7/30/2019 The Pros Tell All

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-pros-tell-all 1/2

WOULD YOU LIKE to know if the pros tilt

after a bad beat? And if so, how they bring

themselves back from the brink? Do youwonder how the pros know when they are

in “the zone?” And when they are, how

they capitalize on this charmed state to

take advantage of their competitors?

I went to the 2009 World Series of Poker to ask them these questions and a

whole lot more. I wanted to find out if 

they agreed with my recent articles in

Poker Pro about the noticeable and

useful internal signs, what I refer to asinternal tells, that can guide us in our

poker play and give us an edge.

While there, I spoke with Mike Sexton,Humberto “the Shark” Brenes and suc-

cessful high-stakes cash-game playerLaurie Hilton. After I got back home, I

interviewed phenom Amit Makhija and

2007 WSOP Main Event Champ Jerry 

 Yang.

Most of the professionals initially hadtrouble relating to the idea of an “internal

tell.” At first, it seemed to be a confusing

departure from the typical definition of a

tell and a change in orientation from

working with the card play that was tak-ing place outside of them to looking

inward for guidance in their play. Many 

made statements like Amit Makhija (“I’m

naturally calm”), or as Mike Sexton said,

he had trained himself “to control theperception given to others while I play.”

They hadn’t noticed much in the way of 

internal tells.

Humberto Brenes stated that, “When I

first came to play in the WSOP, I hadinternal tells, but now I control them.”

Even though I defined an internal tell as

a generally subtle change in one’s think-

ing, feeling, body or behavior that a playercan become aware of and benefit from as

he or she plays, many of the pros mistook

my inquiry as referring to tells that they 

might be giving off to their competitors,

rather than useful information that they might be giving to themselves. Like the

great pros that they are, they seemed, at

first glance, to rely primarily on sound

technique, experience and their ability to

read others as the foundation of theirgame.

 As my interviews progressed, however,

the pros opened up about what goes oninside them and related more to the

recognition and understanding of what Ilabel internal tells. Laurie Hilton, for

example, stated that she employs “strong

self-talk,” modifies her breathing, or

might even take a walk when she gets

knocked off her game. Mike Sexton statedthat while he hasn’t done it yet, “It would

be great to film and study sessions of my 

play to see how I react at key times and

pay attention to changes in things such as

my body posture.” Amit “Amak316” Makhija talked about

the importance of keeping a “good state

of mind, clear head, not getting tired and

staying positive.”

Jerry Yang, for his part, noted that,“The greatest enemy is yourself. You need

to overcome your inner demon.” Jerry 

told me that he can also tell when he is in

the zone. “I am calm, not agitated and

nothing outside the table distracts me. Atthat point I feel almost invincible.”

Brenes says when he wants to make

play, he gets an image of the cards h

wants to play so that he can embod

them: “Sometimes I don’t even see mcards, I just become my cards.”

The Pros

‘Tell’ AllHow Top Players Deal WithHidden Emotions at the Table

‘ Some t ime s  I don’ t e ven

 see m y card s,  I j u s t

 become m y card s’

H umber t o Br enes

‘The greatest enemyis yourself. You needto overcome your innerdemon’

Jerry Yang 

76 POKER mPRO

I N T E R N A L T E L L S

by Bob Silverstein

7/30/2019 The Pros Tell All

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-pros-tell-all 2/2

Inner experIence

In order to stay in the zone and play their

best poker, the pros indeed seem to be

paying attention to their inner experi-ence.

While Mike Sexton believes that “elite

poker players have an innate ability that

others don’t have,” I was finding that this

ability – whether innate or learnedthrough extensive play – also includes an

ability to identify and work with internal

cues, or what I call internal tells. Theseelites self-regulate their internal tells in

the face of the many challenges that sendmost of us out of our zone.

 Yang said this process begins even

before he comes to a poker game. He

noted that if he goes to play with unre-

solved family matters on his mind, he canget bored during the ensuing poker game.

His mind will wander and his opponents

will quickly detect his distracted state. He

now asks family members to not bring up

problems or issues before he is going toplay and asks for their support and

prayers. Jerry notices a strong correla-

tion, moreover, between their support

and his resulting peace of mind and suc-

cess at the poker table.I began to see that the pros’ initial lack

of identification with the concept of 

internal tells probably comes from the

practice of playing so many thousands of 

hands of poker under stress. As we spoke,each and every pro admitted that at times

they do get upset, have thoughts that take

them away from the table or get angry 

and go on tilt, but they seemed to have

developed a practice of dealing with andregulating their internal lives in a manner

similar to those who meditate.

 As my friend and accomplished poker

amateur Hugh Vo told me, “They have

learned how to be like water.”

The eye of The STorm

The pros have gained an ability to let the

things that upset them “pass through

them” so they do not get distracted beforemaking key poker decisions. So while

Makhija says he is “naturally calm,” he

also works with the calm. He notes that“no one has complete control,” and at

times he might tell himself that “it is justa game” or “don’t worry.” He also some-

times closes his eyes, takes a brief walk

from a cash game, monitors his fatigue

and keeps himself positive.

When Brenes takes a bad beat, he playsEl Rey (The King) on his iPod and says this

song makes him feel good about himself 

and his country.

Hilton says she’s naturally competitive

and that this trait helps her to deal withand reduce fear. She pays close attention

to her competitiveness, however, because

she says it can be very close to the emo-

tion of anger, which can take her out of 

her zone. Perhaps when Phil “The PokerBrat” Hellmuth, becomes too competi-

tive, he could benefit from exactly this

type of emotional sophistication. Despite

his vast success, if he labeled his tirades

internal tells rather than justifiedexplosions, he would be better able to

retain his focus and abilities.

The skill level is so even and so high in

competitive poker today that the differ-ence between winning and losing may 

have to come from the way we monitor

and modify our internal tells. I do not

think that it is much of a stretch to say 

that a highly skilled player who can also

work with his distractions, personaldemons and internal life is not only more

likely to win, but to have a competitive

advantage that few others possess.

 Yang told me that when he won the2007 WSOP Main Event, he felt “invin-

cible” and that “nothing outside the table

distracted me.” He goes on to say, “When

you are in the zone, you gain the ability to

detect your opponents’ tells.”In a key hand at the final table, when

Lee Watkinson pushed all-in with A-7,

Jerry noted that Lee looked “a bit agitat-

ed” and trusted his intuition that his A-9

would prevail. Because Jerry knew he wasin the zone, he trusted his read. Some

might say Jerry was lucky, but it seems to

me that he was working with hard-to-

come-by information that he trusted and

earnt.I have also discovered, from my playing

and coaching experience, that learning

how to broaden one’s comfort zone and

work more boldly with the vast amount of 

internal information that we all possess

makes all the difference in the world.

 Bob Silverstein, M.A., L.C.S.W., is a successful

amateur poker player.

Professionally he is a

 psychotherapist, career 

coach and crisis manag-

er. He has a private

 practise in New York

City and can be reached 

at bob@bobsilverstein.

com.

The pros have gained

an ability to let the

things that upset them

‘pass through them’

so they do not get

distracted before

making key pokerdecisions

S e x t o n 

M ak h i j a

77POKER mPRO