Poker Mentality

I had my sorority formal last weekend. After all the stress of finding a date, finding a dress and doing my hair, I ended up having a lot of fun. A bunch of us went to my friend Ali's apartment to hang out before the formal and play cards. We played some typical games like Circle of Death and Drunk Driving. These are two drinking games where different cards mean different things. For example, in Circle of Death, when a player picks a 4 from the circle, the last player to put their hand on the floor has to drink. Somehow my friend's date, Todd, and I got on the topic of Texas Hold'Em. My friend blurted out that I occasionally write poker articles and her date was immediately interested. He wanted to know how often I played and if I was any good. We both talked ourselves up a little bit and decided to play a game before the formal. We got out the deck of cards but realized that neither of us had enough money and there were no poker chips available. He told me that he and his friends play a couple of games a week and I could join them on Tuesday if I wanted.

The morning after the formal, I got an IM from him, reminding me about the game. He gave me mini profiles of the guys that he thought would be at the game. He said there was a player that would call anything, a player that would push me around once he got a chip stack, a player that was impossible to read and a player that never bluffs. I tried to memorize the names but I only ended up meeting two of the guys he mentioned.

Tuesday night came and I headed over to the fraternity house with a sorority sister (I hate being the only girl at the game). We got there and I met the guys. There were seven of us. We decided to play a $5 tournament - giving $5 for third place, $10 for second and $20 for first. The cards were dealt and I don't think I've ever had worse luck in my life. To add insult to injury, every hand I folded ended up being a winning hand (I'm talking about random hands like a 2,8 becoming a full house) and every hand I stayed in with ended up being nothing. The game hadn't been going on long before one of the cockier players at the table ended up going all in on a pretty decent hand and losing. It was down to the 5 of us with a 1/2 blind and my chip stack was getting pretty low.

A couple more hands were dealt. I looked over at Todd's chip stack and realized that he wasn't doing so well either. I was getting nervous about my chip stack and I made some comment about how both of our stacks were pretty low for two people who had been talking ourselves up. He laughed for a second, barely acknowledging the comment and kept on playing. The game went on and I ended up being the second person knocked out. After me, my friend was knocked out and another guy followed shortly after. The game came down to Todd and the guy he had profiled as a guy that would bluff once he got a big stack. They had pretty even stacks but the other player ended up calling Todd's bluff on a hand he went all in on, and Todd lost.

After the game I thought about how I had gotten knocked out. The actual hand I lost on wasn't as important as when I lost my positive attitude. The moment I started thinking I had lost was when I noticed my chip stack was low. My nervous comment to Todd about his chip stack being low too, showed that I was worried I wouldn't make it to the end and I was looking for someone for sympathy. My attitude at that point was that I was going to lose. I felt that I couldn't possibly win with such a low chip stack and such horrible luck. After that point I only played a few more hands before I was knocked out.

At the same point in the game, however, with the same amount of chips, Todd had heard my comment and completely brushed it aside. He had set his sights on winning and wasn't going to let a small chip stack alter that. He decided not to give up at that point but to continue playing with the same attitude he had been playing with the entire game - he was going to win.

Playing the game was well worth the $5.00 I had lost because I learned a pretty important lesson that I'll carry with me to future games. Other than the cards and chips in front of you, all you have as a tool is your mind. Players use their minds constantly throughout the game to strategize and figure out which cards are worth playing and which cards should be mucked.

Good players have learned to accept the fact that they have no control over their cards. No amount of good luck charms or praying can help the two cards dealt to you in Texas Hold'Em. But your attitude can be your best tool. It has an impact on how you play and whether you win. Players who have a bad attitude and give up mentally, as I did, lose their chance to take advantage of the cards they are dealt. People with losing attitudes, as I had when my chip stack was small, tend to play poorly - tossing their chips in without thinking or caring. If you can look at a low chip stack and keep a positive attitude, like Todd did, then you have learned a key to winning that many other players have yet to learn. A positive attitude is a winning attitude and one that I plan to adopt the next time I play.

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