Are you Playing Afraid?

Are you afraid to play to win? Are you afraid to put your tournament on the line and your opponent to the test in order to gain the chips you need at crucial points in the tournament? If so, then you should step away from the table and never come back. There simply is no place in the game of poker for fear.

On the contrary, what wins makes a successful poker player is their fearlessness. Notice that I did not say recklessness. You must be willing to put your tournament on the line when you feel you have the right read on the situation.



Recently I competed in a poker tournament tour called the Heartland Poker Tour. I went deep into Day 1 before I got knocked out. However, the experience was a good one nonetheless and as usual I learned a lot about my own game as well as from the poker players I sat with.

When the tournament first began I noticed one player that seemed to never get involved unless he had a hand. He lacked aggressiveness and had no understanding of table image. He was playing to survive and we all know that none of us get enough cards to simply survive all the way until the Final Table.

By the time Level 6 came around chip stacks were either thinning out or gaining momentum as in any poker tournament. Now his patience and survival method was turning into fear and desperation. He began pushing his chips in the middle and no longer played after the flop. He still had enough chips to play after the flop but still well below the average. Something in his mind made him panic and after pushing All-In one last time he finally got caught by an opponent holding Aces. Off to the rail he went mumbling about how he didn't get enough cards. Early in a tournament you have to mix it up and take a few chances.

Play aggressively while you have the chip stack to do so. You can always shove when you are short. That's a no brainer but the idea is to use aggressiveness to gain chips and that takes skill and the ability to read situations to maximize your hand and profit.