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There are certain steps you must take to become a successful player over the long term.
This includes
The better you get in each of these areas the more confident you should be in your ability to win.
If I was to mark my own performance in each of those catagories, I would go 2/10, 1/10 and 0/10, for a total of 3/30.
Note it really doesn't matter how good you are, or think you are, or how good others believe you are at hand reading, bet sizing, reads, tells, etc, if you have no faith in your body and mind before and during a game, it's going to be really difficult to be confident.
Morning Dohhhhh bloke.
Thanks for the update. Quite a painful read, so for you, it must be a living nightmare.
I've never met you, & you have, from time to time, trodden on my toes (unintentionally, I'm sure), but it'd be a hard heartless man who did not wish you could be cured of whatever currently ails you.
Hang in there, & keep the faith.
You seem to have a very low opinion of your poker abilities, but you don't fool anyone - you are a successful, winning, player, & only a minority can say that.
On which note, & on the basis of "let's try another thing", have you considered giving poker a break for a few weeks? I love poker as much as anyone, but I'm not wholly convinced that chaining ourselves to a computer x hours per day is necessarily wholesome or beneficial when we are not well. Bit like "rotation" in football, it certainly freshens us up when we take a little break from playing.
Whatever you decide - & the chances of a young man listening to the advice of a wrinklie is about a 66/1 shot - I sincerely wish you well.
Great reply Dohhhhh, don't disagree with much of that.
Good luck with the poker sessions. (Oh my, how I LOATHE the term "grind", but that's another story altogether).
Lol @ the Hartigan story, & yeah, he's done pretty well for himself. Deservedly, too.
And anyone who has no regrets, & never done anything they regret in life, has not pushed the boundaries enough. The poker analogy is the guy who tries never to get it in bad (me, for example) is actually leaving a lot of money on the table.
I love this Diary, in a peculiar way, I really do.
Good luck fella.
Here's an oddity for you, but hey, let's see if it floats.
A poker friend of mine - really good guy, works hard for other poker players too, is having a bad run at the mo.
I like the guy, a lot.
Last night, he tilted off dreadfully. I mean really tilted, really dreadfully. Done some ridic things, which ended badly. Just pure tilt. He "excused" it by saying other people bust him with poo, so he may as well play poo. One instance was the nut worst thing I've ever seen at a poker table in terms of "count the mistakes". He's better than that, MUCH better, but Red Mist Rules, OK?
I would like to help him. Really.
What would you do in my spot? Stick it on the Forum, send him a PM, or just look the other way?
The most important thing is for him not to take it personally, I want to help him. But he's burning money he can't afford to burn right now.
It genuinely upset me last night, even though I profited from it. I want to win, course I do, but not like that.
So what would you do in my spot?
Blind Confidence: The Quickest Path to Going Broke
Critics who say confidence has no relevance in poker are quick to point out that someone who confidently plays in a game above their ability will quickly lose their bankroll.
This is absolutely true.
That’s because the level of confidence they have in their game has no anchor in reality.
Blind confidence has two main sources:
Ignorance and Results.
I don't think I've ever known a poker player who doesn't suffer from blind confidence. Some (alot) more so than others.
Poker is a truly brutal game. The mental challenges are plentiful. It is by far the most important part of the game in my opinion at low and mid stakes.
As a coach or a backer, I'd prefer my student to start with an A* mental game and not know the rules of poker, than to have oodles of poker ability and be a mental game train wreck.
Get your head right off table and then you stand a chance of being successful on it
Anyway, your pal. I don't know anything about his ability (not results), his mental game, his understanding of variance, his bankroll etc,
So I'd just try and talk to him about where he's at, explain why what he's doing is silly, try to find out why he plays (for fun? to relax? because he has to pay bills?) and remind him that what he's doing achieves none of the above.
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You'll know of my ongoing 'relationship' with Don, who is a SP legend.
I calculated the other day that if we combine the online poker earnings of people who have tried to help him with his poker game (technically and mentally) with some 'official' and thousands of hours of 'unofficial' coaching and general advice over the last 4 years, it reaches almost $750,000.
Despite being 10x the player he was 4 years ago on table, he's still playing the same stakes, with the same bankroll as he was back then. He has, if anything, an inferior mental game now to when he started back then.
