Joe Kline / The Bulletin Golf and poker.

M y love of golf has led to another obsession later in life — poker.

Or more specifically, Texas Hold ’em, the most popular of the many different poker games played today.

I have played tournament poker in bars, online (when it was legal), at casinos in five different states (and Las Vegas) and more recently, since my arrival in Central Oregon, at the Bend Poker Room.

The tournaments are fairly low-stakes affairs; the buy-in is typically $20 to $40. The hours of enjoyment, the competition and the potential to walk out with a little more money than I walked in with are just some of the reasons I enjoy throwing some chips around.

But my taste for poker goes much deeper than that. The psychology of tackling golf and poker are amazingly similar … both games providing hours of frustration, interrupted by occasional moments of success.

In other words, the masochistic tendencies I have picked up from playing golf … have directly led to my obsession with poker. They are strikingly similar games mentally, one played on green felt, the other on bentgrass greens.

It is a happy psychosis (most of the time) … so psychologists need not apply.

Golfers, poker players

I take solace in the fact that I am not alone.

The tournaments at the Bend Poker Room, as most anywhere, are filled with golfers, and many professional poker players are obsessed with golf.

Search online for “poker and golf similarities” and article after article pops up. Many sports psychologists work with players on the professional level in both worlds, and some combine the two disciplines to teach poker players how to play golf, and vice versa.

The mental similarities between the two games are deep and significant — and I have had endless discussions with poker players and golfers on just that subject.

Topping the list of those similarities is the “frustration” factor previously mentioned.

Neither poker nor golf can truly be mastered. Thirty-five years of playing golf, and I am not as good a player now as when I was in my 20s. Approaching two decades of playing poker, and I am still learning, adjusting my strategies and looking to play that perfect, mistake-free tournament.

But perfect play through an entire tournament is impossible, just as the perfect round of golf will never be played. So what must we learn to do in both?

Overcome constant failure.

Sounds fun, right? Just keep pounding your head into the proverbial brick wall.

The difficulty of dealing with such frustration is what drives professionals, in golf and poker, into the sports psychologist’s office. Can’t handle adversity much? These are not the games for you.

The adversity comes in the form of a bad shot on the course, a bad play on the felt, or a well-struck shot or well-played hand that nevertheless produces a less-than-desirable result. The results are essentially out of your control once the shot is hit, or the move is made on the table.

Those bad swings, plays or results must be put out of the mind almost instantaneously, so you can be focused on the next shot … or hand.

I had real issues with that resilience on the golf course in my youth, carrying a bad shot or hole with me for several holes, affecting my play and ability to focus on the shot at hand.

At the poker table, the frustration can mount to the point that I must leave my seat and take a break before I can get my mind right and move on to the next hand. I am not the only one. I have seen more poker players and golfers muttering to themselves than I could possibly recall.

Turning it on

Long periods of inactivity in between plays or shots is another obvious similarity.

On the golf course, time in between shots is significant — sometimes several minutes or more — leaving the mind plenty of time to wander. In a poker tournament, the same applies. It may be up to half an hour or more before players get a hand that requires attention, folding hand after hand while waiting for playable cards. It makes concentration difficult, turning it off and on at the appropriate times.

Maintaining that focus, with long periods of downtime in between, is not easy — and a struggle for golfers and poker players alike.

Patience is required. While well-timed aggression can be rewarded on the table and the course, it cannot be forced, players must pick their spots carefully.

The social aspects of both games make them enjoyable too. Spend fours hours on the golf course or at the poker table with folks, and you get to know them pretty well — at their best — and potentially at their worst. It kind of depends on how their game is going, doesn’t it?

Finally, another common thread in golf and poker is their solitary nature.

You have no team to rely on; it is you alone against the world. More often than not, the games win, but occasionally the golf or poker gods will smile upon you and it becomes effortless.

It is those moments that players live for … and that keeps them coming back for more self-abuse.

Fight through it, players, and play on.

— Reporter: 541-617-7868, kduke@bendbulletin.com