«Having played this game for around 7 years and around 3 million hands, ive had plenty of ups and downs. The ups are truly exhilarating, especially in the first few years. you go to sleep at night very content at a job well done. Time and experience help put a perspective on the current euphoria though. You realise you've had an exceptional day, its still very satisfying, but you know its not "normal".
However, recovering from a downswing is a different ball game. These are especially difficult to recover from as there are several forces working against you:
1) financially your in the hole. And you want the money back.
This is the initial phase, but it quickly turns into,
2) stress, anxiety, and frustration. Is this the end of my poker playing days ?
and lastly
3) you feel dejected. Theres no way out. The cards are conspiring against you
The last part sounds crazy, only the donks talk about it being rigged right? It crosses my subconcious mind when im getting nailed over and over and over at the tables. i know its ludicrous, but in the heat of battle and a downswing its always there. You feel like the worlds against you.
Heres the thing though. An this is a mathematical certainty if you play long enough: at some point you will run worse than you ever imagined possible.
You need to be mentally prepared for this steam train, otherwise the results can be completely disasterous.
The worst reaction is feeling sorry for yourself. Your bad run consumes you, its at the back of your mind constantly, always there thoughout every non poker related decision. Everytime your mind has a blank moment, the downswing fills that gap. You start posting bad ev graphs on the forums, backslapping other "run bad" players. Seeking re-assurance from your peers that you are a good player because your beginning to doubt yourself
Theres lot a written on variance and downswings, but not much literature on how to deal with it, so heres my take in one very important sentence (imo):
Meet success and failure with equal measure.
Train your mind to accept a good month and a bad month with no emotions. Feel nothing when you win a pot, nothing when you lose a pot. If you can train your mind to do this, then you will be a much much better player. Eradicate the emotional apsect, and you have arrived as a player. Bigtime. Constantly focusing on each decision. Cold, calculating poker decisions, no emotions involved. Not forcing the issue when your stuck, not getting it in high variance spots when your winning, total control.
Thats what the really good players are good at, and where im aiming to be eventually. In a state of grace. Permanently in the zone. As near as you can get to a pokerbot i suppose
Theres soo soo much variance in this game that you have to try to do this. Emotions cloud the decison making process. Im not there yet, probably wont ever get there, but im getting much better at controlling it.
Being self aware is critical also. Poker is the most delusional environment ive ever come across. As a winning player, this is where the profit comes from. A winning player profits from others dellusionality.
I play in a game where another reg calls me a "set up artist" . But the truth is i have an edge on him. His ego wont allow him to see this though. And so he plays in the same games as me. As i mentioned in my last post, id like to think i know when im a table where im outmatched, and , well i just leave. Theres thousands of other cyber games out there, no need to stay.
The point is, there is no room for your ego in poker. If you ego isnt in check, then it suffocates your progress as a player, it blinds your decision making progress from table selection to hand analysis. Ultimately, prevents you from maximising your true potential.»
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