One thing the on line poker player doesn't have to worry about is what effect his showing emotion is having on his game. There is no reaction to your outbursts or your inability to maintain a "poker face". You neither have to hide or fear expressing how you feel about the progress of the game. Indeed you can express the full range of emotion, and even pound on or break those items that may be close at hand in your moment of anger. And presuming you are playing at home you can do it with immunity.
One word of caution... your computer is off limits. As for people and pets who share you living space, surely they have already learned to maintain a safe distance when you are involved in serious poker play. If they fail to do so, that's their misfortune.
While it is clearly an advantage, it may turn on you and effect your mental health. It is widely believed that containing your emotions is not good for a person or as a player. The belief is that the more you depress the expression of emotion the greater the likelihood that the pent up frustration will effect your decision making and possibly lead to a decline in your mental health.
When discussing emotions experienced during poker sessions, players most often mention negative ones. Recounting their "flashes of anger", of "blind rage", and of "going totally berserk," many feel guilt. They like to evoke the Japanese tradition of rubber dolls representing the management and officially serving as a means of alleviating stress.
One needs to remember, however, that Japan is a culture radically different from ours, and hence very possibly with psychological make up that is radically incompatible with ours. Moreover, despite the rubber dolls and the liberal views in relation to porn and simulated violence, Japan still has some of the most appalling suicide statistics in the world, especially in its middle class marketing sector.
The consideration of those facts calls into question the legitimacy of taking out your frustrations on objects close at hand. A number of studies go so far as to suggest that the expression of our frustrations through violence leads to greater stress rather than a relaxation of the tensions.
It seems not unlikely that any rational person realizes that the actual cause of frustration remains untouchable and this may only exacerbate the frustration while the mechanical pounding of a rubber bag only encourages rage, rather than lift stress. Moreover, when the person expects to feel better after the procedure instituted by his superiors but the relief does not come, the person is likely to be even more frustrated.
When this is applied to the poker player, it means that while the player who is experiencing complicated and intense irritation and anger is now distracted from the game itself, likely to a greater degree than if they had chosen to suffer in quiet. Our sense of purpose is disrupted by fear and creativity is negatively impacted by great joy. Indeed, any disproportionate emotion (not to be confused with deep concentration) is intellectually debilitating especially in relation to the activity involved.
Containing anger created during a game, as opposed to those life frustrations such as lack of appreciation or a rocky love life, should be looked upon generally as a positive. Treat it as way to make a player better, teaching poise and general discipline. Controlling the anger may take some practice at first but with time it should become easier and result in improvement to your health and career. If it is not working, take a break, quit that one disastrous game, or in the extreme, even stop playing on line poker for a time.
One word of caution... your computer is off limits. As for people and pets who share you living space, surely they have already learned to maintain a safe distance when you are involved in serious poker play. If they fail to do so, that's their misfortune.
While it is clearly an advantage, it may turn on you and effect your mental health. It is widely believed that containing your emotions is not good for a person or as a player. The belief is that the more you depress the expression of emotion the greater the likelihood that the pent up frustration will effect your decision making and possibly lead to a decline in your mental health.
When discussing emotions experienced during poker sessions, players most often mention negative ones. Recounting their "flashes of anger", of "blind rage", and of "going totally berserk," many feel guilt. They like to evoke the Japanese tradition of rubber dolls representing the management and officially serving as a means of alleviating stress.
One needs to remember, however, that Japan is a culture radically different from ours, and hence very possibly with psychological make up that is radically incompatible with ours. Moreover, despite the rubber dolls and the liberal views in relation to porn and simulated violence, Japan still has some of the most appalling suicide statistics in the world, especially in its middle class marketing sector.
The consideration of those facts calls into question the legitimacy of taking out your frustrations on objects close at hand. A number of studies go so far as to suggest that the expression of our frustrations through violence leads to greater stress rather than a relaxation of the tensions.
It seems not unlikely that any rational person realizes that the actual cause of frustration remains untouchable and this may only exacerbate the frustration while the mechanical pounding of a rubber bag only encourages rage, rather than lift stress. Moreover, when the person expects to feel better after the procedure instituted by his superiors but the relief does not come, the person is likely to be even more frustrated.
When this is applied to the poker player, it means that while the player who is experiencing complicated and intense irritation and anger is now distracted from the game itself, likely to a greater degree than if they had chosen to suffer in quiet. Our sense of purpose is disrupted by fear and creativity is negatively impacted by great joy. Indeed, any disproportionate emotion (not to be confused with deep concentration) is intellectually debilitating especially in relation to the activity involved.
Containing anger created during a game, as opposed to those life frustrations such as lack of appreciation or a rocky love life, should be looked upon generally as a positive. Treat it as way to make a player better, teaching poise and general discipline. Controlling the anger may take some practice at first but with time it should become easier and result in improvement to your health and career. If it is not working, take a break, quit that one disastrous game, or in the extreme, even stop playing on line poker for a time.
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