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7 Habits of highly successful poker players
There are certain traits that successful poker players exude. And it’s very likely they aren’t even aware that they excel in these areas; like a basketball player’s height, or sprinter’s speed, it’s just god-given ability.
However, if you are cognizant of these seven traits, you can work to improve on them.
Mental preparation
Being mentally prepared to play has to do with playing under good conditions, and in the right frame of mind. If you are exhausted, hungry, drunk/high, or stressed out, you will not be playing your best. And when you’re not playing your best you are unlikely to win.
These issues don’t necessarily have to arise at the poker table; many players sit down in a game after a fight with their wife, or a bad day at work, and are one bad beat away from full blown tilt. On the other hand, playing in the right frame of mind will often allow you to handle a couple of bad beats without going on tilt. That said, four or five bad beats can tilt the most mentally prepared player!
Disciplined
A disciplined poker player knows what to do, and has the patience to wait for the right situations. Discipline means you can go an entire session without winning a pot, or see a never-ending string of K3, Q6, and J4 all night long, and still have the discipline to fold AT, even though it’s the best hand you’ve seen all night.
Discipline is what keeps you playing the ‘right way’ when every other urge is telling you to do something else.
Try to improve
Whether it’s reading books, browsing poker forums, or discussing hands with other players; a winning player never rests on his or her laurels. Winning players know there is no such thing as a perfect poker player, so they are always trying to improve their skills any way they can.
Mentally Tough
There is an old saying: “Anyone can lead during good times; it’s under adversity that true leaders will emerge.” Mental toughness is the ability to take every bad beat, cooler, and run of bad cards in stride. Players that go on full-blown-life-tilt after a single bad beat will never hold on to their winnings long enough to be considered a winning player. It’s the players who can reign in their emotions, and perform well when things are going bad, as well as when things are going good that take home the money.
Fearless
Fearlessness doesn’t mean you are willing to snap off a bluff at any time; fearlessness means you will never let fear come between you and the right decision. Some players start thinking about the money they may lose, how silly they make look, and other things instead of making the right decision.
Often called playing scared, a player who is fearful –for whatever reason—is a sitting duck. Poker is a game of patience, but when the time is right you have to strike. Fearful players have the patience, but when the time comes they simply cannot pull the trigger.
Focused
Winning players are focused on the game: Not the baseball game on TV, the poker game they are involved in. Focused players are not browsing the web or talking on the phone when they play online. Focused players are not checking out the cocktail waitress or chit chatting with their buddy when they play in the casino. Being focused means you are 100% focused on the game, and all the tiny bits of information that are being given away by the other players.
Cheerful
A good poker player makes other people enjoy losing to them. He doesn’t belittle their play, moan about his terrible luck, or rudely talk to the dealer/waitress/staff. A winning player creates a good atmosphere --an atmosphere that makes people feel welcome-- and a game the casual player wants to play in.
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