As is evident from my username I am pretty young and while filling out that survey in oe of the earlier posts I got to thinking what are the psychological benefits of playing poker. I know that it's meant to help with math and all that but I haven't found that. Personally, it helped me get some perspective. Back when I first played at 13 or so (and in full disclosure I am still average at best) I thought I was just the **** at everything, and poker quickly helped curb that feeling and show that in reality there are fish outside of my little pond and those people are infinity more talented/dedicated/everything than me.

none

/thread

Confirmed.

Ego boost? That's it, really.

Almost everybody needs that lesson at some point: Lots & lots of talented people out there and you'll need to work really hard to compete with them.

If poker got it to you, kudos. Well done.

http://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/i...od-for-you.php

True, does make me feel good to look at my smooth graf

That's a bit different. The article talks about the advantages of the game of poker. The only "psychological benefit" that can be drawn from the article is (arguably) learning better emotional control. More often than not, though, the reverse happens to be the case: it sends people, who have little/no emotional control, spiraling uncontrollably. It certainly can toughen your constitution, there's no denying that, but it seldom does.

I think that for most people, the psychological effects of poker are far more negative than they are positive.

Having said that, though, I think that if you approach poker with an open mind, with humility, and with ego firmly suppressed, you will learn a lot about life in general. I think playing poker brings us up against the basic toughness of life; the uncaring nature of the cards (universe), the basic selfish struggle versus other men (basically a pared-down version of our modern economy), and admitting that we are very imperfect people with much to learn.

If you can open yourself to all of these things, and admit that you are basically not even approaching 1% of the way on your lifelong journey of improvement, then poker might actually be good for you psychologically.

It'll probably crush you, though.

..To be honest, I use a lot of poker terms/concepts in day to day life. Mostly they are just little philosophical musings which I find funny, but other times they have swayed my actions. Can't really think of any of those at the moment, but here's a few examples of me amusing myself at home:

My wife says out loud (directed to me of course) "I'm just going to take the trash out myself!" Now my train of thought is she has used this line as a bluff quite a bit. I can sit here and finish this DC video and then take the trash out, which is of course +EV. But every now and then she balances her range by actually taking the trash out, which follows by her being in a bitchy mood for a while. -EV. I find I only have to actually get up right away and take the trash out at a frequency of 1/3 to show a profit in these situations. But chuckling about my line of thinking puts her on tilt, +/-EV yet to be determined.

My wife is walking out out the room we are both in to grab something or such, but I have a question/statement I'd like to ask/tell her. Speaking to her right as she is exiting the door will grant me a response when she comes back into the room about 80% of the time, the other 20% of the time I will have to bet two streets to get a response (asking the same question again.) But waiting until she comes back into the room and then asking/telling will get an immediate response about 99% of the time, thus +EV.

I wish I could remember the times at work (dealing with people all day) where poker concepts has influenced my decision. I'll try to remember the situation the next time it happens and post it here if this thread is still alive.

Some great responses so far, mainly because they've been honest. This game is far more likely to damage you than benefit you psychologically.

My reply to the survey post -

This is a controversial topic among enthusiasts of the game, particularly online poker. I personally believe that online poker can actually have more negative effects on a person's psyche than positive ones. However, keep in mind that both the ups and downs of poker are usually not directly related to the game itself, but the person's life outside of poker. Someone of sound mind and health can indeed learn a lot about the world from the game, but if one goes into the game emotionally unstable to begin with then poker is not going to be beneficial.

Some benefits -

+ You will gain knowledge of fascinating mathematical concepts, many of which involve the very laws of nature (probability theory, etc). This can lead to an increased interest in mathematics and science.
+ It builds discipline. No one ever made a cent at any form of poker over a relatively large sample without ironing their discipline. No one.
+ It builds patience. Playing tight-aggressive poker goes against our natural human instincts of curiosity and wonderment at the black swan effect of flopping a full house with 84o, or boldly calling the river with Q high just to see what the opponent has. You have to overcome your own human nature to play a winning style.
+ The game can help to show a person just how random the universe and its course of events can be. All that matters is attempting to make the best decisions. This can reflect on a lot of decisions you encounter in daily life, and thinking in terms of EV can help a person think more logically.

That summarizes my views of the positives. Some negatives -

- Poker, like most forms of gambling, still has quite the stigma associated with it in most parts of the world. This is because gambling in general can easily destroy the lives of those that cannot control themselves, which most of us cannot.
- Some people become emotionally ravaged after a run of bad cards, and allow this to creep into their lives outside of poker.
- There are some players that begin to base their self-worth off of their poker performance, and if they begin to run badly over the course of several weeks or more, this can lead to serious emotional problems. This has happened to all players at one point or another (think of one of the first times you lost a few buy-ins in 100 hands or less).
- Online poker is inherently antisocial and a very isolated activity. Not that this is automatically a negative, but the negative effects can definitely manifest themselves if someone doesn't have some form of reprieve from the grind.

I think the psychological benefits of poker are overwhelmingly positive. I play professionally so maybe that is the difference. Playing professionally forces me to keep my mental and physical state in peak performance. If I slack off it affects my winrate. I think the psychological aspect of poker accounts for about 1/2 of my winnings.

I would liken it to playing sports professionally, especially an individual sport. Poker is what most things are in life, an opportunity to learn and grow and see what you are really capable of.

I think with poker that most people begin playing already damaged psychologically. And then poker just shines a big light on what was already a problem. Then poker gets blamed as the disease when it really was only a symptom. These are the same people that cite McDonalds as the reason they are so fat.

I disagree, most people enjoy poker or they wouldn't be playing. Only a small number of people are "crushed" by poker. Most people play for recreation and don't endure psychological suffering.

I agree with the humility part, and that one should also be constantly studying the game and questioning his lines.

This cracked me up. I'm finding I'm starting to think like this too. Post more examples if you will, fun read
+1 Words of wisdom here

Psychological benefits?

I'm talking about people who decide to play more than you would consider "recreationally". For people who get sucked into the game, I think it's pretty evident that far more of them end up losers than winners.

I'm a winning player and I still go back and forth sometimes about whether poker is good or bad for me emotionally.

Do you feel like it's leaving you emotionally drained or something? I usually feel rewarded for my time after I play a technically proficient session.

I play more frequently than someone would consider to be purely recreational, but that doesn't lead me to become sucked into the game. I have friends, and relationships outside of poker. Also it's my only option for money at the moment, so I will gratefully take it for what it is.

I guess I'm just saying that the average joe doesn't get addicted to poker. Also I don't think recreational players pay a psychological toll for enjoyment of poker.

I think we're saying the same things. I don't think it's negative for recreational players. And for most winning players. Only for the people who play a lot - most of them are losers.

For me, I seem to be extra-sensitive to the swings of the game. Even though logically I know it is part of the game, bad sessions (no matter how far apart they are) are tough on me. I also find myself hating bad players (just the obnoxious ones), even though logically I know the game is nothing without them. I try to control these things, and know they're illogical, but for the most part poker seems to tilt me in general, even when I'm in the middle of a big winning session.

This all might be due to my general psychological mindset. I've got depression/anxiety issues that I've always dealt with. But I know other people who've expressed similar things to me about their experiences with poker.

At the same time, I think poker has made me a more well-balanced person by having to deal with all these issues.

Thanks for posting this article, I really enjoyed reading it.

The guy I quoted posted it, actually.