Poker Strategy: Poker Psychology
The power of the mind in poker: There is no spade.
It’s well-known among poker enthusiasts that using psychology to get inside the head of your opponents can really give you an edge over them. What some people forget though is that it’s equally important, if not more so, to understand how your own psychology plays a role in your results. Many people who have solid overall strategies nevertheless fail to live up to their potential as players due to a lack of emotional control. Tilt – including “winners tilt” – the desire to get “unstuck” while in the midst of a losing session, playing while tired, and off-table habits can threaten your ability to earn a profit from poker. The articles below discuss some of the psychological problems that affect poker players and ways of dealing with them. Before long, you’ll be able to make calm, dispassionate decisions, and you’ll therefore be able to play your A game for extended periods of time.
Featured Poker Psychology Articles
Most Recent Poker Psychology Articles
You Can’t Make Your Opponent Fold
A lot of people ask how to make opponents fold so they cannot suck out. Here is a long story. It will be meaningless to some. To others, it may resonate and really help. In my 20s and early 30s I practiced an old, particularly brutal martial art. For those who have...
An Easy Guide to Exploiting Your Opponents
By paying close attention to your opponents’ actions at the poker tables, you can get pretty solid reads on their play. Using this information, you can make some of your ranges stronger while making others weaker in order to seriously exploit your foes.
Poker Discipline
Anosmic’s Year One post inspired me to do something for my first FTRnniversary. It’s been a great year for me, poker-wise. I started last February playing $10 SNGs and 25NL ring with a $300 bankroll and am now playing 200NL with a $8k bankroll. I’ve...
Dealing With Bad Beats
Recently I have seen a number of posts by newer players complaining about bad beats and suckouts and perhaps even suggesting that certain sites deliver a greater proportion of bad beats than others. There is already a sticky in the bad beat forum about this but I...
Biggest Money Making Secret in Poker
After reviewing this month’s play, I came to the same conclusion I came to last month, and the month before that, and the month before that. But I have failed to act upon that conclusion. Further, many of my professional-minded friends, after reaching the exact same...
Building Your Bankroll
Even if you’re an experienced player, you should still give some thought to how you can build your bankroll so you can move up in stakes and increase your winnings. From avoiding tilt to taking advantage of bonuses and rakeback, this article gives meaningful advice about building your bankroll.
Bust-Out Blues
It’s happened to all of us at one point or another. Even the great Phil Ivey went bust several times before hitting his stride. Rather than beating yourself up over it, take your bust-out as an opportunity to learn. But before you leap right back into the action, take a few minutes to consider how you want your comeback to go down. Will you make the same mistakes you did the first time around?
Psychology of a Tilting Player
pokerfanatic has been a member of FTR since August of 2004, and has over 1,400 posts in the FTR Poker Forum. Below pokerfanatic discuss thetopic of tilt, which as you know, is one of the worst enemies of the poker player. pokerfanatic’s Psychology of a Tilting...
Top Poker Tell Tips From 5 Pros
Poker tell: “A tell in poker is a subtle but detectable change in a player’s behavior or demeanor that gives clues to that player’s assessment of his hand. A player gains an advantage if he observes and understands the meaning of another player’s...
Playing Long Sessions
By learning how to play longer sessions at the poker tables more effectively, you can increase the amount of money you win. By carefully choosing the right tables and using lobby filters to your advantage, you can keep yourself in good +EV situations for extended periods of time.
A Post About Bluffing
Bluffing is an integral, exciting part of poker. Defending against suspected opponent bluffs is no less important to your overall strategy. But becoming too focused on bluffs to the exclusion of other considerations can lead you straight to the poorhouse.
Poker, the Beautiful Woman
Yes, poker is definitely like her. It can give you feelings of great exhilaration, and then bloody annoy you, all within the space of a few minutes. When you first meet poker, you just want more. You can’t stop playing with her, and think she’s the best...
Your Bankroll and You
There are many things that are important in Poker; your position during a hand, your starting hand (cards), your opponent tendencies, the odds for a certain draw to hit, how that draw fares versus your holding, bluffing opportunities, recognition and exploitation of...
Poker Bad Beats And You
You have a pretty looking hand and your opponent has a funny, lopsided looking hand and you’re happy to see that all the money goes in the pot. The end. Everything after that is just an illusion taking your focus away from a truth in poker. You’ve made the...
Rules for Table Selection
There are many things you can do to increase your poker skill and you should do them. However, it is unlikely that you will do anything between now and your next poker session that will dramatically increase your skill. Reading the right books, studying some articles,...
