Pessimistic or Optimistic?
A poker player can be one of two types – a pessimistic player, or an optimistic player – and this will effect his reaction to the games he plays.
The pessimist loses a hand. He may have played the hand poorly, but his ego doesn’t let him reflect on the hand and realize this. His first thought after the cards are mucked and the dealer is shuffling, is something like “Again! AGAIN he caught his flush on the river!” The pessimist may have allowed the villain to draw correctly, he may have polarized his hand, or he may have checked a street when he shouldn’t have. Either way, the pessimist lost the hand. Whether it was his fault or not is something he doesn’t consider – in his mind he simply got unlucky.
The optimist reflects on his hand. It may not be during the session or immediately after, but he is critical of his own play and can take his ego out of the equation. The optimist deals in theoretical money – it doesn’t matter if he finishes a session up or down, provided he has made the best possible decisions throughout his session, he can be pleased with his play.