Inside the pressure cooker

How to cope with the stresses of poker

By Philip Tuck


One of the hardest things to deal with at the poker table is the pressure laid on in many situations. Calling large bets with marginal hands, facing all in raises on the bubble of a major tournament, or even just trying to steady your hands as you stack your chips after raking in a big pot - keeping your head under pressure is critical to becoming a successful player.

Below are a few techniques which can really help when dealing with pressure at the table.

- Follow your gut instinct. Often pressure can make your thought processes flustered and unreliable, which will often lead to making the wrong choice of move. In these situations it is often best just to go with your first instincts - they will be right a much higher percentage of the time than a badly thought out decision.   

- Leave the problem and return. Thinking about something else for a short period of time and returning to the problem in hand can often give you a much clearer perspective on what to do - a sort of reset button for your brain. Personal favourites include: Thinking about the ridiculous profit margins in the bottled water industry and how I’m probably in the wrong business; trying to visualise what all the fish in the sea would look like if piled up; or quickly trying to count all the bubbles in whatever I’m drinking. Anything that takes your mind far away from poker will do.

- Think about your breathing. An age old Buddhist relaxation trick, focussing on breathing calmly and slowly seems to automatically relax anyone.

- Do something with your hands. People don’t just shuffle chips to show off how much of their lives they have spent sitting down; doing something with your hands seems to calm you down and allow you to focus more easily. Stress balls, poker chips, blu tack, whatever is to hand can be great to help you relax.  

Staying relaxed and calm at the tables is critical to poker success, it can help avoid tilt, improve decision making, and ultimately make you a lot more money. Try and work on a variety of techniques to find the ones that work for you - they might just save you a bundle.

05/05/08

pressure guage

Don't let the game overload you