While it is a widely known fact that poker is a game with a mental aspect to it, it's also widely arguable to what degree this mental aspect is involved. Numerous articles have already been written on this issue. Some online poker enthusiasts allege that poker is all about psychology, while others completely disagree with such an announcement and claim that the mental aspect of poker is nothing but a myth. This article is intended to bring some clarity to the issue.

The way we see it, there is no need to be radical. Sometimes it's true that successful play requires poker players to develop solid psychological skills and sometimes these skills are of no use. On certain occasions, poker involves zero psychology, like when you go all-in in a tournament being in the big blind position. The cards decide the outcome of the game and there is absolutely nothing you can do to change it. On other occasions, the physical cards make no difference at all. What is truly important is how well we can cope with the mental challenge that the game play poses.

Imagine the following situation... You are playing in an Omaha Hi-Lo tournament. You have a slightly above average chip stack. The two players seated on your left both have a very short stack, while the two players on your right both happen to have very big chip stacks. The tournament is about three-quarters of the way through. To make this game profitable and worthy of your effort, you have a twofold mission. First, chase your opponents to the right holding any reasonable hand. Second, try to protect the two opponents on your left from any harm. The reason why you should protect the players on your left is because you really do not want them to fold and be replaced by good players with larger stacks than yours.

What you need to realize is that while poker is largely an individual game, tournaments require players to become team-players. Tournament poker is very different from ring games in that it frequently makes quite a difference who wins pots that you don't take part in, or who loses all his chips and when. In ring games, such a way of thinking is simply non-existent. Usually, it does not matter who wins a ring game jackpot that you have no part of. In tournaments, however, it very much does!

In the particular tournament situation described above your physical cards can do little for you, so try the mental approach. Say something that will make your disadvantaged opponents realize how disadvantaged they really are without busting them out with your play. Remember, poker requires mental strategizing that is mostly never seen. It's not about what you can see but about how you see it!