anyone else do this?

[bernie]

a bud of mine was up visiting and i was yappin about some of the psychological make ups of players...we got on the subject of how quick to assess another players game. i mentioned some people i can tell how they play by how they live life or react to certain. similar stuff.

i mentioned to him that in the back of my mind, sometimes more concious than not, im sizing up people i see as to how they would play on a holdem table.

anyone else do this? just out of habit? even unknowingly, have you ever caught yourself doing it?

so he asked me, with a sly grin, how id size him up...

i said i know he doesnt know the game, never studied it, so hed basically see it almost as a table game like craps as far as his approach to it. but that if he studied it a little, and gained some basic knowledge, more emotion may creep into his play...based on the thin bad beat skin and pot entitlement that all players who've studied the game tend to go through...hence his emotional reaction/inflections would be much like similar situations he may face in normal life...as he wouldnt have the time/experience to be hardened by the game. actually, much like a round of golf. same principle, to a degree.

he was kind of suprised at my answer...

but ill ask it again...

anyone else, even for fun but in serious practice, size up avg people you may run into as far as what type of player they may be? how were your findings if you did? how about even posters on the forum...the way they explain things? ever tried to assess their game? figure their main line of play, whether limited or vast in plays they may use..etc..? it's actually kind of a fun exercise.

i think it was in schoonmakers book that he mentioned that playing winning, aggressive cards is unnatural. and takes alot of time to achieve a comfort level in playing an unnatural way... love that stone killer section

ciao

b

[Ulysses]

Never do it w/ random folks in real life.

On the other hand, I definitely do that w/ posters here. I find it an interesting exercise to predict how other posters will respond to hands posted based on their previous posts.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

I do a great deal of negotiating in business. On the phone and in person. I'm always doing this (not thinking what kind of poker player they are, reading their motivations, what they aren't saying, what they really mean, etc.) Person-reading is a key job skill for me.

[budman]

I do it frequently. I have a customer who I am certain would be one of the finest bluffers ever. I notice when customers push their position too hard. At a New Year's Eve party I even found myself relating people's communication skills game skills (I was bored).

[Michael Davis]

Bernie,

I think you need some time off. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

[Al Schoonmaker]

The similarities between the psychology of poker, selling, and negotiating are central to my next book, "Business is a poker game." In fact, "The Psychology of Poker" is the son of my "Negotiate to Win" and grandson of "Selling: The Psychological Approach." That is, TPOP just applies the same principles to poker that I had earlier applied to those topics.

Getting inside the other person's head is THE critical skill in all three activities (and many others). To develop that skill you should practice it as often as possible.

Some of you mentioned trying to "read" posters, and that's an excellent way to develop this skill. Ask yourself, what kind of player is he? Why did he suggest doing this or that? What kind of boss, neighor, or brother-in-law would he be? Then look at future posts to see how close you were. Or ask some questions. The critical issue point is that you have to make an inference, then get feedback on its accuracy, and be open-minded about that feedback. If you're wrong, ask why. Why did I think he was aggressive, but now I see he's rather passive? Why did I think he's dumb, but he just made a brilliant analysis? Where did my own thinking go wrong?

You can also develop this skill by making inferences about people you see on an airplane or at a party, then checking them out by getting more information.

Reading people is like any other skill. It can't be developed without practice and feedback. If you take a position, then check its accuracy by getting more information, you learn. If you don't take a position and get more information, you can't learn.

With active learning, whether you're right or wrong, you've learned something and increased your people reading skills.

Any time you spend learning how to read people will pay off at the poker table and in many more important places.

Regards,

Al

[bernie]

heh heh....maybe...

i had a dream once that i was playing on a table that used chocolate chip cookies as chips...then it switched and we were using them as cards...the chips being the pips on the card...

then a big upheaval happened when a guy started eating his cards...the whole table went ballistic...

i took some time off then.... /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

b