Fearless state of mind when playing poker?

[Adde]

I play at my best when I feel no fear, but I don't always feel like that. Kind of like a tennis player being in or out of form. How do I top my form in poker?

I got to think about this when I saw Layne Flack in the recent airing of WSOP ME 2005. He played brilliantly, confident extraordinary, with no fear whatsoever.

How do I get into that fearless state of mind when grinding it out at the tables?

(I play online for relatively small stakes ($2/$4), and I make a nice living out of it, so the stakes themselves are of no concern why I feel fearless or not. Neither are the competition, since I pretty much always play against the same type of players.)

Adde

[Poldi]

What do you fear when you dont play your best?

[vexvelour]

I like to read a poker book before I play for this reason. Read for a good 15-20 minutes and you'll be good to go.

[Adde]

What do you fear when you dont play your best?

Excelent question. I can't say I fear anything in specific, or at all, but still I don't have that fearless feeling. Not easy to explain, I admit. Perhaps an example will help:

When I feel fearless, I go ahead and fire a second bluff bet without blinking. At other times, in the same game situation, I don't feel as fearless, and hesitate to go through with the bluff. Compare with a basketball player, who doesn't hesitate to shoot a 3-pointer when he's in good form, but otherwise might hesitate.

Adde

[PLOlover]

I know completely what you're talking about and think it has to do with testosterone and aggression levels.

FWIW they did a study on chess players and the winners had elevated testosterone levels.

I think an aggressive frame of mind is paramount when talking about poker.

Sorry nothing constructive here, just some observations.

[Adde]

Sorry nothing constructive here, just some observations.

No need to apologize, that's some nice input. Now, how do we maximize our testosterone and aggression without taking drugs?

Adde

[JKratzer]

[ QUOTE ]
how do we maximize our testosterone and aggression without taking drugs?


[/ QUOTE ]

Testosterone increases with muscle activity. Try doing some intense weight lifting right before playing. Pushups would be easy if you don't have equipment. I've never tried this, so I don't know if it will work, but it might be worth a shot.

[SA125]

[ QUOTE ]
I know completely what you're talking about and think it has to do with testosterone and aggression levels.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think running good or bad has the most to do with it. One of the major differences between a great player and an average/mediocre one is how confidently and fearlessly they play when running bad.

I say this because I recently came to the conclusion that it's by far my biggest leak. I've reviewed my play in one particular live game I regularly play in and, although running bad (35 PP's in a row without a set, 2 fl's in the last 3 weeks), I definitely have lost more than I should by weakening up sometimes because of it.

Playing with no respect for money isn't an easy thing to do, which the great players do, and maybe an even harder thing to admit when you don't.

Feels like its entirely a function of running good or not. When you're running good nothing can go wrong. So you go with your reads. It's like if you just stacked someone with a set and then the next hand you sucked out on someone else and then you're in a spot where you think someone's bluffing, you go with your read because everything's working for you so far so you trust yourself more. You kind of feel invincible...And that makes you invincible to an extent.

[Tommy Angelo]

"What do you fear when you dont play your best?"

"Excelent question. I can't say I fear anything in specific, or at all,"

------------

I have ellimated my fears at the poker table by systematically knowing them, tracking them, and taking specific measures, sometimes requiring years, to elliminate them.

Here are some of the fears I have done away with. I am listing them in case seeing them in print aids your self-awareness.

1) The fear of playing bad
2) The fear of thinking I played bad
3) The fear of looking like I played bad
4) The fear of other people thinking I played bad
5) The fear of losing
6) The fear of losing money
7) The fear of playing too long
8) The fear of thinking I played too long
9) The fear of looking like I played too long
10) The fear of playing while underfunded
11) The fear of playing while underrested
12) The fear of paying off like a chump when I know I'm beat
13) The fear of missing bets

There's a bunch more I'm sure. I'm just rattling these off the top of my head. Incredibly, I am no longer afraid of any of those things I listed, or traffic jams, of hard-drive failures, or all sorts of other things too. And I used to be nothing but a walking collection of fear. All I'm saying is, it's possible. But it ain't easy. And it ain't fast.

