Pretty much anything that can go wrong in poker has been going wrong for me lately and it has been taking a toll on my mental stability. It is just one of those ruts that any poker player has been in many times...every time you get all your money in the middle you just get a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach that whatever card your opponent needs will be the next one off the deck. No matter how strong your hand is you can never be comfortable when you are in all-in situations. Josh and I often talk about how we "know" or we can "feel" sometimes when we are going to lose and it does seem uncanny how often that horrible feeling turns out to the correct. However, we also talk about whether or not we actually get that feeling or if we only notice/remember it when we end up losing the hand (this is the most likely case). I always try to maintain a really positive attitude when faced with all-in situations. Some people root against the cards that their opponents need such as when they say "No Ace, No Ace!". I advocate all of my friends to try to change their attitude and be more positive when they are all-in and to choose a specific card that they want to see and cheer for that one. After all, it is more fun to root for something than against it and this could help to keep a positive mindset. I usually choose one that will make me win the hand, but doesn't improve my hand (assuming I got my money in ahead) For example, if I have pair of Aces and they have a heart flush draw I will choose the 7 of clubs to root for. Just so you know, I am only talking about online poker. One thing you will never see me do in your life is to audibly root for or against a card while playing live poker unless I am jokingly doing so. Also, if you are one of the people that do that you can assume I think you are very annoying to play poker with, especially if I am having a losing session. None of this really matters in the grand scheme and I am not sure why I wasted so much time writing about what boils down to being nothing more than stupid poker superstitions. However, if you can do anything to help keep your thoughts positive while you are playing it will serve you very well in your decision making and tilt control. I suppose if you have to be superstitious to stay positive then go for it.
I digress...I have been getting the horrible feeling that I am going to lose during all-ins ALOT lately and I have been losing WAY more than my fair share of them. I am about $16,000 below expectation this month and it REALLY messes with your confidence to run so poorly. However, today I fought very hard and refused to let running badly stop me from having a losing day of poker. I lost my VERY first hand of the day for a full buy-in at $600 PLO...what a great way to start. The bad news is it went down hill from there. Before I knew what hit me and about an hour and a half I was down over $3600 and my confidence was reeling pretty badly. I took a short break to regroup and got back to the grind determined to out work the bad luck I was having. I got to within $500 or so of being even, but ended up losing about $950 in a 5 hour session. I then went to meet Clint, Charlie, and Tyrone for dinner at Noodles. After dinner I came home and got back to the grind. Somehow after 8 hours of playing today I ended up winning $1434 despite running $1200 below expectation. I have had much bigger winning days than today, but staying so focused and determined makes this win feel sooo much better. I look forward to continuing to crush their faces tomorrow.
Here is what an 8 hour day of determined playing looks like in graphical form:
1 comment:
send $5 to a few broke railbirds and enjoy the cards smacking you in the face. I do it every other day or so.
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