Mental side of poker

Davitomon · Newbie Joined: 27 Nov 2010 Posts: 8

Hi,

I visit this site and forum often because of all valuable information that's has been added in past of times. I was a HUsng grinder on FTP and after FTP closing and withdrawing my funds in time, I moved my bankroll to Pokerstars. I took a big break since then. As I never had any hunger to return to the poker tables, I just stayed away. Recently I rediscovered the poker virus and returned to my old preferred game variant (HUSNG NL Holdem). I have builded a bankroll from an initial deposit of $50 to about $500 on FTP. I have now played since 3 October, a total of 40HUSNG's at the $15 level and this is very low considering that I had the week off from work and I was planning to play more.

But I struggled, not only with games itselve but also after a game was finished, I allways experience some kinda exhausted feeling. I don't dare to play games then, 'cuz I know for sure I won't play my A-game then. I don't get this feeling when i'm losing only but also when i'm winning.

O times like this evening, I really want to play some games now, but I open my pokerstars client and filter the husng games, and there's a kind of a block in my head who says, don't do it. Maybe because i have experienced the $15 level to be hard to beat, which is not a great sign for my current skill level.

I have signed up for an HU training course 2 years ago, long before i knew about this site. I learned alot there and that coach brought me to a decent skill level which i could consistently beat the $10 level. But that site died long ago due inactivity and when i looked up for new training sources i found brokerstar and his team. Although I signed up on this forum a while ago, I never contributed to this community untill this date.

I just wanted to illustrate that I have a decent knowledge of the game, but probably not enough to beat this current level consistently.

Back to my questions.

1) How do you guys overcome this sort of situations in your career?
2) Did you also have experienced a similar feeling when looking for a husng game?
3) What's your mental state when you want to start your session?
4) Have any tips to play long sessions?
5) Any additional help is welcome!

One of the reasons I might consider for what i'm experiencing now, is lack of challenge in poker. I could open a bankroll challenge post in this forum or like I see on two plus two to help me reach my "goals" better. But on the other hand, I followed alot of these sorts of posts in the past, and these challenges fail lots of the times. It's allways started with good intentions but then the OP bails out due bad runs or feeling that he doesn't met his goals. I don't want to be that OP xD. If I set goals for myselve I want to make sure that I can breathe those goals in daily life. That I wake up and i'm thinking "I want to reach that goal". But due my current mental state, I can't assure that I will do everything in my power to do this!

PS: Hi, my name is Bart Wink

and I'm from Belgium. Hereby I want to excuse myselve if there alot of grammar mistakes. You can correct me, I love to learn![url][/url]

z1s6arn · Reader of Souls Joined: 04 Nov 2010 Posts: 649

You are not alone.

z1
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Broker; ''Whenever your play doesn't make sense you'll very often find yourself getting looked up light because people often think in alot of cases rightly soo your full of sh*t''

AxeMage · Grinder Joined: 28 Sep 2010 Posts: 169

just set realistic goals for yourself.. i just posted mine and it's VERY broad right now... and i'll be adding details as I find certain things i'm having trouble with and posting as i go... and i barely even play either... just like 20-30 games per week..
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- AxeMage

Jakester1288 · Baller Joined: 20 Feb 2011 Posts: 475

You need to build your mental muscle, by slowly adding more time to your sessions.

I only skimmed your post, but I'd recommend checking out Jared Tendler's book, videos, and maybe some private coaching. He's the number 1 mental coach for poker.

StasKo · Grinder Joined: 10 Jul 2011 Posts: 126 Location: Israel

i feel you man.. you are really not alone..
i struggled a lot with mental aspects and C-game issues.. here are my 2 cents:

1) the answer lies in the question - CAREER. just like a regular job in which you go to work everyday, the same is true for poker. you will go to work even if you are not feelng tip top. thats life - keep on keeping on.

2) i had and still have that exact feeling but in order to be succeful you have to learn to "work" even when you are not feeling top notch. there is no other way around it.

3) your mental state IMO should be a clear one. meaning fresh and without disturbance around you. it doesnt mean that you need to feel like its a perfect day but by being fresh and quiet thats a start for a perfect day.

4) one specific thing that i like to do when i have this mental block is playing a match in a lower stake - in order to jump start my brain.
i also find that a lot of the mental block is unconciously related to the fear of losing money and by starting your day in a match which you risk a small amount of money will help you to get in focus and motivated for the rest of the day.

if you are serious about poker than you have to learn to play even when you have this mental block. just start a match in a lower stake and feel how things are going for you. its all about self discipline.

gl my friend

nitid1 · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:31 pm Post subject:

Hi Bart!

Still playing HU? I am from Belgium as well and would be interested to get to know some players in my area.

You can skype me:

nilic1

Regards

Deatheverytime · Newbie Joined: 09 Oct 2010 Posts: 5

I have a similar issue, I hate the downswings in poker and even losing a small pot at NL10 makes me wanna stop playing sometimes!! What I do is try to play until a certain time, so I may decide that I will play for two hours until 8 o clock and then stop for a break. I think the best way to beat this is to set goals for yourself and just 'keep on keeping on' as StasKo says,
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