Poker Tips: Sports Psychology For Poker

I recently interviewed a professional poker player, named Jonathan Little. He has competed in million dollar events. Many months, he earns more than twenty thousand dollars from playing poker.
This young competitor explained how he does not get too high or too low when he wins money or when he loses money. He is unfazed by setbacks.
People who want to perform their best in mental and physical events can learn a lot form Jonathan's thoughts on managing competition.
Besides counseling many elite athletes, I have worked with chess players and poker players. While people don't think of participants in activities like chess, poker, bridge and backgammon as being like athletes, they, in fact, are very similar to world class sports men and sports women.
Like athletes, they, too, need to be relaxed, focused and confident when they compete. They also need mental and physical stamina because some of the tournaments that they compete in tend to go on for long periods of time. And they sometimes need mental coaching to learn how to handle the stress related to the challenging game they compete in. I frequently teach them how to discover the right mental gear to compete from and how to remain in a cocoon of concentration during the course of tournament. And many poker players, chess players, bridge players and backgammon players use the same kinds of mediations that I teach other athletes.
I also show them how to conserve energy and recharge themselves in between hands.
Jonathan Little, who has written two books on poker, strikes me as a math wiz who knows probability, math and the statistics associated with poker quite well.
Like many professional gamblers, he loved board games from the time he was a youngster.
Jonathan left college after discovering his love of poker. He knew that poker was for him and that college was not a prerequisite for succeeding at the poker tables.
Like many skilled poker players, he also understands the role that money management plays in being successful at high stakes poker games.
Jonathan is also acutely aware of poker psychology and he looks for what poker players call tells in his fellow competitors. A "tell" is a tip off as to what kind of hand a player may be holding.
Boxers and martial artists also look for tells which indicate what kind of offense, blow or attack my follow a gesture or body language. For example, a fighter may widen his eyes before the throws a right hand.
Similarly, chess players also sometimes signal their strategy and their mental state of mind through their body language. Fidgeting or tapping might signify nervousness or excitement during the course of a chess game.
Like an athlete, Jonathan prepares for long tournaments by staying fit and by getting used to competing in different time zones by arriving at the competition site a few days in advance so he can get acclimated to the environment.
Interestingly, when he competes, Jonathan often rooms with his colleagues/competitors where they share stories, knowledge and tips with one another. These groups serve as a support network for the professional poker players.