Jedi Mind Tricks and Poker – Hypnosis, NLP, and Poker

Can hypnosis and other techniques affect your poker game?

Picture the scene; you’re sat at the same poker table as Paul McKenna (the stage hypnotist) playing no-limit hold’em. After a few hands, you hit a royal flush and make a small bet, hoping to induce a re-raise from one of your opponents. McKenna then re-raises, but he also looks you straight in the eye. You feel slightly weird, and the next thing you know, you muck your cards and pass your chips to the smiling hypnotist. “Good fold,” he remarks.

Hypnosis at the Poker Table

You then move the table and sit opposite Derren Brown (the psychic entertainer). This time, you get down to the river and have absolutely nothing, but after a few words of wisdom from Mr. Mind Control, you feel the urge to call his massive bet for all your chips. You lose and are out of the tournament! So what happened? Were you hypnotized, brainwashed, or subjected to subliminal messages? Or did you just play like a fool who knows no better?

Hypnosis Misconceptions

Hypnosis is a subject that is full of misconceptions and misinformation. Put, hypnosis is the art of communication and the avoidance of conflict. Only certain people can be influenced and manipulated for rapid hypnotic inductions, such as those used by stage hypnotists (hypnotherapy is very different). Conventional hypnosis techniques would not work at the poker table for many reasons. If it did, you’d expect to see a few more hypnotists playing at the WSOP and winning. The notion of controlling people using ‘Jedi Mind Tricks’ is an act of fiction. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying stage hypnotists cannot get people to do strange things, such as believing that they’re Elvis or running around the stage like a headless chicken, but these occur in a controlled environment on the scene. The ‘subjects’ are willing participants who have ultimately given their permission to play along.

Hypnosis for Self-Improvement

Although one should not dismiss hypnosis completely, hypnosis can apply to poker when used for self-improvement. There’s no reason why self-hypnosis or hypnotherapy couldn’t help you become a better poker player. It could be used in many ways, such as allowing you to stay relaxed, increasing your attention and focus, improving your unconscious memory, controlling your emotions, and much more. There is a self-hypnosis CD / MP3 download from hypnoshop.com called “Perfect Poker, “which I would recommend. Of course, hypnosis can also be used for many other areas of self-improvement – and it can be highly effective.

NLP – Neuro-Linguistic Programming

What other options remain if hypnosis won’t help you develop any ‘Jedi Mind Tricks’ for your poker game? There are other ‘mind control’ techniques besides hypnosis, such as NLP, which stands for Neuro-Linguistic-Programming. It’s a popular self-help communication tool, which, in layman’s terms, could be described as “sort of like hypnosis but with the eyes open.” Many different aspects fall under the umbrella term “NLP,” and it has many devoted followers. In my opinion, it’s mostly over-hyped nonsense and full of rhetoric. However, it might be worth looking at how some of the better aspects of NLP ‘might’ help at the poker table.

Understanding NLP

Gaining rapport is a major aspect of NLP. Once you connect with someone, you can take the pace and lead them in your desired direction. If you’ve ever bought something you didn’t wish to, the salesperson did their job properly and used such techniques. Whether they referred to their efforts as NLP or just good sales techniques is irrelevant. In poker terms, you could start pacing someone into doubting their hand. Suppose you were to use the following language pattern:  “I’m not too sure about my hand. I think it’s good and feel like a winner, but my mind has major doubts. You know, when you look at your hand and think about it. You know those hands that you were positive would win, and then you lose a lot of money!”

 Of course, you have to be a good talker to try and use such techniques, and it would require some skill to pull it off without looking like an idiot. What if ydon’tn’t talk much at the table? Well, this brings me to the subject of anchoring. This NLP technique ‘anchors a feeling or emotion to anything from a movement, word, or touch. This is the same process as when we hear a certain song, and the memories and feelings associated with that song come flooding back. How about ‘anchoring a poker player into doubting their hand?  

Gaining Rapport in Poker

The first step is to gain rapport, and once the player is in the peak state of realizing how rubbish their hand is, you anchor this state with a touch or gesture, such as tapping the table in a particular manner. This is repeated a few times to enhance the association. This would be used later for the desired response, i.e., getting them to doubt their hand and fold it. Anchoring could also be used on yourself. How about anchoring the feeling of having the best hand and firing this anchor when you want to blow yourself? Have the perfect poker face!

Exploring NLP Techniques

Many other NLP techniques, such as eye-accessing cues, are too unreliable and deserve no explanation here. As I said earlier, much of NLP is over-hyped, and many styles are rather hit-and-miss and unreliable. However, I might have opened your eyes to possible possibilities. Of course, the most reliable way of winning at poker is to play the good hands and fold the bad ones.

Conclusion

In poker, the allure of Jedi mind tricks, hypnosis, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) often raises intriguing questions about their potential impact on the game. While the idea of controlling opponents with hypnotic suggestions or NLP techniques may seem enticing, the reality is more nuanced. Hypnosis, though riddled with misconceptions, can be a valuable tool for self-improvement, enhancing focus, and managing emotions. On the other hand, NLP offers techniques like rapport building and anchoring that may hold some utility at the poker table.

However, it is crucial to recognize that these methods require skill, subtlety, and, most importantly, an understanding that the foundation of poker success lies in sound strategy and decision-making rather than mystical mind control. Ultimately, the most reliable path to victory in poker remains playing strong hands and folding weak ones.