Paranoids, Narcissists and Eocentrics

The idea that many people may have personality traits that are not severe enough to be clinically diagnosed, and yet still may affect their everyday lives first grabbed my attention in Poker, Sex and Dying, by Juel E. Anderson. David L. Caplan now publishes the same basic book under the name Trading, Sex and Dying.

In the first version of the book, the author relates several personality types to how they might behave as (sales) customers and poker opponents. The book is very interesting to read and I recommend it heartily. I pursued a more in-depth look at personality types because of this work. It led me to the DSM-IV.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, DSM-IV, (The American Psychiatric Association) specifies criteria by which clinical psychiatrists can diagnose a patient's mental health. Certainly, as it pertains to poker (haven't you wondered exactly how crazy the person next to you was?) there are a few aspects that will allow you to play more accurately against certain types of opponents.

The DSM-IV identifies ten different personality disorders: Paranoid, Schizoid, Schizotypal, Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, Narcissistic, Avoidant, Dependent, and Obsessive-Compulsive. The authors group these maladies under different `clusters' (A, B and C) which they use to stereotype tendencies of similar disorders.

In associating a personality disorder with behavior at the poker table (not otherwise explained by the personality traits addressed using other assessment tools), the most noticeable tendencies may not significantly influence the way a person plays cards.

several personality types

The classic traits

rationalize and internalize