My friend Mark cannot understand how and why he plays a hand at a home game.

I am sitting opposite to him and I can see everything that happens. After the flop, his opposition checks to him. His stack is about the size of the pot, and the flop is 9-J-Q. Mark is in the lead (which after discussing with him after the game I can confirm it is true) and he needs to bet big to prevent his opposition from attempting to get a straight draw.

Mark needs to push all in. I have known Mark a long time; being a good friend and a buddy in my poker game, he is and will go all in and force his opposition to fold. Mark picks up his chips and starts counting them. And then, to my dismay, he checks.

The turn is an eight. The rest is history, Mark’s rival gets the straight draw and win the pot.

Mark has been playing well but he cannot understand what happens there. He thinks it is something psychological, even before the flop he is mentally prepared to push all in but at the crucial moment he fails to do it. He has been playing well all night but that hand changes a lot; and surely enough, after that hand, his play declines and he suffers a lot of losing hands after that.

Things like these happen to all poker players. Maybe he would still win the hand even if he checks there but surely it hurts his confidence. We do not need to re-emphasize the importance of confidence in this game. With most of the hands ending before all the cards are revealed, poker has a lot to do with self confidence and courage.

Poker is about human, not cards.