Quote:
Originally Posted by tultfill
But when I'm grinding and making money no not so much. I'm working after all.
This pretty much answers the question.
I am one of those inferior recreational players so I have to put myself in the minds of the pros and regs here. If you're really focused on the job at hand — and as quoted above, poker IS a job for pros and regs — then you have to disconnect yourself from those types of externalities.
When you three-bet for $800, you don't suddenly think "Uh oh, I am now risking my family's next month worth of groceries." Nor, if you're highly rolled, are you thinking "Meh, I don't care... it's chump change for me." You're only thinking about why it's the correct play for you to maximize your earn in that situation. Only later, perhaps on the drive home, might you worry about not being able to buy your son the G.I. Joe with the kung fu grip.
The way you must perceive your opponents is no different. Sure, poker is a social game, and finding out a fun fact about the player in Seat 4 might make for a pleasant moment when you're not in a hand. But while you're playing, you think about making all the right decisions from a poker standpoint. What you think of them personally is completely irrelevant. (As an extreme example, you're probably not folding the nuts just because the villain who donk-shoved in front of you also is the hottest girl you've ever seen.)
As a result, the serious player only sees chips as the way you're keeping score in that game, and the judges the other people at the table by how good they are at poker, because that's what matters to them in that setting. So "Seat 8 sucks" doesn't mean the guy is somehow an awful person, it just means he/she is lousy at this thing I'm doing.
All this said...
The gift of gab is probably an overlooked skill in the B&M game. Wasn't that one of the consistent pieces of praise about Chip Reese? Everyone knew he was the best player, or one of the best, yet he continued to get fish upon fish to join his game because he was always pleasant and personable at the table.
Last edited by Wilbury Twist; 01-23-2015 at 04:55 AM.
Reason: Note: as a rec, everything the OP said is why I enjoy poker even tho I may never be great at it