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Originally Posted by Mato Kinze  Just like poker with "normal" folks, at that point it's got almost nothing to do with the cards in your hand, but rather how you "feel" about the cards in your hand - or more specifically, how you feel about your ability to make others feel something about the cards in your hand. Gives the term "poker face" a whole new dimension.  |
Poker has two layers: what is statistically good (only taking into account the game "pieces", such as the cards, not the players), and what is situationally good (taking into account the players, and any information surrounding them, discernible by you or not).
As a competitive gamer, I'd say that while misdirection is useful, how you feel about the decisions you make—including whether you use misdirection and how you'll do that—is the primary factor. Even when you factor in information from the "situationally good" layer, the best gamers seem to be able to mysteriously be good at "winning", not just "playing the game", and winning is directly related to your ability to make good decisions.
It seems to have something to do with your subconscious, and expert players either consciously or intuitively use this process to win. (Whether they are able to say whether they use it or not. Our innate processes are so close to us that we may even not be aware we're using them. Eg. We may think we're "thinking through" options to make decisions, but as you're doing that, you're secretly assigning weightings to certain options and making choices about how they feel, all the while you think you're being "logical." Ha!)