Nearly fifty years after release, there still aren’t many movies better than “The Hustler.” The story and characters are compelling for gambling degenerates and puritans alike. The music is sublimely haunting. And the acting performances from the four lead characters are all brilliant, none more so than George C. Scott as “businessman” Bert Gordon.

Gordon is the backer for Minnesota Fats, played by Jackie Gleason, in a marathon straight pool match at the start of the film. Fats comes from behind to defeat Paul Newman’s “Fast Eddie” Felson.

Later, Gordon tries to give Eddie insight as to why he got drunk and let Fats off the hook:

“Sure you got drunk. You have the best excuse in the world for losing; no trouble losing when you got a good excuse. Winning… that can be heavy on your back, too, like a monkey. You'll drop that load too when you got an excuse. All you gotta do is learn to feel sorry for yourself.”

Our airwaves and print are full of commentators and couch potatoes dropping the word “choke,” throughout all levels of competition. It’s a terribly unfair word – except, of course, for all the times it fits.

Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez has been one of baseball’s immortals for the past dozen years, but some poor post-season performances haunted his career until the 2009 season. Hall-of-Famer Dave Winfield was famously dubbed “Mr. May”… by the team owner signing his paychecks, no less. Scott Norwood and Mike Vanderjagt were successful NFL kickers, until they missed the biggest kicks of their careers. Neither were ever the same.

The truth is: some people are wired not only to be competitive, but to crave the additional pressure that comes with chasing the biggest wins. Others are naturally predisposed to shy away from the limelight, the big stage.

Take this simple test: what word best describes your gut feeling as the final table starts in a large tournament?

1. nervous (because you’re playing for a lot of money)
2. anxious (because you don’t know what’s going to happen, and you hope you run good so you can win)
3. composed (because this is where you are supposed to be, and this is a chance to prove it)

Far too many players, poker or otherwise, are jittery or scared of the spotlight. It’s not just being afraid to lose; it’s an inner fear they don’t have what it takes to win. Every bad beat you’ve taken, every muffed ground ball in Little League, every tongue-flub in the school spelling bee…your past failures aren’t just Bert Gordon’s monkey weighing you down. Sometimes, they’re an 800-pound gorilla.

Some people are natural born winners. Others aren’t. But there’s hope for those fretting, “Why can’t I win? Why aren’t I the natural guy he’s talking about?” Most people can train themselves to win. And fortunately, the training is fairly easy, and can be fun in the process.

You have to play games. Lots of games. Compete, over and over and over again. And if you need a little bit of extra juice, put a couple bucks on the outcome. Since money is involved in poker, I highly recommend adding the extra juice. Make it enough to be interesting, but not enough where it’ll ache to lose it.

Find games which are equal parts mental and physical, where you’ll have to deal with not only the negative thoughts in your head, but the physiological reaction you have to them. Pool and golf are the two most common examples, but there are many others. Darts is usually overlooked as a good “degenerate” game. PocketFivers across the country have celebrated the competitive virtues of bowling. Hell, it can be free-throw shooting or marbles or Wii Sports Resort or Jenga for all I care.

Now comes the important part – pick a game you’re not particularly good at. If you’re a scratch golfer or can run a rack of 9-ball at will…you won’t have enough doubt to make the exercise truly worthwhile. You’re confident in your skills already; there’s nothing to struggle against. So pick a game you’re bad at, find a friend better than you, and give it your best shot.

You’ll probably lose, overall. Consider it an investment in yourself. Keep plugging away at it. The initial point isn’t to come out ahead. The goal is to become comfortable in competitive, disadvantageous positions. You are trying to learn how to be cool and maintain composure, to keep your head when all about you are losing theirs.

Every succeeding time you are flush with the extra pressure and adrenaline, you’ll deal with it better. You will feel calm. Your breathing will be even and rhythmic (experts suggest focusing on breathing to regain control in stressful situations). You will think less of the times you choked and lost; more the times you relaxed, did what you were supposed to do, and won.

In poker, what you’re supposed to do is make the right decision as often as you can. If your experience and confidence gets you past the fear of losing, the anxiety over a situation-changing amount of money on the line…then you can focus on what’s important. The well-deserved money will follow.

And you won’t drop the load.