Fearless state of mind when playing poker?

[orange]

I think I get what your saying.

I once played in 3 small homegame tourneys ($10 buy-in), and won the first 2, profiting $120. On my third, I was absolutely fearless. I was running so well that I made insane moves, plays that I would not normally do. In my mind, this was because of the hot streak I had earlier on- I neither cared if I won or lost the 3rd tourney.

IMO, this fearlessness is not good for ring/cash games, only tourneys. Accumulating chips is vital in tourneys, while in 2/4, .$25/.50 NL, whatever ring games, it is not. You can be patient, and are not as likely to be time pressed as in tourneys.

Just some thoughts.

[SA125]

n/m

[4_2_it]

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Playing with no respect for money isn't an easy thing to do, which the great players do, and maybe an even harder thing to admit when you don't.

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I think this is the answer. If you start with no respect for money, then what move would you be afraid to make?

[Nigel]

Tommy,

I really appreciated this post. Thanks.

Nigel

[Felipe]

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Tommy,

I really appreciated this post. Thanks.

Nigel

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yes.

[Adde]

I have ellimated my fears at the poker table by systematically knowing them, tracking them...

Excelent reply, Tommy, thanks! I will try to digest this over time.

Also, several other very nice replies. Thanks all!

Adde

[Adde]

Just some thoughts...

When I'm having a winning session, I feel good. When I'm having a losing session, I don't feel particulary bad, I rather don't care that much. When winning, I enjoy the short term result; when losing, I reject the short term result, and see the game as a long run of games.

Perhaps I'm not afraid of losing, but rather afraid of *not winning*? Perhaps I'm a good loser but a bad winner? Perhaps one step forward to fearlessness is that I try to not enjoy short term winnings?

Anyone got a similar experience, or just some thoughts about this?

Adde

[Bascule]

It seems to me that some of those fears are rational and desirable, particularly this one which I hope I never lose:

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10) The fear of playing while underfunded

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Perhaps 'fear' is too strong a word, but substitute 'concern' and these seem advantageous characteristics:

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1) The fear of playing bad
7) The fear of playing too long

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Nit: I can't see any difference between 1 & 2, or 7 & 8.

This is a good subject. I used to trade futures (very similar to playing poker) and managing this type of question was critical to success.

In my experience the whole thing comes down to balance and self observation. You know when you sit down at the table and you are feeling just "right" that you will win in an almost effortless way. The opposite is true too, you sit at the table and just don't feel right. Nothing comes off and you get frustrated.

I think managing your internal state is the key. We used to do this by going through a checklist before we started trading and if the answer to any question on the checklist was a no then we wouldn't trade. A very interesting book on this is "The Inner Game of Tennis" in which the author explores the relationship between the conscious and sub-conscious mind. This is what I mean by balance. It has quite a Zen feel to it but that's the way it is. Being in the moment is key and a way of doing that is using breathing as an anchor. This way you can eliminate the mental storm that sometimes takes you over.

Anyway, my 2 cents worth.....

[SpeakEasy]

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How do I get into that fearless state of mind when grinding it out at the tables?

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Play at a money level and competition level where you aggressively want to win, but you don't care about the financial result of losing.

To be completely "fearless" you cannot care about the monetary value of the chips. If you are playing limit hold 'em, for example, you are fearless when you are clearly focused and when you are simply betting 'units,' regardless of whether a unit is $2, $20 or $2000. If you are playing NLHE, you are merely betting chips, and the monetary value is irrelevant.

You still have to be aware that you are playing for money, so that you make the correct decision at all times, but true fearlessness comes from not caring about the financial outcome of the game.