Quote:
Originally Posted by weeways
What is the predominant personality types of all poker players? I suspect that also has a high % of INTJ types. Is the unreliability noted in this test a result of the experiences of the person? (They noticed that a fair number of persons who took the exam a later time in their lives would have a different result). So is the poker player an INTJ type or is the INTJ personality a result of playing poker?
To be honest, the people who know what they're doing with this stuff don't give the test much weight. The types exist as sort of generalized archetypal concepts; they are not actually determined by a test. The tests are rather like those little questionnaires you can take online to tell you "what kind of movie you are", etc.
Personality type is about the paradigms through which one interprets and assigns meaning to information, develops a self-image and a way of relating to the world. A brief little questionnaire can't really assess this accurately.
It's important to note that this personality theory stuff is
not science, but rather a form of cognitive philosophy that some people find helpful. There's no way to quantifiably prove anyone's type in the same way that there's no way to quantifiably prove that Dan Harrington is a nit. It's just a general label used for convenience.
To answer your question, people with INTJ-ish cognitive approaches tend to be well-suited to poker, but note also that there a hell of a lot of successful INTP poker pros, as well as a decent number of ENTP, ENTJ, ESTP, ISTP, ESTJ, ISTJ, and others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by weeways
One observation I have made is about the famous (infamous) Nose Bleed poker players. This observation is not to be thought of in a negative way either (although Bipolar can be very detrimental in life) I find that most of them have Bipolar Disorder. An example I can give is Stu Unger.
Stu Ungar was a tournament player, but I imagine he did probably suffer quite a lot of nosebleeds, for reasons unrelated to gambling.
Quote:
Originally Posted by weeways
Think of 10 famous poker players and I bet most of them will be Bipolar (please don't write anyone's names in a post here as I would never single out someone if they are alive). Just think how big of an advantage it would be to have an unending energy level for hours and hours and hours at a time with little or no decrease in one's cognitive skills and little need to sleep (and not using drugs). Intelligence is also a trait that is found in this disorder as well.
Sure, until your mood has a big downswing and you tilt off 10 buy-ins. I imagine there are a few like this, but I doubt that many would have the self-control necessary to succeed at high stakes. It's just too easy to spaz out and tilt off a ton of money when your emotions are that unstable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by weeways
Obviously the traits that are detrimental are the ones that cause major setbacks in their lives if it cannot be controlled! Drug abuse, alcohol abuse and high risk taking traits can predominate and ruin their lives as a result. On top of these problems is the fact that medications to treat this disorder often do not work. It is a very difficult disease to treat.
First of all BPD is not a disease, and secondly there are a number of different disorders of varying severity along the bipolar spectrum. Cyclothymia, for instance, is one of the more mild ones, and is probably manageable enough to not cause super huge problems for a poker player. Bipolar I, on the other hand, is debilitating, and I doubt there are any highly successful poker players who have it. The variance is just too tilting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by weeways
There a lot of famous and successful people in the history of mankind who were suspected of suffering from this disorder. If you did a search on it, you would be very surprised. Anyone have any thoughts on this subject?
Thanks!
Scott
Yes, but poker is not really comparable to the fields most of those people worked in because it requires such consistent self-discipline to succeed at. A bipolar artist can flip out and make terrible art for a while, then have a burst of insight/creativity and make something amazing, and end up extremely successful for it.
It doesn't take many dumb tilt-spew sessions to completely obliterate any chance of a reasonable win rate, though, especially at mid stakes and above.