Short Poker Essay: How to get broke, how to get rich NLTRN

Indiana · #1 10-26-2007, 12:57 PM

I don't want to get philosophical in here today or waste anybody's time. I just want to write a short paragraph or two about something very important to poker, especially in HUSNG. The most important thing that I've learned in this game has come through various downswings that I've had. I've always rebounded from these downswings, but through them I've learned one thing that is soooooo crucial to being a good poker player. Its so crucial, that if you cannot do it, you WILL NOT BE A WINNING PLAYER LONG-TERM.

So what is this secret? Its very simple. If you focus on results or worry about reaching some kind of $$ goal, you will not make it. To be successful in poker, you have to focus on making good decisions. Making good poker decisions has to be your goal, and believe me, its where the fun in this game really lies.

As a kid i was interested in getting big and tough to defend myself and be a good athlete so i started lifting weights. I remember getting frustrated because i wasn't really getting big fast enough. A wise man told me, if you focus on getting big, you'll never get there....you have to focus on getting "stronger" and feeling better, and enjoy that process of development. Then the side effect will be that you will be a bigger man. This is the same concept that I am trying to outline here today.

Making good poker decisions is what we all must focus on. Every match, every hand, every street...flop/turn/river. I can honestly say that I probably need to make more money than anybody in this forum (where i live i need to make 25K/month to do ok), and this often distracts me from focusing on what is really important: Making great decisions and not worrying about the outcomes.

Making good decisions is fun and profitable, worrying about results and making $ is not fun and not profitable.

Thanks to cwar for helping me see the light on this. I've no idea how a 20-yr old like him can see the light around this so quickly, and how a 31-yr old like me struggled so long to get it.

Indy

Dromar · #2 10-26-2007, 01:17 PM

So true.

soop · #3 10-26-2007, 01:19 PM

agree 100% - but it's easier said than done

ChicagoRy · #4 10-26-2007, 01:20 PM

Very good post.

Half your household needs to bring in 300k a year? Jeeze.

Also, Cwar must have been your father in another lifetime. That is all.

Indiana · #5 10-26-2007, 01:21 PM

[ QUOTE ]
So true.

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I know it seems like "duh" this is just common sense. But what I'm saying here is that you have to get yourself ADDICTED to making good decisions. Otherwise you will be miserable and only marginally profitable at best.

If you sit down and say to yourself, "Im going to play until I make 500 bucks or whatever" you are headed down a dead end road. Sure, you may make 500 THAT DAY, but you will soon have a massive downswing because you are focusing on the wrong thing.

I hope I've helped someone with this today. Poker is not easy and the greatest part of your poker success will have little to do with your actual "skills". It will mostly come from your ability to deal with the psychology and your maturity level in the game.

Indy

Indiana · #6 10-26-2007, 01:22 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Very good post.

Half your household needs to bring in 300k a year? Jeeze.

Also, Cwar must have been your father in another lifetime. That is all.

[/ QUOTE ]

No. If my wife and I combined brought in <300K/yr we'd need to sell our house. That's not really the point here, I'm just saying that If I can focus on good decisions with my financial situation, everybody in here should be able to.

ChicagoRy · #7 10-26-2007, 01:26 PM

I thought the opposite would be true.

The average job a person holds in this forum is probably worth like < 10% of what you make a year. I would think that it would be easier to play poker knowing that you have a 6 figure job and even if you somehow had to sell your house you would still be making 6 figures a year. Not many can really say that in this forum.

You also had the discipline to go through pretty tough schooling (I think) so you obviously know you can grind it out for hours.

That, and being 31 and having experienced more than most people on this forum should give you more confidence than the average player on this forum.

All in all I'd imagine you would be more suited to be successful at this game than most people.

Put it another way, if I took your credentials and compared them to 5 random people in this forum I would almost certainly choose you 1st or 2nd in almost any situation as somebody I would bet/invest in being most successful in this game out of the 5.

Indiana · #8 10-26-2007, 01:30 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I thought the opposite would be true.

The average job a person holds in this forum is probably worth like < 10% of what you make a year. I would think that it would be easier to play poker knowing that you have a 6 figure job and even if you somehow had to sell your house you would still be making 6 figures a year. Not many can really say that in this forum.

You also had the discipline to go through pretty tough schooling (I think) so you obviously know you can grind it out for hours.

That, and being 31 and having experienced more than most people on this forum should give you more confidence than the average player on this forum.

All in all I'd imagine you would be more suited to be successful at this game than most people.

Put it another way, if I took your credentials and compared them to 5 random people in this forum I would almost certainly choose you 1st or 2nd in almost any situation as somebody I would bet/invest in being most successful in this game out of the 5.

[/ QUOTE ]

Chicago, I am more profitable than most players here and yes a lot of it has to do with my drive and ability, but the majority of it has to do with my brutal honesty. This is what makes me so successful, while at the same time so hated in 2+2 because others do not want to hear my brutal honesty.

And as for the money part, B.I.G was right: "Mo money, mo problems." I was 10x happier when I was broke growing up in the housing projects in North Carolina than I am now living in California in a >1 million dollar home.

Indy

daveT · #9 10-26-2007, 01:40 PM

I thought everyone liked you Indy. It is all good points. I think it is the one concept that the TV Pros talk about that is true, that poker is about making decisions. The pots are a side effect.

Indiana · #10 10-26-2007, 01:49 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I thought everyone liked you Indy. It is all good points. I think it is the one concept that the TV Pros talk about that is true, that poker is about making decisions. The pots are a side effect.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yah its so true. And those "Pros" that are most successful are the ones that focus on good decisions, and really love the game. The guys that score big once or whatever often don't have this deep understanding and either end up broke or just fade away.

I've been posting here for years, and people dont hate me but I am often not well-received. Its not that important to me, and I dont wanna derail what's important in this thread:

Become addicted to making good decisions, or go broke.

Indy