Impostor Syndrome in Poker: Trusting Your Skills

## Impostor Syndrome in Poker Impostor syndrome in poker is the feeling that your success is due to luck rather than skill, and that eventually other players will realize you do not belong at your stakes. It is surprisingly common among winning players, especially after moving up in stakes. Combat impostor syndrome with evidence. Track your results over large samples (50,000+ hands). If you are a consistent winner over a statistically significant sample, that is evidence of skill, not luck. Review your database to remind yourself that your success is real and earned. Recognize that even the best players feel uncertain sometimes. Doubt is healthy when it motivates improvement. It becomes problematic only when it prevents you from playing at appropriate stakes or causes you to second-guess correct decisions. ## Mental Game and Rakeback A strong mental game helps you play more consistently, which means more volume, more rake generated, and more rakeback earned. The psychological stability to grind through variance without tilting or quitting early directly impacts your rakeback income.