Attitude

[stillbr]

I have really began to notice a trend. When my attitude is great and i am really in the mood to play poker i usually seem to do really really well in terms of BB/100. When i am not really in the mood to play or have a pesimistic attitude i seem to not do well in terms of BB/100. I really got myslef thinking about it yesterday in the middle of a negetive session. after about an hour i was down about 25BB and had AA, KK and several others cracked. then all of the suddon i was like " ok come on man, i am in the mood to win!! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ... i feel a run of cards coming!!" then over the next 30mins or so i had a ran my session back up to around +20 BB. THE ONLY difference in my play was all the suddon i just changed my attitude. does anyone have any thoughts on this???

[exist]

While a positive or negative attitude can have an effect on your PLAY, it has absolutely no effect on your CARDS. The deck (or the random number generator) does not magically detect that you feel confident and then decide "Hey let's have that guy make his flush this time." or "Let's have his AA hold up for once." That you put yourself in a positive mindset did not cause you to have the upward swing. It was randomness coupled with hopefully good play (but mostly just randomness) that caused the upswing.

[tomscuba]

I´m a developing player--but that means nothing in the context of your question. There is NO QUESTION that confidence breeds success, in nearly all realms of competition.
The best analogy I can think of is the proper way to ski. You must lean into the slope. Your weight must be foreward. This can apply to running an offense, hitting a ball, hell--every sport. The mind is the most powerful muscle in the body. As for poker---true what the last poster said about cards. But past level 1 it ain´t a game about cards. Confidence, I suspect, can be detected by others in how you bet. That alone could be massive.
I´m shooting from belief here, not an answer I learned in college. But the state of the mind--weather it´s bearing down, going for the throat, or just knowing that you got em has a tremendous effect on your preformance. Probably helps you dust off those broken aces like a fly too.

Last story. I was teaching at an international school in Dehli for a few years. Prestigous school--PH D´s up the ass. One of the teachers was diagnosed with cancer and had given it a 2 year western medically based bout. It was spreading to his organs none the less. Upon his last doctor visit, he quit work, rented out everything through the school, and took off into some ashram mountain somethin-or-another for 2 years.
When he returned his body was completely free of cancer. His doctors said it was impossible, people flew in to document it, and the word miracle was on tips onf many tongues.

He told me, he willed it out.

[magiluke]

I work in sales, and if I don't go into work with a good attitude, and don't do good. So most of the time, I try to get into a bit of a good mood before work and wake up. Get a little bit of coffee, eat something, listen to some of my favorite music (and sing along), whatever I need to do to get positive energy going.

I believe that having positive energy (attitude) in most aspects of life is good for those aspects. I'd elaborate more, but I have to go to class soon =/

[dogmeat]

Endorphins, baby! Get pumped up, let 'em flow from your brain and you will enjoy poker much more. Quick, aggressive decisions almost always work best IMHO, and it is a lot easier to be assertive when you are feeling good (and running good).

The flip-side is that you are almost guaranteed to play poorly if you are tired, angry or just not in the mood - so you will remember the crappy times as being just that, crappy.

Dogmeat [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[chezlaw]

I have noticed a correlation between being in a good mood and getting good cards.

Definitely cause and effect going on here.

chez

[Lawrence Ng]

[ QUOTE ]
When my attitude is great and i am really in the mood to play poker i usually seem to do really really well in terms of BB/100. When i am not really in the mood to play or have a pesimistic attitude i seem to not do well in terms of BB/100.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is why I really enjoy running and working out before I go to the cardroom so I feel hyped and excited. It makes a HUGE difference in my play which equates to better EV.

[Al Schoonmaker]

Excellent post.
Al

[gergery]

To play poker well you need to 1) make good decisions on pot odds, stack sizes, etc., and 2) read people well. It’s hard to do either of those things well if you are thinking/worrying/stressing about other things, whether its problems with girlfriend/money or a downswing in your game, or lack of confidence.

By far the best state for me is impassive, objective neutrality. I know I’m there when my big pairs get cracked and I can honestly feel I made the right decision but got unlucky and it doesn’t bother me to lose a chunck of money on the hand. Then I know I’m in a good place and should keep playing.

But,
-- When I start feeling like the others are better than me, then I play too passively.
-- When I start feeling like I want to “get them back” for drawing out on me or outplaying me, then I know I’m in trouble and its time to quit for the day.
-- When I start feeling restless or bored, then I start playing too many hands
-- When I feel too hyped up, then I get megalomania think I’m Gus Hansen and start trying to run them over by playing too aggressively.
All of those usually have bad consequences.

Sometimes i think poker is more about listening to yourself than it is about 'listening' to your opponents betting.

--Greg