Journal of a Poker Pro

Here's a snippet from a Poker Lab Rat article that I thought I'd share on here.

You’re a fish if…

…you’re unable or unwilling to ‘work’ your opponents.
Unlike other forms of gambling, poker is not a simple, straightforward game about who has the better cards. Instead, it relies heavily on the skill of reading opponents’ subtle and not-so subtle cues (tells), and acting on them accordingly. Do those trembling hands mean that they’ve got the nuts, or are they simply nervous about making the bet? Was that slow call due to indecision or just a bad Internet connection? How should I proceed with these little snippets of insight? Strong players have learned not only to read between the lines of what people are saying and doing but also how to take advantage of that information to yield the best results.

…you let emotions overwhelm your ability.
The stereotypical poker player is a stone-cold, unrelenting and rigid fixture, seemingly devoid of anything that even remotely resembles emotions. While for many aspiring champions that may be the ideal style on paper, in reality, even the best players are not above expressing themselves when it suits them. Indeed, some world-class players have even made boisterous eruptions a part of their table image (think of serial whiner Mike Matusow, or over the top Poker Brat Phil Helmuth - but sponsors love players that stand out from the crowd early in big tournaments!).

But what separates the pros form the soon-to-be-fish-paste is the ability to explode in one instant and rein in those emotions the next. So it’s OK to recoil at the sting of a bad beat at a critical stage of a tournament. That’s natural and even justifiable. But it becomes a real problem if you let that little sting fester and infect the rest of your play to the point of causing some real damage that you can’t recover from.