Poker is a game of observation of natural human tendencies. Player A may breath deeply when he has a huge hand while player B may start to talk fast when he is bluffing. Picking up on our opponent's natural tendencies will net us a huge profit at the table. Understanding your own natural tendencies is even more profitable. Many people who are unable to control many of their natural tendencies end up as losing poker players. Humans naturally get upset over situations where they lose. Bad beats, bad decisions, and big losses lead players to make terrible decisions. You have to retrain your mind to view loss as a positive. When you lose a big pot, you have to fight your natural tendency to get upset. You have to use this time to analyze how the hand was played. These losing pots should be used as a learning device rather than an emotional outlet. If you can't handle taking a bad beat, it is going to be very tough to become a winning poker player. Bad beats and person mistakes are always going to happen. You can sit there and sulk or decide to control your mind and learn something new.

Human beings always want more than they have worked for in life. Everyone wants to win the lottery, have a big house, be very fit but most people don't put in the work. Most poker players are playing at a limit that is too high for their bankroll. Most players are thinking about making a big score rather than improving their poker skills. Playing at a higher limit is a natural tendency for all human beings. Why would you want to make $100/night when you could possibly make $1000. It seems really simple to want more right now. Your natural tendency is to try to win as much money as possible with as little work as possible. The world simply does not work on wants or expectations. It takes me a second to say that I want to be rich. Anyone can say they want to be rich but few have the drive to actually put in the work. Becoming a successful poker player is a lot more work than people think. The natural human tendency is to believe that one can make money with little or no work. The intelligent, hard working, and well-trained poker players will always come out on top. People naturally feel they are a victim of the game when they are losing. You have to retrain your mind to see reality. The game of poker is neutral, it does not care who wins or loses. The game of poker rewards the best players in the long run. Understand how the human mind works and then make some adjustments to your way of thinking. Everyone wants to win money playing poker but most are too lazy to learn the game.

I remember reading that Vince Lombardi once said "Fatigue makes cowards of us all". In poker, fatigue is killer to anyone's game. No human alive can play as well when he as rested compared to when he is dead tired. The human mind naturally wants to shut down and stop thinking when it is tired. Trying to play poker when you are tired is a waste of time. Many players continue to play because they are letting their natural tendency of greed take over. Greed will not allow you to make money. A firm understanding of poker strategy will win you money. Understand your natural tendencies, get rid of the negative ones and become an amazing poker player. It is a full out war at the poker table, only the strong will survive.

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