It just shows how difficult that aspect of the game is to conquer when we have glaring leaks.
And probably why TMOG has been so successful, as it can and has helped every single player who's read it. (apart from Don)
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I think there's only so much you can do to help someone.
The fact you're asking for advice about wether or not you should talk to your friend suggests there's every chance that you will be able to help him (as you haven't had 4 years of trying and failing like I have with Donald!).
Hopefully he respects your opinions enough (im sure he will) and crucially is prepared to work hard enough to overcome his poker deamons, as we see in poker time and time again that it isn't easy.
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Set him a challenge.
Bet him £xxx that he can't beat 10nl online over 100,000 hands.
Drill some discipline into him whilst making it fun.
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Session 1 of the 8 hour challenge.
1 hour of nl4.
+ £3
Funzies.
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http://www.pokermindcoach.com/how-to-be-a-confident-poker-player/
Great reply Dohhhhhhh.
The main problem with understanding & ACCEPTING variance is in MTT's. It is far less brutal in cash, & even less so in DYM's.
So those who play MTT's need a really strong constitution.
In the morning, I have to get up early as I can't wait to get started, & see what challenges lay ahead.
In the afternoon, I can barely wait for my poker session to start, I'm so revved up.
I'll start today at just after 5pm, & I've already got my little results notebook all lined up, made a pot of tea, & a jug of iced sparkling water. 4 or 5 hours of total fun, an escape from life's problems, begins shortly. No butterflies (I don't get nervous online), but definitely mounting excitement. That's why I just don't get those who chunter all the time.
"Is it just business?" You mean "making money"? Lol, I wish. On an average night I probably make about £10, maybe a bit less.
Session 2, 1 hour of 10nl on bwin = -$1.30
Session 3, 1 hour of nl4 on sky = - £4
Who said nl4 players don't fold
Tables were friendly, had a chat with a couple of the nl4ers
Helped keep me awake.
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@weecheez, I get butterflies when I play above 10nl, yes
It's scary up there !!!!
H 1. The decision to go all in might be a more tell tale sight that he's got a full house but action in raising you on the turn was a tell tale sign a large river bet would be coming and by taking this into account you should know already weather to continue or just fold. If it's trips your putting him on you've got the best hand but if you've got concern of a full house a risk of calling could be too much because even an ace isn't assured to put you ahead.
H2. These spots can point highly towards the expection that he's got a better set but I've been told on a number of occassions myself even then a fold will be losing value in the long run. If you were going to raise with intent of folding this too should have just got called, micro tables won't get much aggression with top pairs and draws but some of this gets made up from people playing premium pairs more aggressive and the greater varity of two pair they can get from raggy suited cards.
Morning JJ.
Sorry you had yet another bad day.
"life sucks"
This is not aimed specifically at you, but we often feel a bit aggrieved with this & that. I went down the garage this morning, picked up a coffee, a pack of Rennies, & the Times newspaper.
This was on the front page, as part of their Xmas appeal. (And yes, I know you were a very very generous donor to StayOrGo's charity thing).
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/timesappeal/article4637838.ece
Makes us think, eh? What you reckon that wheelchair cost? £75? Can we BEGIN to imagine carrying that kid 60 miles to a refugee camp? Life truly sucks for some.
PS - NOT aimed at you, I just needed to get that out of my system.
I asked a question here yesterday, about my poker pal, a fun player, who was burning money a few nights ago due to pure tilt.
A strange thing happened overnight - a player, also a friend, who is, in his particular format, probably amongst the top 5 most successful players (money won) on Sky Poker, wrote to me via PM offering to help.
He said he had suffered serious tilt problems until about a year ago, when he at last found a way to avoid tilting.
Since then, he has a) won more money, & b) enjoyed his poker so much more.
And the point of his PM?
He was offering to help my tilty mate solve his problems.
Ain't that great?
Sky = +£10
+ $37 (£24.39)
= £36.39.
Well done JJ. I think you might just be a bigger bankroll nit than me.
^^^^
What is "spotify"? Some kind of cream to clear pimples?
Dr Dre, & Marshall Mathers, yes, Ice Tea, no way.
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