Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I've been thinking lately about what kind of personality it takes to be a poker pro/winner/career player. It would seem that it would take a rather obsessive person to be a grinder. To hit it everyday, stay disciplined, take the losses knowing that wins are coming, disappointment, self-doubt, ups, downs, criticism, and praise. Among other things you would have to be extremely resilient. Have tons of confidence in what your goal is and your method of achieving it. And basically be consumed by the desire to win, and I mean win big, which is where I get obsessive from. Take DN, this guy was a nobody playing cards in Toronto, now he's a multi-millionaire without a care in the world. If he wanted to he could drop everything today and live the rest of his life like a king. Is that the goal? Does he need poker anymore? Does poker need him more than he needs it?Anyway, what I want to know is what kind of determination/personality traits did it take for him to get there. I cant believe that it was all laughs and golfing and video games during his struggle to becoming the master he is today. What I do know is that just about all of us would like to get there, and I feel that it may be that certain personality types are more suited for the achievement.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Serious Answer to the OP. I think it takes a tremendous amount of skill and determination, self-confidence, drive and competitiveness are all very important traits. You also need a support system of some sort to deal with the lows and keep you grounded during the highs. As far as DN is concerned I think his happy go lucky personality really benefits him. He's not the type to get depressed and down on himself (or at least it seems that way) and I think that very helps. One of my biggest weaknesses as a poker player is the fact that I do have a tendency to get down on myself. at times. I think that tendency can be very detrimentalt to long-term success.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Serious Answer to the OP. I think it takes a tremendous amount of skill and determination, self-confidence, drive and competitiveness are all very important traits. You also need a support system of some sort to deal with the lows and keep you grounded during the highs. As far as DN is concerned I think his happy go lucky personality really benefits him. He's not the type to get depressed and down on himself (or at least it seems that way) and I think that very helps. One of my biggest weaknesses as a poker player is the fact that I do have a tendency to get down on myself. at times. I think that tendency can be very detrimentalt to long-term success.
Thanks for the serious reply.Sometimes I can go ages without suffering a bout of tilt, and I'll think 'Wow, maybe Ive advanced passed the point of tilt.' But it always comes back and I have to institute a cool down period, where I take a day or two off. Its the time between the tilt starting and getting a grip of myself that is most damaging however. I like to think that I am a fairly resilient person in matters of life but it seems that poker requires a completely different type of resiliency. The bottom line is that I am starting to think that confidence, almost to the point of arrogance, is required.
Link to post
Share on other sites

i don't think you necessarily need to be an emotionless robot to be a great player. look at matusow and hellmuth (actually serious). those guys steam pretty bad and they've still had success. they don't play cash games at the highest level, but they've done alright for themselves. i think competitiveness is probably the most important attribute for a player to possess.

Link to post
Share on other sites
i don't think you necessarily need to be an emotionless robot to be a great player. look at matusow and hellmuth (actually serious). those guys steam pretty bad and they've still had success. they don't play cash games at the highest level, but they've done alright for themselves. i think competitiveness is probably the most important attribute for a player to possess.
It's not just the guys that blow up on TV that get emotional over beats either. I remember listening to the Circuit, and Sebok was talking about Greenstein getting his AA cracked by KK on HighStakesPoker for a 360K pot. Greenstein took the beat with class. I would have thought he never reacted to it externally. That is, until Sebok said, "You should have seen his hotel room afterwards." You should have emotion about the game, you just don't have to go out of your way to be an assclown in front of everyone.
Link to post
Share on other sites
The bottom line is that I am starting to think that confidence, almost to the point of arrogance, is required.
I think confidence is a must but arrogance isn't. Patience, Persistence, Discipline and being conscious of how your playing and what's happening. Experience is maybe the most important of all...I think if you enjoy playing poker and want to get better, you will search out your weaknesses to cure them..my2cents
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...