Poker News

Dr. Scott Aigner

Aggressive play is one aspect that is essential in a poker player’s arsenal of weapons. With aggressive play, I find that my emotions can sometimes come to the forefront and cloud my normally objective thinking. That can be bad or even ugly. Why does this occur? My medical background once again helped me to understand why.

During our evolution as humans we developed a flight or fight response. This is a complex system that we had to use back in our caveman days in order to survive dangerous situations. In today’s society we have had to minimize this system. We cannot become angry with our boss and fight him (even though some bosses could use a good clubbing). We have to control ourselves. The fight or flight system can be triggered by our emotions. One can actually see the physical changes in a person when they become angry. Body language is part of the system too and denotes dominance when we are ready to fight or submission when we are afraid and ready to run.

Aggression is also a part of the system. When we are aggressive our fight or flight system starts to kick in. Aggression intensifies the emotions we feel and anger is one of the most common emotions that aggression triggers. Those who can separate aggression from the fight or flight system stay in control. These players have the right perspective in how to be aggressive and resist allowing their emotions to control their thinking. When a player starts to feel angry then the bad starts to happen and it is just a matter of time before the ugly appears unless you can control yourself.

One reason some players might be an excellent tournament player but cannot win in a ring game is that they cannot separate the fight or flight system from triggering their emotions and hence their tilt factor. Their game is built on very aggressive play but once they become tilted in a tournament, it is usually too late for them to lose any more money. Their chips have already been devastated to the point that the tilt factor just does not hurt their chances. On the other hand, the player who can control his emotional state in a ring game yet still play aggressively has the best chance to succeed.

This is a huge key in my own game. The ability to control my emotions keeps my fight or flight system from clouding my perspective and maintains my objectivity in the game. Having a little adrenalin (the main hormone in the fight or flight system) is not a bad thing. But if you feel rage, frustration, or anger, the whole system kicks into high gear. Once the system reaches a certain point the response is full speed ahead. There is no turning back until the adrenalin stops pumping throughout our body.

This is a time related factor. As long as we react to our emotions the system will continue to release those hormones in the fight or flight system and we are not in control of ourown destiny. This is tilt at its finest if it is your opponent and at the ugliest if it is yourself. Learn how to separate aggressive play from your emotions and you will see a difference in your game. Not only will you play better but at the end of a session you just might feel better too.

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