Personality factors- OCEAN

[killphilNI]

I studied a bit of psychology in university and it definitely helped my game. I read and reread chapters on decision making and I have been very impressed with 2+2's advice on how to apply to this to poker. I also thought that understanding personality factors would help and I studied this chapter quite a bit in my textbook. But I don't think I've taken this as far as I can and I'm sure some of you can give opinions on how this applies at the poker table.

For those not familiar, research has shown that 5 main factors contribute to personality- Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism (OCEAN)

I've tried to work out how to spot these traits in my opponents and how this might predict their future play. I haven't really go that far with it but it has been useful nonetheless.

Openness to experience- Is he very set in his ways and predictable or will he actively make decisions later in the hand and try something new?

Conscientiousness- Think comes down to discipline and patience. Is he loose and sloppy? Will he do things he knows he shouldn't to get lucky?

Extraversion- Probably the easiest to apply to poker, we all know the loose extraverted guy loves to play a lot and gets impatient whereas the tight introvert will sit around waiting for AA and is less likely to bluff.

Agreeableness- How likely is he to challenge me? Does he love to "put you on AK"? Will he call down with weak hands because he doesn't believe the bettor?

Neuroticism- How much pressure can he handle? Will he blow up quickly and do something stupid? How does he react to pressure?


As I said I haven't really got that far with how this applies at the poker table so I'd like to hear your opinions. You don't need to have studied psychology, a little common sense and poker savvy will do.