TOP: poker is one big game

[whittiphil]

I aim to make $50 000 this year, that includes rb and bonuses.

I stop whenever I lose 3 buyins in a session. Those are my only goals/guidelines.

[Godfather80]

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Originally posted here by Gigabet
The problem comes to life when a person starts their downswing, which we classify as "losing," they begin to suspect that they may "fail" and rather than become susceptible to the shame that comes with "failure" they decide to quit. They stop because they fear things that aren't even real

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Most successful people I know have failed at there chosen field at one time or another. You learn a lot more from failure than you do from success. Being a failure and failing are two very different things. Failures never learn.

[ajmargarine]

I happen to be a guy who does very well with daily goals. They fit my temperment. They are soft numbers, not a hardline goal. I know when to keep going, I know when to quit. If poker is meh, and I'm above or near my target, I just go and do something else.

It's important to realize that this advice in TOP and most all advise given about bankroll and 'one long game' was invented when people sat at one table in a casino. The poker world is completely different now in the age of online multitabling. If we leave a game now, there's 1000's of other games to choose from whenever we want to come back. Unless the game we are leaving is awesomely juicy, the games we come back to will be of similar fishiness every time with a little game selection.

[intheflatfield]

I think this concept was one that in itself made a huge change in my approach to the game. That I didn't have to play until I turned my losing session into a winning one. Although I still have difficulty quiting when I'm behind, its much easier now. I am becoming much better at playing each hand the best way that I can, and when I do make a mistake or get a bad beat or find myself steaming. This concept is what I try to fall back on.

[epdaws]

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I have a great technique for managing tilt.

I run a bi-weekly home game. The buy-in there is about a twentieth of my buyin at regular stakes. I play like a complete [censored] maniac.

It feels SOOOO good to bet people out of pots without looking at your cards. Even better when they KNOW you didn't look at your cards and they still fold.

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Tell it! I can attest that this is one heck of a way to blow off steam. I play in a Thursday night home game where the buy-in is peanuts, and I go nuts. Oddly, I generally finish up for the evening, and it allows me to drain all of the Monkey Tilt out of the system in a scant two hours.

[econophile]

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I set a goal for myself of winning $15 per day every day this year.

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You can do everything right and not make $15 for the day. If you set this as your goal and fail to reach it, you naturally become disappointed with yourself.

It makes more sense to me to set goals that you can control. For example, figure out how much time you have for poker and then say I will play poker for two hours on monday and one hour on tuesday. Other goals under your control involve studying: read a book or read a certain amount of 2+2.

[BGnight]

I used to play w/ by PT database visible so I could see how much money I was up/down while I was playing. DON'T DO THIS. It just f***ed w/ my concentration too much, as I was being very result oriented.
Pick up the "Psychology of Poker", by Alan Schoonmaker. I just started reading it. I think a must read so far for all poker players.

[PocketElevens]

My new years resolution this year is to quit playing immediately if I feel any anger or frustration. When Im in good spirits, I like my game. When Im upset, I play like a total donkey. Tilt is my biggest leak.

So I changed my goals and way of thinking for a session.

Every session, what I want to achive is a session that Im proud of my play and desisions. Money is not considered.
After all if play AA and run into a set, but supsect somthing is up and use your position to force a cheap showdown shouldn't you be proud? Especially If the villian didnt make up the 7.5 to 1 odds he implied by calling your raise preflop.
I review the hands I lost money on, and consider did I minimize my losses? Did I control the pot well, did I play it smart? would most bad players get stacked in this situation?

I just try to have a session with a hand history I can be proud of. Because I strongly believe that If you have a few hundered sessions of your best poker, your gaurenteed to come ahead.

[Pocket3's]

Failure is a matter of prespective. If you fail at something, you actually succeeded in finding what doesn't work.

Rading TOP this weekend, and the topic of "Poker is one big lifetime game", helped me to put things back into prespective. I've been going through a big downswing the last couple of weeks, and my confidence is suffering. After reading this section of TOP, I took a look at my bankroll. It's up 200% since Dec. 1. After losing $600 the last 2 weeks, I'm only down $7 for the month. I was focusing on the last 2 weeks, and it affected my play. Looking at the bigger picture, this downswing is just a bump in the road. Thinking of it this way has re-energized me, and hopefully help me get my focus back. Maybe it's already started to turn around for me. I played in a freeroll tourney of 1300 players last night and finished 35th. First time I've been in the money in one of those. Nice to make a little free money.

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I have a great technique for managing tilt.

I run a bi-weekly home game. The buy-in there is about a twentieth of my buyin at regular stakes. I play like a complete [censored] maniac.

It feels SOOOO good to bet people out of pots without looking at your cards. Even better when they KNOW you didn't look at your cards and they still fold.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tell it! I can attest that this is one heck of a way to blow off steam. I play in a Thursday night home game where the buy-in is peanuts, and I go nuts. Oddly, I generally finish up for the evening, and it allows me to drain all of the Monkey Tilt out of the system in a scant two hours.

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My home game is the same. I think all home games must be juicy. I struggle some on-line, but I destroy my weekly home game. Only one loss in the last 16 weeks. The fun part is that the other players are so bad, loose passive, that they rarely raise PF, and I can play lots of pots with almost any two cards. It's nice to be able to drink beer, play loose, and still make money.

[intheflatfield]

I've gotten to the point, where I rarely get upset about a bad beat. If my decision was sound, and I had a logical reason for making it, based on reads / pot odds / equity / implied odds,etc. I just congratulate my opponent on his play and give myself a "Skalansky Buck* so to speak.

Realizing that whether or not I am up / down for a particular session is not nearly so import as my decisions hand by hand, and my ability to spot and correct leaks. I think the important thing is to consntantly try to find ways to improve and to recognize mistakes in one's self and others then capitalize on them.

Where before, my mood the next day was directly proportional to my results of the previos session (If I won I was in a great mood. If I ended down I was sullen.)

Now I'm starting be able to be satisfied with a losing session as long I am satisified with my play.