Ice Water in your veins

Is it possible to play poker as if you have ice water running through your veins?
Here's a tip: Imagine that you are not even playing the hand. You are simply a disinterested spectator that is looking down on the game from a birds eye view. Notice the cards, the players faces, their movements... Notice everything, but as an observer.

thanks

What?

This post makes no sense.

WTF???

Like this guy?

Ever lose a hand because your emotions got in the way?

The above technique is just one of many to minimize and even eliminate emotional sabotage.

Vanilla ice, ice, baby!

How much acid do you have to do over what period of time in order to understand what this post is even about?

Why do you have to be an emotionless robot at the table? That's no fun.

WOW.. why do we have a bunch of new members bashing this guy's post? Come on guys... pull up a bit. From the little I've read so far from this guy G Hughes, I'm actually REALLY interested to read more (far more than the comments you guys are adding on here, or in the forum in general in some cases).
Don't you guys want/wish for this forum to continue to be a good forum? Don't you want someone new (who might have alot to offer) to feel welcomed &/or motivated to write more for us? I don't know about the rest of you but my interest has been sparked & am patiently awaiting for more posts by them.

Can be a tad ominous posting in a new place where you don't know lot of people. Perhaps take a stroll down "memory posting lane" when you had a few blogs under your belt.

I don't really think it's that hard to understand what he's saying and I think it's a pretty good bit of advice. Easier said than done, but still good.

Many times watching a hand from an observers perspective I just "know" what each player has, but it seems harder when I'm in the hand itself.

Good advice to work on though, thanks.

i think u can accomplish exacly the same results if u just disregard ur EGO at the table, do not be bothered by LUCK or UR OWN POOR PLAY, its all a learning experience w/o an end

I think it's because it came out of left field, and I know I don't ever want to play a game I feel I'm not a part of. I want to be involved in the game, not just watch myself play and eliminate emotion completely, because then why even play? If I'm playing poker, it's because I crave the rush it gives me, the fun I have playing it. If I ever became a robot at a table with no personality, it's time for me to pick up a new hobby.

Better advice would be to fully understand that suck outs happen and to learn to stay cool under pressure, that's usually what the term ice in your veins means. Like Michael Jordan had ice in his veins, he was cool under pressure and able to come through time and time again.

degen

I agree, this is a nice first post.

Think about it like this - I play a lot of PLO, where I'm frequently putting my entire stack in as a 60% favorite. This means I'm frequently going to lose my entire stack (40% of the time).

It'd be really nice if, when I'm making these plays correctly, I could dispassionately see all the losses as simply the result of getting it in as a favorite, and say to myself "right, got it in good, next hand". It's not really good if I say to myself "for crying out loud, how many 60/40's can I lose??? This blows, and everyone around me SUCKS for getting it in as a 40% dog, wtf!!!" The first is a healthy attitude toward poker, the second is tilt.

See the diff and why this would be good for a poker player?

I was asking a serious question:What the hell is he talking about? AtlantaFalcons isn't a new member, and he doesn't know what the hell is going on either.

I do think OPs idea might work - taking an observers point of view.

I can do that in online play but not having many chances to play live I recall being emotionally challenged in certain situations in the past.

I agree it's hard to play poker trusting all your gut calls. The one think I have noticed is that since I've been more disciplined with my Bankroll management. That if youre at a stake that you can afford it's alot easier to make that call when you think the guy's bluffing when youre rolled for it.

Actually, a really good aside to Op's idea is to actually get online and watch the regs play as an dispassionate observer. Try to make reads based on the plays. I've done that and found a new area to gain confidence in my ability to put players on a range.

It translates well when your playing yourself.

"Better advice" < ?
I think if you read over OP's post again, you'll see it's not only pertaining to maintaining one's cool under pressure & knowing that suckouts happen

Best member ever!I remember you backing me up when I first started posting here and it made me wanna stay! Keep it up man you're doing good for this forum, wish more people would do the same...