How can Poker Players Increase Their Willpower in Five Ways

Poker is played with cards and chips (cash) and is easy to learn, however considerably hard to get good at because of all its conceivable varieties. There are a wide range of games in poker like Hold’em, Omaha, and seven card stud.  Cards can be dealt face up or face down to the table, players or both. Everything depends upon the kind of poker game it is. Regardless of how the cards are dealt, every player tries to make the most ideal hand (five cards) from the cards they are permitted to utilize. To know whether one hand beats another hand, the hands are compared against a ranking system utilized ordinarily in almost all poker games.  

Poker Players can increase their willpower in the following five ways: 

One Thing at a Time 

Every individual has done multi-tasking like how an office worker or a student juggling different assignments on five hours of sleep and three cups of coffee. Fortunately, we’re slowly giving up on this notion – and for a good reason – it creates the illusion of productivity while sabotaging it. Whether you are a professional, a semi-pro or just a poker enthusiast who is serious about his or her hobby, make sure that your poker schedule doesn’t overwhelm you and that it’s compatible with the rest of your life.

Be true to yourself. Can you really handle a study group meeting or 8 hours of constant work in the office and then logging in 2k hands after all that? Some people might be, but many of us will run out of willpower long before we even get to the first poker-related item on our list. 

Love yourself 

Speaking of failed attempts or poor execution, don’t beat yourself over that. Poker is hard enough and the loss might bring you plenty of pain on its own. There’s no need to poke at the wounds or stress over. Another instance would be when you decide to skip that evening game and you feel regret the next morning, don’t be hard on yourself. Science tells us that this approach will be sub-optimal in most cases. 

When you’re hard on yourself your brain goes into the reward-seeking mode and you can basically say goodbye to your willpower stores. Instead, realize that failures are inevitable and avoid the negative emotional reactions or outcomes. Don’t tell yourself what to do, negotiate with yourself! Instead of “I will play today’s game no matter what!” think “How can I prevent skipping the evening Poker game in the future?” 

Find Allies  

Willpower is contagious and it’s best to train your willpower muscles with a friend. Groups are an amazing outlet for poker education and they can also go a long way when it comes to keeping you motivated. There’s even hope for diehard lone-wolfs and introverts! Turns out that reading about or watching successful poker players can positively affect your motivation. Make sure that you surround yourself with, interact with or at the very least observe individuals who are like minded if you’re serious about counteracting the negative effects of ego depletion. 

Know the difference 

Maybe you like to daydream about that huge cash out you’re going to make at the end of the month? Do you find yourself spending more time planning your ascend to the world of mid stakes than actually playing poker? While dreams can be good for the soul at some point they can start lowering your mental energy. Our brain has trouble distinguishing between the fantasy of achieving a particular goal and actual achievement and that can really sabotage our chances at the latter stage. 

This isn’t necessarily true for everyone but be aware about the difference between the two. 

Eat right! 

The more difficult or complex the task is, more energy is required by the brain and something as simple as consuming carbohydrates can have a profound effect on our willpower and performance. Some studies on ego depletion compared the glucose consumption in the brain depending on the difficulty of the task. 

By making sure you have some healthy carb snacks during your long studying or Poker gaming sessions you can not only increase your win rate but also make sure that you won’t feel the urge to stop being productive and start procrastinating. Following these above mentioned ways in your life will definitely help you build more willpower and confidence which you can apply in your life and while playing poker. 

Keep reading GutshotMagazine.com for more ‘Poker Gyaan’ articles.