Why can't i go a session without making a mistake?

[JJH3984]

Yeah, everyone makes these kinds of mistakes (the why did I do that moment). Be hard on yourself, but also be gentle... you have to make hundreds and hundreds of decisions a session, you're bound to make a few errors. Even the best players do it, albiet a lot less frequently.

[Frond]

Who here doesn't make mistakes almost every time they play? THey may be huge or very subtle ones but everyone makes them and those who say they never do probably make the biogger ones. I can think of 2 right off the bat that I made the very last time I played live. Small ones but hey, it is part of playing and hopefully learning by them. I am trying to limit them but it is work. Try to make the best decisions you can but don't beat up on yourself when you don't just rememeber them.

[car ramrod]

[ QUOTE ]
if you never made a mistake you'd be playing in the big games and crusing in the money. as long as you realize u did something wrong that counts a lot as there are players out there that do things their whole playing lives without even realizing that it is wrong. that is what seperates the winners from the losers.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with this.

I played live last night, and seeing as how it is so much slower than online I really was able to analyze things more. I counted 2 mistakes that I made, but I was able to recognize them (which is important), so hopefully I will not make them again next time. I must have counted 20 mistakes by other players, so I guess 2 isn't so bad.

[CountingMyOuts]

How long are your sessions? I am also a 2-tabler and I try to limit my sessions to 2 hours. Anything past that and my concentration falls off badly.

After ending a session, I also try to wait 30 minutes before starting another session. I make it a point to get some exercise or do something non-poker related.

[TripleH68]

Why can't i go an orbit without making a mistake?

[threads13]

Can you group your mistakes into one general area or are they across the board? That might lead you to figure out why you are making these mistakes.

[DTsee]

Just pretend we are WATCHING EVERY HAND YOU PLAY. You'll scare yourself into playing well. That's what worked for me. I just pretended that some of my decent friends had a pocket cam. When I was about to do something stupid I'd hear thier voice...

[HoneyBadger]

I do play better when there's someone at the tale I know. I don't want to make a stupid play then.

[Black_Angler]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't know why you do it. I do it too. Maybe we should be glad we don't do it more?

The subject of "Tilt" may be a lot more complex than most people think. There's a book called, "Inside the Poker Mind" by psychologist/poker player John Feeney that you might find an interesting read. He talks about "subtle, unrecognized tilt," and defines "tilt" as occurring any time you make a play based on emotion of any kind; a play you might otherwise not make.

This is a lot more than blowing off your BR or throwing your cards at the dealer. It's the subtle little things like what you are describing.

And I think, having read it, that we ALL tilt some, even Phil Ivey!! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Maybe we're best served by trying to understand it and manage it.

You might want to take a look at that book. Personally, I found it very helpful.

bill c

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I second that! Once I got past the basics of strategy, Inside the Poker Mind and Theory of Poker made the biggest impact on my EV. It's interesting to me that poker isn't necessarily about having the best skills/knowledge, it's about having better skills/knowledge than most others. I always look for poker tips where others might not think to look. In my mind, John Feeneys book has gone overlooked, and up until I came here have never even heard anybody else mention it (Death Donkey actually mentioned it in his Well post in the Micros).

[Harv72b]

I played a perfect session today. Not a single mistake. Sat down with a huge LAG fish directly on my right and made the absolute correct decision every time the action was on me. He got up after 20 hands, and so did I.

That's my new record. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]