Fear

Ok, I already posted this on a different site but I just feel like sticking a little something here.

Fear. I love the concept of fear. To make someone fear you, to play with there fears, to tap in to their hidden depths and dance. Ahhh, the screams and moans of the defeated are such music to my ears. Ok, so I am a bit of a psychopath but I am your psychopath for the moment so just humor me.

What the heck does this have to do with poker? Yup, there is the bottom line statement for you. EVERYTHING or nothing depending on your game! What is the goal of poker? To make money. What are the restrictions on how you win? Other then no cheating, there are no restrictions. Bang, every person has fears. Every person has desires and wants. Use these simple ideas when you can. Fear is a blocker to reasonable thought.
I am looking to induce fear into their systems like a sickness. I want to be the thing that bumps in the night, the creature hiding under the bed, I want to play in the dark places of their brains and take their fear for a ride. Is there anything really wrong with that?

So everybody, kick in your ideas of what might go bump in the dark for a pokerplayer. What do you think most players fear and/or loath? What makes them squirm? Conversely, what do most players want? What are their needs at the poker table? How do you go about crushing their dreams from a mental aspect?

Now what simple things do people fear, the unknown, the strong, of looking like a fool, of being caught, of being wrong, of being broke and the list goes on. What does everybody have a tendency to want? Money, acceptance, to be right, and so on. You might as well just list the seven deadly sins, we all just want it all for lack of a better term. If you have a decent idea of the opponents wants, you can also add to there lists of fears by presenting obstacles to his wants.

How do I use the idea and concept of fear in the game of poker? Well, let us list a few things. When you raise it, do you fear a reraise or a call? Do you have greater fear for someone who is raising all the time or just a few times? Do you have a fear of postflop play? Do you have a fear of playing out of position? Think through all of your little fears and worries during your next few tournaments, jot them down. Think that your list would be that unique? Probably not.

Ok, let's list a few more types of poker fear.

-Fear of being bluffed(calling stations)

-Fear of the guy on a rush(passive play of good hands)

-Fear of the big stack(don't want to play against the big boy)

-Fear of being sucked out of

-Fear of being crippled(medium stack vs medium stack + a little)

-No fear(donkeys, idiots, morons, or solid players) Having no fear is pretty rare, even harder to have no fear and being a solid player. Also remember fear can also drive people to act, as in flight or FIGHT response from fear. So be ready for the dumb to swing back wildly at wierd times as well. That is not a bad thing as well. Aggression without focus is like trying to fish in your bathtub. It just doesn't work.

Use this information now. How? Play more from position to start with. Nothing is quite as scary as playing a moderate to semi strong hand out of position. Play a bit less hands. Yup, I said that. By playing less hands, you help strengthen the mystery about your play. You don’t have a great deal of fear for something that you are used to. Force your opponents to play flops with you. Most weak players don’t want to play postflop, don’t really know how. Exploit this.