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?