Treating Poker as an Intellectual Endeavor

 

The Game is F****&& Brutal

Poker is a brutal game. The variance is enormous, and with the rise of online poker education, even micro-stakes games have become significantly tougher. Variance can be incredibly frustrating, especially during extended downswings when you keep losing despite playing well. For many aspiring players, this frustration can become a major trap.

Short-term results can wreak havoc on your mindset, leading to impulsive decisions and poor gameplay. It’s important to understand that even if you play well for most of a session, a single big mistake can wipe out your entire stack. The challenge lies in distinguishing whether your losses are due to variance or stem from suboptimal play.

This is why reviewing your hands is crucial. Without proper analysis, it’s difficult to tell whether you’re dealing with variance—like bad beats or coolers—or if you’re making fundamental errors. Worse still, tilt can creep in without you even realizing it, and unchecked tilt can jeopardize your entire poker career.

So why play such a brutal game? For me, poker is like a fascinating puzzle waiting to be solved. It’s an incomplete information game, where no matter how skilled you are, losing is always a possibility. That unique blend of skill and luck sets poker apart from any other game. Here, even the weakest player can beat the strongest with the right hand and a bit of fortune. I’ve yet to find another game that matches poker’s depth and challenge. Despite the long and difficult journey it demands, I’m willing to pay the price to master it.

Short Term Result is a Huge Trap

Short-term results—whether you’re having a good session or not—tend to matter to many poker players. Success is often measured by how much you win rather than how well you play. Even players who study the game seriously often fall into the trap of focusing too much on short-term outcomes. I’ve experienced this myself. When I stream my live gameplay and later post the videos on YouTube, some viewers judge based purely on the results, while others don’t. The temptation to win a session and show off the results can be overwhelming, and many times, it’s led me to lose more than I should.

Chasing losses is another nightmare many players face. While I’ve mostly overcome this habit, I still struggle with something just as harmful: revenge. It’s incredibly frustrating when a recreational player beats you with a lucky two-outer. Imagine they call big bets on two streets with just a bottom pair—like pocket threes—then hit their set on the river, crushing your strong two-pair hand. Moments like these have pushed me to play overly aggressively, not for strategic reasons but simply to get my money back.

It’s easy to say that this mindset doesn’t make sense, but logic often takes a backseat when emotions run high. Forcing aggression just to recover losses rarely works, especially against recreational players. Many tend to leave the table after winning a big pot, fearing losing their gains. Trying to "get even" in these situations is futile and damaging your overall strategy.

Focusing on short-term results is a recipe for disaster. It simply doesn’t make sense. The cards you’re dealt are out of your control, which means you can’t control variance. Chasing losses or seeking revenge to recover money within a session is a negative expected value (EV) decision and should be avoided as much as possible. Poker is a long-term game, and success comes from consistent, disciplined play—not from emotional decisions fueled by short-term outcomes.

Intellectual Approach

We should consistently strive to treat every difficult situation at the table as an intellectual challenge—to make the best possible decision and minimize mistakes. The one thing fully within our control is our decision-making. We can’t control the cards or our opponents’ actions, but we can always control our choices. With that in mind, every decision should have a clear and logical reason. Without this, we’re just gambling, which can quickly destroy a bankroll.

When you place a bet, it should be clear whether it’s a value bet or a bluff. If it’s a value bet, ask yourself: What worse hands will call me here? If it’s a bluff, ask: What better hands will fold? You must also consider the target value: What’s the highest amount your opponent might call with a worse hand? What’s the smallest amount they might fold with a better hand? Your reasoning should be so clear that you could confidently say it out loud during the game.

Avoid betting just for its sake. For example, thinking, Oh, I have the top pair, so I should bet for value, is correct but incomplete. If you don’t go deeper and ask why your bet makes sense, it’s hard to truly improve your game. Why? Because if you can’t measure or explain your decisions, you can’t analyze and refine them during hand reviews. Clarity in decision-making is essential for growth.

This process isn’t easy, and that’s one reason I started my Twitch streaming channel. Talking through my thought process during the game allows me to receive feedback from viewers. If I ever make a decision without thinking it through, it becomes obvious to me or those watching.

Whatever your strategy for ensuring correct decision-making, one thing is critical: always have a clear reason for every move. Without this clarity, you’re just gambling, which puts you at a disadvantage against your opponents. And having an edge over your opponents is what we all aim for, isn’t it?

The End Game

For most people, the end game in poker varies. Some aim to cash out a significant amount of money after a certain period, others dream of pursuing poker as a professional career, and some simply play for fun. But what’s your end game in poker?

Becoming a professional poker player is far from easy. For me, I’ve decided not to pursue that path because the game is incredibly brutal. My goal is different: I want to climb to the highest stakes I can handle and earn a decent side income while keeping my regular job. It’s not the flashiest dream, but it’s one that feels right for me.

This approach gives me peace of mind. Without the pressure to rely on poker as my sole income, I can treat it as an intellectual hobby—a game that challenges me while still being enjoyable. With this mindset, I can focus on improving my play and studying the game without the stress of needing immediate results.

What about you? Do you agree that we should approach poker as an intellectual pursuit? What’s your end game in this fascinating but challenging game.