Adjusting play given psychological cues

[Little Fishy]

I was doing some psych research and came accross the following. I found it interesting and thought others might as well.

many studies have shown that when we as people are put into a situation involving risk, reward and chance the chemical Dopamine is released into our brains (DeFrance 1985; Kischka 1996; Zald; 2000). Dopamine is a chemichal that can be addictive and is believed to be one of the main cuases of gambling addiction.

Now for the interesting part. Serotonin is also released (more so in patho-gamblers) and increases impulsivity and tolerence for delayed rewards ((Bizot 1999) (M. Spinella 2003).

So, Why does this matter and what does it mean??

Patho Gamblers or gamblers who are closer to compulsive than average are:
1. more impulsive at the table and thus more likely to call and or raise with weaker hands.
2. less likely to be driven away by good consistant losses
3. not necessarily less likely to know the correct move, but less likely to follow it.

I know a lot of this seems intuitivebut i think it could be helpfull. Lets say you're in a casino and a new guy sits at your table and buys in for a substantial amount of $$ with his hand shaking. or lets say you go to a house game and all you know about one of the players is what you've heard through the grape vine, that he's a regular loser that cn't quit. Imediatly you can adjust your play to these two players. you should
1. you can assume that they're more likely to be looser and posibly aggressive and so should choose your seat (if possible) accordingly
2. Do Not bluff into them bc they're more likely to call on anystreet or with weaker hands
3. you should get more value by betting with your good hands because they will be more likely to call.

once again I know that most of this is pretty intuative, but I found it exciting to find Bio-Psych info that backed some poker strategy.

-little fishy

[Bodhi]

Interesting stuff. We all know someone who fits the description well. If the neuro-chemical balance of addicted gamblers is as you describe, then is there any data on what other sorts of pscychological conditions correlate with it? Someone will also probably bring up genetics, anything there?

[jskills]

[ QUOTE ]
. We all know someone who fits the description well.

[/ QUOTE ]

You mean like UTG+2 in this hand for example? He would enter raising with pretty much anything, practically did nothing but bet every street, and responded to bets with raises like it was a personal insult. Although in this hand, he actually got timid at the end, but folding is simply not possible for him. These guys are the best.


Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is SB with A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], T [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
2 folds, UTG+2 raises, 5 folds, Hero calls, BB calls.

Flop: (6 SB) T [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG+2 bets, Hero calls, BB calls.

Turn: (4.50 BB) 9 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG+2 bets, Hero calls, BB raises, UTG+2 calls, Hero 3-bets, BB calls, UTG+2 calls.

River: (13.50 BB) 8 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (3 players)
Hero bets, BB calls, UTG+2 calls.

Final Pot: 16.50 BB

Results not in white below:
Hero has Ad Td (full house, aces full of tens).
BB has Th Jh (two pair, aces and tens).
UTG+2 has 8s 7s (two pair, aces and eights).
Outcome: Hero wins 16.50 BB.