Books by Dr. Alan N. Schoonmaker
Anxiety and the Executive
Executive Career Strategy
A Student’s Survival Manual
Selling: The Psychological Approach
Negotiate to Win
The Psychology of Poker
Your Worst Poker Enemy (published by Lyle Stuart)
Your Best Poker Friend (published by Lyle Stuart)
Poker Winners Are Different
Get the Mental Advantage
ALAN N. SCHOONMAKER, PH.D.
LYLE STUART
Kensington Publishing Corp.
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
Books by Dr. Alan N. Schoonmaker Title Page Foreword Acknowledgments PART ONE - Introduction
1. Poker Winners Are Really Different 2. Winners Are More Motivated and Disciplined 3. Winners Make Good Trade-Offs 4. Winners Manage Risks and Information Very Well
PART TWO - Winners Control Their Focus
Introduction: Winners Control Their Focus 5. Winners Focus on Long-Term Results 6. Winners Focus on the Here and Now 7. Winners Focus on Power 8. Winners Focus on Other People 9. Winners Consider Complexities
PART THREE - Winners Control Their Thought Processes
Introduction: Winners Control Their Thought Processes 10. Winners Are Brutally Realistic 11. Winners Think Logically 12. Winners Prepare Thoroughly 13. Winners Concentrate Intensely 14. Winners Probe Efficiently 15. Winners Use Feedback Loops Well
PART FOUR - Winners Control the Information They Transmit
Introduction: Winners Control the Information They Transmit 16. Winners Are Judiciously Deceptive 17. Winners Create the Right Images
PART FIVE - Winners Control Their Reactions to Feelings
Introduction: Winners Control Their Reactions to Feelings 18. Winners Accept Poker As It Is 19. Winners Depersonalize Conflicts
PART SIX - Winners Act Decisively
Introduction: Winners Act Decisively 20. Winners Are Selectively Aggressive 21. Winners Push When They Are Winning 22. Winners Adjust Effectively to Changes 23. Winners Pay Their Dues 24. How to Become a Winner
Appendixes About the Author Copyright Page Notes
Foreword
by David Sklansky
Highly successful poker players do four things:
1. Learn how to play as well as they possibly can (including making others play badly).
2. Play their best at all times.
3. Choose whichever available game offers them the greatest expected value (EV) as long as they have an adequate bankroll for it.
4. Avoid games in which they would be clearly under-bankrolled.
Duh, you might be thinking to yourself, pretty obvious. Why do things any other way if winning serious money at poker is a high priority for you? And I agree. But I also know that most aspiring poker pros do not always do these things, not only because they are psychologically difficult, but especially since they can sometimes get away without doing them.
Concentrating and studying are not easy things to do. Folding almost playable hands when they are your best chance to get “even” for the night takes unusual willpower. Choosing a smaller game than normal, because it offers the greatest “hourly rate” (EV–wise) in the room, means that you must give up the anticipation of making a big score that session. It also may mean that you are confronting the fact that your skill is not as great as some others who would expect to make more in the bigger game. The same is true if you are choosing a game smaller than you want to play because the math equations say you should not take the risk. Passing up this bigger game is even harder to do psychologically if it is particularly “juicy” or if you had previously been playing for these stakes, but presently do not have the bankroll for it.
So you see that