Pool-Poker Face

BAZARUS said:

Have you ever thought about how does your face looks like when you are playing pool? Maybe not just during a practice time, but in the hit of competition.
Since I started to play poker I've notice that my pool mental game improved a little bit due to ability of hiding emotions on my face. Isin't that amazing!

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I totaly agree. I play poker alot and play even more pool. But when I start to think about showing emotion during a cash or tourny match I react the same way I do when I play poker and get emotional... I just dont show much of anything to the guy im playing.

cause if he IS getting in my head alittle bit I DONT want him to know that he is..
later
STEVE

Emotions are a big determining factor weather you win or lose in both pool and in poker. Nick Varner-is a great example of non-emotional players as with Buddy Hall and Jim Rempe, just to name a few. Both in pool and in poker players can go on "tilt" and start playing reclessly.

Weather you are ahead or behind, keeping your emotions in check will definitly give you a edge in your game. Its definitly easy to say then to do if you are an emotional person. Its a good thread and touchs upon the more important aspect of pool, the mind set of a pool player.

i probably should learn to use a poker face.

i lost 3 matches from a guy from finland who must have the best poker face ever. he is cold like ice. never an imotion, never drinks, never smokes, never talks. he is totally silent for the full lenght of the game. and even if on 2/3 matches i was winning, i still lost of him. the poker face made me feel like he was just playing with me, and ready to kick into gear anytime. he's a very scary guy to play against.

on the other hand, pool is all about having fun. i like games where i laugh, where i scream the big GO IN GO IN !!!!!!!!!!, just like if u where in your local poolhall with a friend. this helped me to take away the pre-game stress. so it has some + things too. not sure wich one is the best. i think for the more experienced players who dont feel any stress, a poker face would be the thing to go for

Solartje said:

i probably should learn to use a poker face.

i lost 3 matches from a guy from finland who must have the best poker face ever. he is cold like ice. never an imotion, never drinks, never smokes, never talks. he is totally silent for the full lenght of the game. and even if on 2/3 matches i was winning, i still lost of him. the poker face made me feel like he was just playing with me, and ready to kick into gear anytime. he's a very scary guy to play against.

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I'm dying to know who is this guy from Finland !! Tellmetellmetellme !

I look like a drooling monkey when I shoot. Must be quite a distraction, because it seems my opponents can't take me seriously.

Actually, I think relaxing your face muscles will help you shoot more relaxed. And by relaxing your face muscles, you might look a little bit bored. Like Droopy or something...

i seem to look either VERY mad, mostly vs players that dont talk.
i seem to look very social when playing with someone who dont minds i talk during the game and make some jokes.

the fin guy is Luamo jarko. curently #43 in belgium but only played 6 out of 10 rankings. and always ending in the last 16. my pick is he will be a top16 player at the end of this season. no idea if he used to play in finland? or why he plays here, as i said: this guy DONT say a word. (exept "save" when needed) and thats ALL im getting out of him. for some weird reason ive had to play him in every ranking, and he knows me very well. but still... not a single word, MAYBE a nice head chake, saying hi, when i enter the poolclub, but thats it.

maybe u know who he is?

JustPlay said:

Emotions are a big determining factor weather you win or lose in both pool and in poker. Nick Varner-is a great example of non-emotional players as with Buddy Hall and Jim Rempe, just to name a few. Both in pool and in poker players can go on "tilt" and start playing reclessly.

Weather you are ahead or behind, keeping your emotions in check will definitly give you a edge in your game. Its definitly easy to say then to do if you are an emotional person. Its a good thread and touchs upon the more important aspect of pool, the mind set of a pool player.

Click to expand...

This is not necessarily true. The earlier posters pointed out how it helped them to keep their emotions in check but that does not make it the case for everyone. A lot of players are the exact opposite and carry their emotions all over the spectrum and it helps their game. It is strictly dependent on the individual and what works for them.

Heck, even in poker from what I have seen on TV (which isn't much) some of the best players and biggest winners are the most emotional.

So, if it is true for you then it is true for you, but that doesn't make it a true statement for all.

