Why is it?

Why is it that sometimes, I and many other poker players are unable to control their emotions at the poker table. I'm not talking about getting beat and then getting upset. I'm talking about this..........


You raise before the flop with KK, a few have cold called as usual and now the flop comes out.


K 9 2 rainbow.


How come is it that some of us begin to tremble when we reach for our chips to bet at this pot?

Why is that some of us get red in the face?

Why is that our body is free flowing at this point, i.e, you bet and your motion is as free flowing as ever, you have no worries in the world?


In what other light can we look at this whereas, your mind is on something else, trying not to give away any tells?

How do you do it?


Have you even thought about this aspect in your game?

I dunno, I sort of like to give off tells sometimes. Just to see if someone might pick up on it? Try inventing a reverse tell and use it when you flop that top set.


Or even better, you can just not worry about it. That's what I usually do.

yes, exactly, you want to invent a reverse tell, but you don't want it to be an obvious reverse tell......


you also went on to say, to just not worry about it? How can this be? How can you just not worry about it?

I think that intentionally sending reverse tells is a losing tactic in the long run. The best way is to truly feel the same way inside while betting AQ into a K-x-x flop, and betting KK into a K-x-x flop.


Sounds impossible, and it pretty much is unless you play a lot. But what we're talking about here in energy appropriation. We can spend our energies devising feeble tactics while emotionally strung out. Or we can point our energies directly at the goal of remaining emotionally aloof. I work on that second thing, supported by my unwavering belief that, hand after hand, year after year, sending no information is better than sending contrived information. And the only way to truly send no information is to have no information to send, as in, detatched, indifferent.


Tommy

ive lost many times in this type of situation, so im waiting til showdown to drag the chips. you have a fantastic hand, and your already stacking the chips subconciously. thats one way to explain it.


once you get every great hand cracked a couple times, it jades you a little on the great flops.


or at least thats how it is with me.


some thoughts..


b

The trembling that you experience when you make a big hand is caused by a release of tension. It's involuntary, so there isn't a whole lot you can do about it. With experience, this should go away. As Tommy says, the key is indifference. BTW, the last time I had KK on a K9x board, KTo made a runner-runner straight to run me down. Top set is not a hand I get excited about. Quads is.

I'll tell you why, but it may not do much good. It all comes down to the fear of death. You'll be working on that your whole life. Let me translate to the particular situation: All fear is related to the fear of losing something, death being the ultimate loss. When you see KK GET MATCHED TO A K ON THE FLOP, the trembling fear you feel is the potential loss of losing something you don't even have yet (this particular hand)! Try and understand that your fear of loss is ruling you so much that you are fearing losing something you don't even have yet (we all do it to some extent). When you grasp the futileness of doing that, you'll begin to tame your fear of death, or loss.

in previous message, "(This particular hand) should be (This particular POT)

If your temperament is such that you can just not put emphasis on what tells you are giving off, that's when you're just not worried about it.


Would you overly worry about giving off tells while playing Monopoly or chess? (I hope you would not). It's not something that's especially on my mind while playing.


But sometimes I remember something about the way I played a previous hand I was bluffing. Like how did I spin or bounce my lucky chip that time. And then when I flop top set, I adopt the same mannerisms. And I'll hope someone was watching. But probably noone ever is.

Don't you think sending contrived info adds to the poker? And in the limit game, there's often not that much 'poker' to start with. Do you know what I mean?