Mental Blockage as Part of Poker Psychology
It is surprising to discover how thoroughly our basic functions sometimes control our conscious minds. Scientific studies have shown that mice and pigeons, and recently other animals such as cuttlefish, can be taught to react to a specific arbitrary sign with a specific set of behaviors: animals learn to expect food at a sight or sound, and learn to receive food by manipulating a lever, ringing a bell, or pecking a certain spot. Through habituation, they are conditioned to consistently believe that specific phenomena or actions regularly lead to the same specific results.
Even more important, the study shows that once an individual is thoroughly conditioned to trust the sign, they will not search for other variations of possible occurrences similar, but a shade different, to the one in which they are so habituated to believe. So a mouse who has thoroughly got the message that a falling rock means food, and if that incident doesn't occur, there is no food, he will take it that all other signs except for the falling rock indicate no food. To him there are no other possibilities and he will not look for them.
Having learnt one condition, the mouse mind is blocked to any other possibility, even if subsequent stimuli are as strong or even stronger. Obviously? Before you condescendingly dismiss inferior mice, rooks, and cuttlefish (all significantly more intelligent then Man previously supposed), ask yourselves if have never been jolted into a sudden realization of a simple possibility that had never hitherto occurred to you: like that the bunch of guys at the top running the country might be as ignorant or even more ignorant than you?
Sometimes a bunch of good players will discuss at lunch the hands they had just been playing and somebody might say how surprised they are the guy in seat 4 hasn't yet folded, he had been playing so terribly. Upon which another player might add smugly that, yes, and he has a huge tell on him, only to discover that besides one more player at the lunch table nobody else seems to be in on it. Swearing each other to secrecy, these two share their discoveries in somber undertones and immediately discover that each had in mind a completely different thing: the first one noticed that every time 4 has a good hand, he makes his bet and closes his hands in fists on the table and never does it otherwise than with a good hand; the other player noticed that when 4 has weak cards, he fidgets with his chips after placing a bet, never touching the chips otherwise.
So number four has two actions that betray him. The smug, secretive twosome who consider themselves to be good players, each picked up on only one. Their minds simply stopped discovering at one observation and never reached beyond for further insight.
A good player will not consider this realization trivial. He will take advantage of it by learning to be flexible in his observations and keep his mind active throughout play. By classifying other players habits and behaviors as to high and low importance, he is increasing his odds of winning.
Even more important, the study shows that once an individual is thoroughly conditioned to trust the sign, they will not search for other variations of possible occurrences similar, but a shade different, to the one in which they are so habituated to believe. So a mouse who has thoroughly got the message that a falling rock means food, and if that incident doesn't occur, there is no food, he will take it that all other signs except for the falling rock indicate no food. To him there are no other possibilities and he will not look for them.
Having learnt one condition, the mouse mind is blocked to any other possibility, even if subsequent stimuli are as strong or even stronger. Obviously? Before you condescendingly dismiss inferior mice, rooks, and cuttlefish (all significantly more intelligent then Man previously supposed), ask yourselves if have never been jolted into a sudden realization of a simple possibility that had never hitherto occurred to you: like that the bunch of guys at the top running the country might be as ignorant or even more ignorant than you?
Sometimes a bunch of good players will discuss at lunch the hands they had just been playing and somebody might say how surprised they are the guy in seat 4 hasn't yet folded, he had been playing so terribly. Upon which another player might add smugly that, yes, and he has a huge tell on him, only to discover that besides one more player at the lunch table nobody else seems to be in on it. Swearing each other to secrecy, these two share their discoveries in somber undertones and immediately discover that each had in mind a completely different thing: the first one noticed that every time 4 has a good hand, he makes his bet and closes his hands in fists on the table and never does it otherwise than with a good hand; the other player noticed that when 4 has weak cards, he fidgets with his chips after placing a bet, never touching the chips otherwise.
So number four has two actions that betray him. The smug, secretive twosome who consider themselves to be good players, each picked up on only one. Their minds simply stopped discovering at one observation and never reached beyond for further insight.
A good player will not consider this realization trivial. He will take advantage of it by learning to be flexible in his observations and keep his mind active throughout play. By classifying other players habits and behaviors as to high and low importance, he is increasing his odds of winning.
About the Author:
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Betfair Rakeback and Players Only Rakeback.
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