Results Oriented Thinking in Poker

Results oriented thinking in poker is allowing an outcome to affect how you feel about a session, hand or situation. This is in despite of any common sense, rational logic or consideration to any long-term benefits or mathematical expectations.

Everyone has had results oriented thoughts at some point. For example, I'm sure you've been in a situation where you've thrown away a hand such as 5-7 suited to a raise only to see a flop of 3-4-6 or 5-5-7 and think to yourself, "If only I didn't muck that hand. Maybe I'll play it next time." This is results orientated thinking.

Another common scenario is playing a hand well and ultimately losing the pot. Many players in this scenario will reflect on how they played the hand and truly wonder if the actions they took or decisions they made were in fact correct.

Lastly, a form of results orientated think I see frequently is amongst the Fish community. These guys play hands that they probably shouldn't be playing or play hands in a way that doesn't make sense. These types of hands will win just often enough for these players to think that they played optimally when that couldn't be any further from the truth. These players also like to mimic what they see on TV.

How Results Orientation Affects Your Poker Game

Whether you realize it or not, being results oriented will have a large affect on how you approach and play the game of poker.

If you are the type of player who is easily persuaded by what you see on TV, the various flops you see or the hands you win with, you are simply going to have a difficult time improving. The reason for this is that many players do not review their games/hand histories and those who do generally only review their "bad hands" or hands they lost money with. That means these players can still play a hand poorly, but they will never know it since they do not review good or "standard" hands.

One of the most damaging aspects to results oriented thinking is when a player makes the correct plays and their hands don't hold up. As a result, these players may feel inclined to change the way they play in attempt to find and plug up the leak(s) that they feel they may have. The problem with this is that in many cases these players don't actually have any major issues (just facing variance or bad beats) and take a strategy or skill set that is working for them and change it to something less profitable. As you can imagine, this will eventually snowball as their "solutions" continue to turn into more problems.

How to Overcome Results Oriented Thinking

If you're a results oriented thinker, it would be beneficial to your poker career to at least keep those thoughts from interfering with how you play. It'd be better to avoid these thoughts altogether. I realize this is easier said then done at times, so here are a few tips that will help.

Study/review your game. One of the best things that a player can do regardless of the success that he or she has seen is constantly review hand histories. Reviewing your hand histories will always keep you on your toes and highlight any improvements you made and the leaks that you have.

When dealing with results oriented thinking, reviewing your games will also tell you that A) what you are doing is stupid and you need to stop regardless of the hand/play's success or B) that you are playing well and are just facing variance and/or bad beats.

Remind yourself that poker is a long-term game. All the decisions you make should be with long-term results in mind. Any time you stray from this mindset, you are sure to lose money.

Have confidence in yourself. Most of your confidence will stem from making plays and reviewing them to make sure what you're doing is correct. This will play a big part in you not being results oriented because instead of seeing the outcome of a hand and wondering, "Should I have done that," you will instead tell yourself, "That was the best play possible."

By: Matt Geer