music to watch the cards go by

poker can be a lonely game. you’re a lone warrior battling in solitude with only enemies for company. many a poker player therefore finds solice in music. a constant companion that can lift spirits or deepen despair.

but can music alter the way you play? can upbeat, high tempo music make you play more positively? and conversely can slow beat, angst esq music make you play more passively? recently i’ve been experimenting to test just this.

this morning i fired up some tables and chose some head candy to be my soundtrack of the session. i found myself tapping my foot to the beat and feeling high spirited. generally the poker session went well. there were no notable bad beats and i ended about half a buy-in up. good result.

this afternoon i continued my musical experiment and spun some placebo, one of the most teen angsty bands i have ever listened to. this time there was no foot tapping to be seen. instead i found myself screaming along to teenage dirtbag et al, and having a good time with it. the poker session again went well and i finished up about 15 bb.

this evening i thought i would try one more time and again the tables came up and i the needle went down on some matchbox twenty. being one of my favorite bands there was a fair amount of air guitar going on which was a little distracting. again the session went well. i played solid poker and finished up about 60 bb.

so what did i learn? well in regards to the genre of music affecting my play, very little. but i did realize the importance of poker to me as a solitary warrior on the felt covered battleground. good music can interrupt the monotony of playing poker, it can provide moments of escapism and distraction without you ever really losing concentration. it adds to the enjoyment of poker and is an undemanding companion to the grind. so fire up some tables, spin some tunes and let you and your music take on all comers!