker players. But not necessarily, and not always.

The truth of the matter is, every emotion can become a destructive force when pushed to the extreme. Think about love. You can make the "world go round, but every time love - and love for another person, a hobby or even an object, like a car - becomes so overwhelming that it starts to take over care away from other important areas of your life, it's a problem. Once passion has reached the point where they begin to neglect other relationships, your job or your health, then love is not a benign benevolent force.

In the cutthroat world of poker, love is simply irrelevant. No doubt, the love for the game itself can be a problem for some players, sucking too much of your time and energy - and for players who lose too much money. When players are too lazy, too stupid or too impatient to learn to play poker correctly, a love affair with poker is a way that can literally not afford.

On a more personal level, love for another poker player can be a dilemma if the player is sitting at the table with you as an adversary. The legendary poker player and 1982 WSOP Main Event champion Jack Straus once famously said he would blow his own grandmother if she played poker with him. To succeed at the highest level of this game, where you Eat or be eaten, that kind of attitude is almost mandatory. But for most of us ordinary people who play regular games, it is hard to be a poker shark when his intended victim also becomes a loved one. Compensation is fewer chips and less glory in exchange for a more harmonious personal relationship. Naturally, it is up to each player to decide when and if the earnings are interesting.

Perhaps the most insidious form of poker love is the affection we develop for the cards themselves when they take on the appearance of a safe bet. Great Pair of pocket, dropped right miraculous, promising attracts nuts - all hands and can have a hypnotic power attractive when they look at us felt. We draw the promises of silk chips to win and the opposition to be conquered. And a dedicated poker player, this is the kind of lust that knows no limits. No matter how bad card merchant winner can turn into a grotesque fascination and losing money. Love is blind. As anyone who has ever been in love can attest, it can be extremely hard to say goodbye. In life, the cost of refusing to let go can be catastrophic. In poker, the cost is a loss or two ... or twenty appeal. Or more. How long adds to the disaster.

If love is a bad deal in the poker table, compassion is even worse. Taking advantage of weaker opponents is what poker players. That steal the blinds a strong opponent, sweeping a little desperate bunch, or play circles around a schlub mind, predation is the name of the game. But when you face an opponent who is not only a bad player, but is clearly incapable in some way - or while intoxicated or under some sort of extreme emotional pressure - opponent is still fair game? Always feel good to take your money? Maybe you feel a twinge of guilt, but go ahead and take your money anyway. Or tried to soft-games begin to slide its way into your consciousness?

What if you know that unfortunate soul playing with money you can not afford to lose? This is where the line between his life as a poker player and ethics as a human being can actually be blurry unless you know in advance exactly where you want to draw. Compassion, one of the finest and noblest emotions we experience in life, it's just another Achilles heel when it comes to poker.

Even a sublime feeling like joy may be cons-productive in the context of a poker game. Appendix A: celebration. When the euphoria of victory becomes excessive that the player on the losing side begins to see him as jubilation, this is the kind of problem that can come back and bite you later. Even without tournament directors standing across ready to punish players who break the rule with the conclusion, opponents hope to lose the opportunity to teach their own punishment.

Celebration is also a concern when it is premature. This can take many forms, from small poker paris is so busy mentally count the pot is won not even notice the map forged his hand to the chip leader of the tournament river that managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory blowing a huge lead at the final table. What it all really comes down to is just another form of overconfidence, which is an excellent example of good self destructive emotion turning once taken in excess. The common denominator is the loss of concentration. It is impossible to fully focus on achieving your goal when part of your brain is already famous victory - conveniently overlooking the fact that the contest is not over yet.

There is a strange paradox in all this. We all started playing poker in the first place because, at some level, the game makes us feel good. It was fun. And that is why most of us still do. So we played poker to feel good, but if we play the game well, we can not leave us feeling too good - at least not until we left the table. Feelings such as love, joy and confidence that improve our lives dramatically, all bonds can become the poker table if we let these feelings get out of control.