The Poker state of mind
 

Hi!

I was thinking and observing myself playing poker. You know, when you're in the rite state of mind, when everything is clear, cards, plays, bets, positions, ...everything, you allways know what and how to play it.

And somedays you just don't get inthere at all, and you not drunk [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Do you have some way to get in the right, poker, state of mind, before you go to your local casino or go online and play?

Tnx!

Br, darks

Re: The Poker state of mind
 

Go over your hand histories everyday. Try to objectively analyze your play and figure out if you could have played certain hands better.

That is all.

Re: The Poker state of mind
 

If you're talking about state of mind I suggest you look up the concept of flow. It was developed by Csikszentmihalyi and he mentions alot of the factors that can put people in the "flow" state of mind.

Re: The Poker state of mind
 

i like to read a chapter of a book before playing

Re: The Poker state of mind
 

[ QUOTE ]
If you're talking about state of mind I suggest you look up the concept of flow. It was developed by Csikszentmihalyi and he mentions alot of the factors that can put people in the "flow" state of mind.

[/ QUOTE ]

link?

Re: The Poker state of mind
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If you're talking about state of mind I suggest you look up the concept of flow. It was developed by Csikszentmihalyi and he mentions alot of the factors that can put people in the "flow" state of mind.

[/ QUOTE ]

link?

[/ QUOTE ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)

Re: The Poker state of mind
 

[ QUOTE ]
If you're talking about state of mind I suggest you look up the concept of flow. It was developed by Csikszentmihalyi and he mentions alot of the factors that can put people in the "flow" state of mind.

[/ QUOTE ]

this sounds interesting, which book should i pick up to learn more about "flow"?

Re: The Poker state of mind
 

Online im just like a robot. But, when I go to play live I remind myself of several things:
1) I'm not going for the social aspect, I'm going to win money.
2) No matter how bad beats are that the fish give me tonight I won't berate them. I used to berate people a lot for bad calls and such but I don't anymore. I just trying to remind myself that they are just building up bad karma (or variance will even out, whichever way you want to look at it).
3) The casino I play at ALWAYS has good games. So generally, I go and try to win a certain amount. If i hit that amount, I'll play 1 or 2 more rounds of blinds then take off.
4) Remember that I'm going to win money. That means several things: I won't be a showdown monkey with really weak holdings, I won't pay off when im pretty certain im beat, I won't try to redraw to 2 outters when I know my overpair has run into trips on a paired board. Basically just what i said at the beginning. I'm going to play my best poker and that may mean having to lay down those big hands when you know you're beat.

Re: The Poker state of mind
 

yeah, that really is the issue. Laying down big hands.

Let me explain why i posted this post. I have just begun playing poker. I now play about 6 moths, average 1,5 hour a day. And i noticed, offcourse, that my game is really jumping from good to very bad [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I guess that is normal for a beginner like me. I like playing STT's and i find myself most comfortable playing them. So i decided i'm going to get better at STT's and that's my goal now.
Anyways, i noticed, that not every day is a poker day. Sometimes when i go playing, I almost know that today won't be good, but i go play just because i feel i need experience. I guess that's wrong, because on those kind of days i just can't think clearly.
So i was wondering is there a way to get in that state of mind, or is it just better to go play another day?

Br, darks

Re: The Poker state of mind
 

if you really know that youre not in the right state of mind to play or that its going to be a bad day - dont play.

read some poker books or grunch hand histories on the forums or go over your own hand histories.

you wont lose money and you will still be getting valuable experience