How to Avoid Developing a Poker Gambling Problem
Poker is a great game, but it can get you in trouble if you're not careful. Stories about people losing their cars or homes in poker games abound, and are based in truth. If you have certain personality traits, the game of poker may treat you extremely unkindly.
It is sad to see someone get or stay poor through poker and you definitely don't want to join that crowd. Knowing how people get to that place can help you stay away from that place.
To that end, here are three personal weaknesses that you really must have under control if you want to avoid developing a poker gambling problem or conquer an existing one:
1. Impatience
Patience is by far the most important personality trait for all successful poker players. The reason why phrases like "over the long haul" and "in the long run" are so often encountered in poker literature is because poker is a long haul and poker is a long run.
Games go on for hours, sometimes even days. If you are the kind of person who at a certain point is going to "snap" and not be able to take the boredom any more, you might as well go all in with your pocket queens even though a king is on the board, be careful playing poker.
An impatient poker player is a bad poker player.
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2. Anger
If you get angry easily, poker should not be your game of choice. Anger will only take you offer your game and make you do things that are mathematically opposite to the idea of you winning money playing poker. Moreover, good poker players will exploit your anger for their gain.
A good hand in poker may win 70 percent of the time. This means, obviously, that this good hand will also lose 30 percent of the time. If you cannot accept that 30 percent loss rate without getting all bent out of shape, stay away from the poker table.
Getting mad about bad beats isn't going to change the fact that you just got beaten, and may discolor your entire session if you start to take the cards or the jibes of your opponents as a personal affront.
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3. Grandiosity
Grandiose dreams are the hallmark of the problem gambler. But at least with a game like blackjack or roulette, those grandiose dreams have a slight chance of being fulfilled on any given night.
In poker, by contrast, if you're playing against people who have some semblance of skill, you are going to have to work hard to win, and even when you do win, you may not win very much. You may sit at a poker table for four hours and struggle to come away with a profit of $40.
If that's not good enough for you, either leave poker alone or readjust your expectations to understand that poker winners grind out earnings, and don't insist on windfalls.
Raised Consciousness the Key to Avoiding Poker Gambling Problems
If you want to avoid developing a poker addiction, or if you're already addicted and want a way to beat it without giving up poker entirely, you must consciously identify the personality traits that cause people to have poker gambling problems.
Poker players are constantly challenged to become:
- More patient
- Less angry
- More rational
Poker players are constantly challenged become, that is, highly conscious.
Fortunately, as you concentrate on raising your consciousness to the place where poker addiction cannot get you in its grip, your poker skills will also be increasing. In the process, you may find yourself becoming not only a better poker player but a better person as well.
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