Tommy

[orange]

I think I get what your saying.

I once played in 3 small homegame tourneys ($10 buy-in), and won the first 2, profiting $120. On my third, I was absolutely fearless. I was running so well that I made insane moves, plays that I would not normally do. In my mind, this was because of the hot streak I had earlier on- I neither cared if I won or lost the 3rd tourney.

IMO, this fearlessness is not good for ring/cash games, only tourneys. Accumulating chips is vital in tourneys, while in 2/4, .$25/.50 NL, whatever ring games, it is not. You can be patient, and are not as likely to be time pressed as in tourneys.

Just some thoughts.

[SA125]

n/m

[4_2_it]

[ QUOTE ]
Playing with no respect for money isn't an easy thing to do, which the great players do, and maybe an even harder thing to admit when you don't.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this is the answer. If you start with no respect for money, then what move would you be afraid to make?

[Nigel]

Tommy,

I really appreciated this post. Thanks.

Nigel

[Felipe]

[ QUOTE ]
Tommy,

I really appreciated this post. Thanks.

Nigel

[/ QUOTE ]
yes.

[Adde]

I have ellimated my fears at the poker table by systematically knowing them, tracking them...

Excelent reply, Tommy, thanks! I will try to digest this over time.

Also, several other very nice replies. Thanks all!

Adde

[Adde]

Just some thoughts...

When I'm having a winning session, I feel good. When I'm having a losing session, I don't feel particulary bad, I rather don't care that much. When winning, I enjoy the short term result; when losing, I reject the short term result, and see the game as a long run of games.

Perhaps I'm not afraid of losing, but rather afraid of *not winning*? Perhaps I'm a good loser but a bad winner? Perhaps one step forward to fearlessness is that I try to not enjoy short term winnings?

Anyone got a similar experience, or just some thoughts about this?

Adde

[Bascule]

It seems to me that some of those fears are rational and desirable, particularly this one which I hope I never lose:

[ QUOTE ]
10) The fear of playing while underfunded

[/ QUOTE ]

Perhaps 'fear' is too strong a word, but substitute 'concern' and these seem advantageous characteristics:

[ QUOTE ]
1) The fear of playing bad
7) The fear of playing too long

[/ QUOTE ]

Nit: I can't see any difference between 1 & 2, or 7 & 8.

This is a good subject. I used to trade futures (very similar to playing poker) and managing this type of question was critical to success.

In my experience the whole thing comes down to balance and self observation. You know when you sit down at the table and you are feeling just "right" that you will win in an almost effortless way. The opposite is true too, you sit at the table and just don't feel right. Nothing comes off and you get frustrated.

I think managing your internal state is the key. We used to do this by going through a checklist before we started trading and if the answer to any question on the checklist was a no then we wouldn't trade. A very interesting book on this is "The Inner Game of Tennis" in which the author explores the relationship between the conscious and sub-conscious mind. This is what I mean by balance. It has quite a Zen feel to it but that's the way it is. Being in the moment is key and a way of doing that is using breathing as an anchor. This way you can eliminate the mental storm that sometimes takes you over.

Anyway, my 2 cents worth.....

[SpeakEasy]

[ QUOTE ]
How do I get into that fearless state of mind when grinding it out at the tables?

[/ QUOTE ]

Play at a money level and competition level where you aggressively want to win, but you don't care about the financial result of losing.

To be completely "fearless" you cannot care about the monetary value of the chips. If you are playing limit hold 'em, for example, you are fearless when you are clearly focused and when you are simply betting 'units,' regardless of whether a unit is $2, $20 or $2000. If you are playing NLHE, you are merely betting chips, and the monetary value is irrelevant.

You still have to be aware that you are playing for money, so that you make the correct decision at all times, but true fearlessness comes from not caring about the financial outcome of the game.