Article I wrote on Tournament Psychology

[winky51]

I hope you guys like it. I have taken it from my many good and bad experiences from live tournament

Edit: I have taken out your link and posted the article, since you are the site owner I obviously couldnt allow the link to stay up.
~Justin

[Jurollo]

I have posted the article above due to links I deemed improper, please read article below if you are interested in original post

Tournament Psychology

by Al Sousa

Tournaments can't be won by math and analysis alone. There is something else that is part of the game, psychology. One must know his opponents, their betting patterns, their tells, and their playing style. But these is more to this than most think.

When in a hand: In any war intelligence is key to victory. You need a combination of luck and skill, so why give the enemy any information. Unless you are a master of deception and in total control of your behavior the best thing you can do when in a hand is sit there like a rock, no emotion, no movement, no answer to any question. This reveals nothing to your opponent and in my opinion is ominous. In fact think about something else, your kids, dinner, a movie you saw, anything but the hand in question. Your poker instincts comes from patterns you have seen before. Your thoughts subconsciously add up all the things you have seen, heard, and analyzed to gain intuition to another player's thoughts. If you give off none of this then your opponent's instincts are blind.

Betting: Be very aware how you bet. Make the same movement and same actions everytime you bet. This means your pattern remains the same. If you find yourself using two hands throwing in chips then always do that. If you use your right hand to quietly bet, do that. Do not change the pattern. Same betting pattern means same action and no tells. I suggest that a quiet betting pattern is always best. It is more relaxed, calm, and threatening to opponents when they see it. It is also the least movement from your part revealing nothing.

Thinking: Always take your time for every raise, call, bet, or fold. Even when you know what you are going to do, take your time. You never know if there is something you missed or an impatient opponent who is about to give off a tell. I suggest not playing with your chips and folding your hands together when you think. The less motion you have the less tells.

When your opponent puts you to a decision: This is the time to talk. Now is when you probe to gain information from your opponent. I even suggest talking when you are sure you have the best hand. This is because most players view talking as weakness and you might induce your opponent to bluff or bet a marginal hand later in the round. Think about your questions to get an answer or a reaction.

Be respectful, friendly, and polite: A good deed is its own reward. In poker being a good person affects your mind. Happiness creates good chemicals in your brain and a sense of peace, negative emotions do the opposite. If you become the words above you keep yourself in a calm state of mind to make correct decisions. Blowing up only encourages negative behavior and escalates going on tilt as does being rude to other players. Another important reason stay in this frame of mind is your opponents. If they like you they just might make a mistake in your favor. Seems impossible, not so. Keeping this frame of mind also does one more thing, it keeps your opponents predictable. If they see you being nice and not antagonizing they tend to be nice to you, it earns respect. They are less prone to get in the state of mind to "bust you" or "go to war". My preference is passive, predictable opponents, not unpredictable ones. Even players on tilt are capable of getting a big hand and busting you. Barry Greenstein is a perfect example of a player who uses the 3 words to perfection.

What does this all mean?: Keeping your pattern the same means you don't have to think about it. It means you look boring and unreadable during a hand. The less you have to think about outside factors the more you can concentrate on the game and the opponents. Once your pattern becomes a habit of the same thing over and over your mind is free to process everything else in the environment. Being the guy at the table everyone likes encourages predictable behavior from opponents, keeps you in a good frame of mind, prevents blow ups, and gains you respect. Do unto others as you would want done to yourself. Every little advantage you get on your opponents lowers the luck factor and increases the skill factor. This means a better shot at the final table. It is that simple.