Wayne

BAZARUS said:

Have you ever thought about how does your face looks like when you are playing pool? Maybe not just during a practice time, but in the hit of competition.
Since I started to play poker I've notice that my pool mental game improved a little bit due to ability of hiding emotions on my face. Isin't that amazing!

Click to expand...

I like to use this one when I'm playing.

Maybe you should learn to use both styles of play, stern, quiet, not talking, and chatty, nice guy. The reason being, the guy you play who sais nothing may be doing it on purpose? I'm not sure, maybe it's his personality? but he may want you to be quiet also, so don't be. When you have the table, say, that was a nice shot huh, how's the weather, nice cue, I like the way you rack!....it may put him on tilt. Granted, I'm not real big on gamesmanship in pool because it's really just you and the table. While your shooting he can do nothing. But, if you feel he's playing mind games, you need some ammo yourself....Good luck...Gerry

BAZARUS said:

LOL, I'm trying to figure it out what this face would be good for

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Are you kiddin me? If that face was in your line of sight while shooting, you'd have no chance to make a ball, UGH!

Emotions in the game of pool is like a carburator in an old car. To much emotion like to much fuel in the air/fuel ratio, the car runs bad. Not enough emotion (not enough fuel) and the car runs bad. It's a happy medium that you yourself must find in your own play at the table. If your not motivated to play against someone that is a much lesser opponent the emotion is lacking. If your in a shouting match over a called foul (he's the better player and your end up being right in your argument) your emotions may run too high. Sometimes we need to know how to add that emotion by thinking of ways to further motivate ourselves. Also how to take the emotion away by thinking who actually benefits from the previous shouting match. It's all easier said than done.

I believe that we all perceive everything around us when we shoot. We have a little self-talk going on inside our heads about everything happening around us. Some days when you step to the table it seems easier to let these thoughts slip away as we concentrate on the task at hand. Other days every movement, comment, and situation seems to be in the forefront in our minds (with the task at hand seemingly taking a back seat.)

The quiet unemotional poker face player could be perceived as:

"Having possible contempt for his opponent"
"What is he thinking about?"
"What does he think of me? My game?"
"He's stand-offish, sorta snootie."
"He's more like a machine than apool player."

Being the poker face shooter you can sense these uncomfortable vibes in your opponents body language and coments. Players receive these signals most of the time and feed off them. We are all more intuitive about our surroundings than we would like to believe. But we all can feel the momentum shift as the opponent lets the emotion drain from his game. All caused by what he was thinking about. A poker face is just one facet the oponent deals with in his mind, the others happening at the same time could be:

"Shit, she's running out again!"
"Damn he's getting all the rolls too, that wasn't planned!"
"He's making even the hard shot's look effortless."
"Man, she never gets out of line."

You can't control your self-talk, you can't just ignore it. Listen to it, really listen to it because if the mind perceives it as a problem it needs to be addressed. Sometimes the negitive thought can be turned around to motivate in a positive way. Just be creative when you need to create or tone down the emotion.

Sorry that sorta just came out. go on with the discussion.

wayne said:

This is not necessarily true. The earlier posters pointed out how it helped them to keep their emotions in check but that does not make it the case for everyone. A lot of players are the exact opposite and carry their emotions all over the spectrum and it helps their game. It is strictly dependent on the individual and what works for them.

Heck, even in poker from what I have seen on TV (which isn't much) some of the best players and biggest winners are the most emotional.

So, if it is true for you then it is true for you, but that doesn't make it a true statement for all.

Wayne

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True. But I didn't say to keep your emotions in check was an absolute. But if you take a look at most of the champions or the ones who are consistantly winning tournaments in either poker or pool, you will find, that they always maintain an even emotional balance. Some people just where their emotions on their sleeves and are successful- Phil Helmuth, Mike Matasow, Earl Strickland, Mike Sigel and Grady Mathews, all of which have various degrees of emotional states. There are no set criteria for winning, I was just making an observation.

Now everone gets excited by winning a tournament, game, set or a hand, thats just natural and its great to see peoples emotions weather winning or losing, it just goes to show that they care and take pride in what they are doing or have accomplished.