Poker Shrink

Dr. Tim Lavalli, a doctor of research psychology shares his thoughts on the psychological side of poker. From gameplay issues, to problems away from the table, if its in a poker player's head - you'll find it here.

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 37 - The Strategy of Tension

  April 20, 2007,

  We often read crossover articles between poker and business, poker and stock trading, poker and other sports, even poker and relationships. You know the titles I mean: 'Bluffing the Boss: Asking for that Big Raise.' ...

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 36 - Regression Toward the Mean

  April 13, 2007,

  Regression toward the mean is the tendency for any series mathematical events to average out. This simply means that events like extreme tests scores or terrible river suckouts or 'holes-in-one' tend to happen...

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 35 - Selective Attention

  April 06, 2007,

  Selective attention is purposely focusing your conscious awareness onto a specific stimulus. Now that sounds an awful lot like just plain old paying attention. But take this test with me. Keep looking at the words on your computer...

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 34 - The Yerkes-Dodson Law of Arousal

  March 30, 2007,

  Arousal. See, now I have your attention. The Yerkes-Dodson psychological theorem states that an organism's performance can be improved if that organism is aroused in some manner. Yes, this concept was first explained during experiments....

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 33 - Accommodation and Assimilation

  March 23, 2007,

  I want to be very precise today with the psychological concepts of accommodation and assimilation. These are similar terms that refer to learning and adjustment. These are very similar concepts, but not the same concept...

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 32 - Luck or Variance? Magic or Math?

  March 16, 2007,

  Just how much luck is there is poker? I have stood with some of the biggest names in poker and heard them toss out numbers like 50% or 10%. More complicated answers often sound like '90% short term but only 5% long term....

   

• The Poker Shrink - Vol 31 - Absolute Threshold and Signal Detection Theory

  March 09, 2007,

  Absolute threshold is a very specific psychological and sensory term. Absolute threshold refers to the smallest intensity of a stimulus that has to be present for the stimulus to be detected. The most common example of this involves sensitivity to heat...

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 30 - There is Psychology and then there is Psychology

  March 02, 2007,

  Sometimes its better to make your point very quietly and other times you will be a lot more successful making a whole lot of noise. Last weekend I got a very interesting lesson in psychology at the poker table...

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 29 - Psychological Aspects of Table Talk: Part One

  February 23, 2007,

  There are literally a dozen potential articles on the psychology of table talk. Today I want to deal with table talk and floor calls. Remember that a good poker player will be paying attention to everything...

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 28 - The Fundamental Attribution Error

  February 16, 2007,

  When any researcher studies human beings, they are attempting to discover 'why' something happens (or perhaps 'why' something doesn't happen). Therefore, it is important to discover the source of the behavior...

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 27 - Problem Poker: VII: Some Final Thoughts

  February 09, 2007,

  Over the past six articles I have attempted to outline some of the issues, facts and treatment alternatives for those poker players who are dealing with the spectrum of consequences of Problem Poker....

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 26 - Problem Poker: Part VI: The Professionals

  February 02, 2007,

  In the last five weeks I have talked about the various aspects of Problem Poker and from response I have received it seems many of you want to know just how big a problem this is among the poker professionals.

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 25 - Problem Poker: Part V: Treatment Options

  January 26, 2007,

  You have heard it said a thousand times: If you can't spot the fish at your table in the first ten minutes, then the fish is probably you. Let's look at that another way....

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 24 - Problem Poker: Part IV: Diagnosis

  January 18, 2007,

  Today we have two different sets of questions used to diagnose a 'gambling problem.' I have tweaked the questions to apply to poker and have followed each set of questions with some comments of my own....

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 23 - Problem Poker: Part III: Some Numbers

  January 12, 2007,

  There have been several long term studies that screened military personnel for gambling-related problems. Members of the military are easy subjects to do research on...

   

• PokerNews.com Brings You The Aussie Millions – Live!

  January 06, 2007,

  Join us for the next two weeks as we bring you all the action from the Aussie Millions poker tournament series live from Melbourne, Australia. Simply click the 'Live Poker Tournaments' icon on the right side of the main blue navigation bar....

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 22 - Problem Poker: Part II: What is It Exactly?

  January 05, 2007,

  So the question arises: Are Problem Poker and problem gambling not the same issue? Even more specifically, don't most gamblers have multiple problems? Aren't they betting on sports and playing craps or blackjack

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 21 -- Problem Poker: Part I

  December 29, 2006,

  For the next several weeks I am going to take up the issue of 'Problem Poker.' We will cover what heath care professionals say about problem gambling in general and we will take a look at some examples of 'problems' among both recreational

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol. 20 - Leave Your Emotions at the Door…or Not!

  December 22, 2006,

  You've heard it said at the table dozens of times; whenever a player goes on tilt you think it - every poker book mentions it: "Leave your emotions at the door of the poker room." Great advice but completely impossible....

   

• The Poker Shrink, Vol 19 - Bad Behavior

  December 15, 2006,

  I was reading an article recently in which Linda Johnson comments about bad behavior at the poker table. She's against it, and in fact so am I. But what (if anything) do players do about it? And should they?...

   

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