Confidence

[benkahuna]

Do all great poker players exude confidence?

Certainly some are less humble than others (Greenstein and Reese versus Matusow and Hellmuth) that I've seen. But, most players, even the nicest, most gracious, and most professional ones seem to be very confident in their abilities when asked (Greenstein) or when not asked (Sklansky).


Are there any level-headed pros in regards to their confidence or is confidence (and a lot of it) necessary for success?

You have guys like Tuan Le (brewing over), Gus Hansen (very level headed and focused, but he believes his decision-making is superior as he says in his cardplayer interview regarding his upcoming book), Esfandiari (very cool and level-headed), Brunson (mellow, yet very confident), and even Forrest (felt that Beale was outplaying the pros to some extent which others seem to take as an almost heretical blow to their egos).

Negreanu has a giant poker ego and he's still widely regarded as a very nice guy. Maybe Duke, Lederer and Carson disagree...

Can you be a great player without having an inflated ego?

Phil Ivey immediately comes to mind as a guy without much of an ego.

[Python49]

He says he plans to win 30 wsop bracelets before he's done and that poker tournaments are boring to him.

[benkahuna]

His ego isn't sitting next to him at the table, nor does it call him while he's playing at a final table like Hellmuth's does. :P

[tek]

Wouldn't it be funny if Helmuth had a twin brother? One could play and one could be in the booth commenting.

The universe might explode [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Lash]

[ QUOTE ]

Can you be a great player without having an inflated ego?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think it's just a matter of being in touch with your ego. Kind of like walking a tightrope.

[AaronBrown]

You need self-confidence to play even decent Poker. Most of the good players I know, and I don't mean WSOP winners, just everyday good players, have large egos. You don't need it for Poker, but it seems to go with the territory for most of us. But don't confuse having a large ego with showing a large ego, if anything the two are negatively correlated.

One problem with perception is that the people you mention are not only great Poker players, they chose to exercise their skill in high-profile events. Many of them have career reasons to act outrageously or boastfully: selling books, getting endorsement deals, getting backers. Stars in other fields (movies, athletics, music) do this all the time. Some of them are putting on an act for their careers, others are just acting naturally. So you might ask, do you need three divorces before you're 25 to be an actor, or do you need a drug problem to be an athlete, or do you need to trash hotel rooms to be a musician? Looking at some stars you might say "yes," but looking at the full range of successful people in these fields you would say emphatically, "no."

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Can you be a great player without having an inflated ego?

I contend that the "perfect" poker player would have no ego. But, then, I'm often too zen for my own good. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[ZenMusician]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm often too zen for my own good.

[/ QUOTE ]

No such thing [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

-ZEN

I'm trying to remember anyone I've ever known/met who was successful in their field who didn't, IMO, didn't exude confidence, and I can't.

Because of jobs I've had and people I've known, I've met/dealt with successful people in more fields than I can count. Rarely were they braggadocious. Ask them a thoughtful question and sit and listen to their answer. I always believed their success brought them their confidence. I don't think if they weren't confident (in themselves) they would be successful.