quote] The number of decisions to make is limited.
The maths involved should be within the grasp of a good proportion of the population.

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I think these 2 statements are flawed in the first place and contribute partially to why poker is hard.

First of all I do agree that its within reach of a good proportion of the population, however, a good proportion of the population that plays poker doesnt care enough/are too lazy to bother with figuring Pot Odds.

Secondly, the amount of decisions (or non-decision) required in a single tournement for example, is quite high. For a multi-talbe tourney or a 6hour stretch at a ring game the amount of decisions you are required to make using and the abundance of stimuli that you are exposed to is quite staggering. I think this is why, as you said, the determination/disclipline are key factors to being a succesful player. Focus is also a key factor that allows you to be determined/discliplined when u play poker.

I saw a interview not too long ago with The Mouth and he was asked to talk about Ivey. He said that the reason Ivey is so much more succesful then him is not because of a trenmendous skill/experience/knowledge difference (and i beleive that this is true...for what its worth) . The staggering difference in both players bankroll is (according to the Mouth) due to the abnormal amount of focus Ivey can sustain at a poker table. He is always 100% focused on the game, which allows him to play discliplined poker for 14hours a day for 5 days strait if needed.

[ QUOTE ]
The "irrational" nature of the mechanics: It seems Poker is the reverse of our natural instinct to learn by our mistakes. In the short term if you play badly you can still win. If you play brilliantly you can still lose. What does this tell your brain? What does this do to your ego?

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This is a very intersting point. The way I was able to overcome that is that, after 1year playing poker quite regularly, I understood that poker is not a card game and that success at <poker> is not mesured in money, but in amount of correct decisions you can make. Most people are quite puzzled when I try to explain to them that to be good at poker you cannot care about how much money you win, as long as you make good decisions (the money will come afterwards).

Not tilting is also a big big big factor so being detached emotionally from the money aspect of poker, and its easy to do when you know that it doesnt matter if you win/lose a pot for 800$ on a 2outter on the river. You made a correct decision for investing 400$ in this situation so be happy about your 800$ pot loss, take some notes and keep playing the same way you are.

MOTA
(join my team @ pokerroom [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img])