The major enemy of poker players is their rationalization for their failure to think. They continually find excuses for their selfimposed weaknesses and their lack of self-control. Their losses are directly proportional to their mental laziness.

Many poor players evade thinking by letting their minds sink into irrational fogs. Their belief in luck short-circuits their minds by excusing them from their responsibility to think. Belief in luck is a great mystical rationalization for the refusal to think.

In method of thought, good players are right and poor players are wrong.

John Finn uses the mystical attitudes of his opponents to extract more money from them. In his black notebook, he has a chart that summarizes everyone’s attitude: