The Psychology of Poker

A successful poker player must deal with psychology on many levels.

First of all, we must learn our own strengths and weaknesses, avoid playing when mentally unstable and not tilting. Part of using poker psychology is not letting other players get a good read on our playing style. Very loose players need to understand that their bluffs are not going to work all the time because they have no credibility. Very tight players have to realize their bluffs are not going to work because observant players already know what hands they are playing. If you do not mix your style up you will never be able to fool your opponents.

Secondly, we must learn to understand other players, which include detecting opponents tilt tendencies, deciphering tells, and see through bluffs. Many players will tell you bluffing is an art form. It takes heart to make a great bluff. It takes fearlessness to execute a huge bluff. More importantly, it takes impeccable timing to pull off the right bluff. Psychology is used to make money by betting and raising to project strength in a hand which otherwise you would not win.

I personally did not start to win until I made a very difficult and important change to my playing style. When I first started playing I only stayed in for the top 19% (25% at 6max) of starting hands. This is a great way for beginners to learn because you gain tremendous amounts of experience and do not lose much money.

Winning poker is all about the long run. Despite this there is an endless amount of lazy play in the game, where players squander occasional bets hour after hour. Those squandered bets represent a fortune. Every bet is important, as is every action, as is every reason for an action. Conventional "wisdom" is usually wrong. Most players lose, so if you want to win, you often want to do things differently than most players!