Gaining Emotional Maturity in Poker
A mature poker player never shows any emotion, right? Wrong. A mature player knows how to handle emotions properly. Maturity in poker is all about making right decisions in the right way.
Many poker players make right decisions but seldom in the right way. They may win some for the right decisions they make, but after a while the wins may be overtaken by losses if they continue to show immaturity in the game. And emotional immaturity often carries over to other aspects of a player's performance in a game---in selecting a hand, decisions to call, how much to bet, how to handle good and bad hands, etc.
The common saying is that we have to leave emotions at the door before entering to play poker. Well, we might as well leave our hearts and minds at the door, too. But poker maturity has nothing to do with a total disregard for emotions. On the other hand, it is all about remembering that the head is placed higher than the heart in human anatomy, and also that the head without the heart is dead. It's no different in poker: we use our head to win, and our emotions to exalt our winnings.
Immature poker players often entertain how they feel. When they lose, or when a guy makes a runner-runner, or hit some three-outer on the river, a wee small voice in them seem to ask, "So how does that feel?" Or, when someone at the table or online makes malicious remarks or a disturbing gesture, that small voice goes, "That's insulting! How does that feel?"
But a mature player will always think or assess, not emotions, but effective strategies. It's a mature thinker who notes the good strategies of other winning players rather than be irritated by them. It's a mature thinker who notes mistakes or weaknesses and thinks up better alternatives.
Mature players go by set rules and principles, not feelings. They know that cursing, bad words, and display of bad emotions, are not proper and helpful so they dismiss them regardless of how they feel. It's a culture of too much regard for feelings that we have today, dwelling on our hurts and comforts as individuals. And the poker arena is not spared from this.
The right way to cultivate emotional maturity in poker is to let the mind rule over feelings. To strengthen a mature mind it must dwell on poker principles that work rather than emotions that wreck.