[Closed] Boring

For me when a bad day, weekend, week or what ever hits me in poker(which is has many times). There are a few things that I do immediatly after it happens.

First is to go over my poker goals and how session or streak relate to those goals. If you have set your goals correctly, which is in stages of short, medium, long and lifetime...then you will usually see that the bad run really only affects the short term goals. Like number of hands per week...

After goal review and refocus on longer term goals i take how every many hours I spent during that losing session or sessions and divide it equally into two parts. So if I had 4 sessions of 5 hours for 20 hours, I now have two 10 hour windows. The first window is for poker study, self examination and feedback. The second window is a poker window. The way they work together is for every hour that I apply to my 1st window, I allow myself to apply the same amount of time to my 2nd window. So if I do 3 Hours of self examination of my hands, then I am allowed to play 3 hours of poker, no more. For me it is quite affective with finding and plugging leaks in all the aspects of poker...

Lastly what I do it so play an apect of poker that I am not used to, like a RAZZ tourny or go play some live. This is to humble myself and realize that poker is not as easy as walk in and win. So that I know that working at poker is the only way to stay ahead of the average player.

Thanks alot for that answer!

My problem so far is probably that I only have short term goals, whitch means that when I get problems, my goals are destroyed ;/

I think I should put up more long term goals, that´s probably good!

I will also try to put in more study during bad periods.
Usually im good at studying when everything goes my way, but when I got problems and loose money, then I don´t study, only play more to try to win everything back fast as possible. that is probably not a good thing to do, Think I need to study also during hard periods (probably even more).

I will try to use your tips with the windows, sounds that something that could be affective.

Longer termed goals are very good to have....but you should understand why you are engaging in poker in the first place. Are you in it for monetary profit or for a passing the time enjoyment.

If you are in it for more enjoyment, then you can look at it like going to the movies. I will pay for admission, popcorn and pop to a movie even if I am not sure I will like it or not. If I don't, well I do not worry about the money that I spent. If I did, great but I still do not worry about the money I spent. Same aspect in poker, if for the most part you just enjoy playing the game, getting AA now and then....bluffing with nothing for the thrill etc...Then it does not really matter the monetary sum that you put into it as long as you can resposibly afford that money. You do not go to the movies with your last 20 dollars and 10 days left before payday....

If you are in it for Monetary profit....well that is a completely different world of poker. You will need to view it as a education/career instead of a pastime. Ones does not become a lawyer but arguing points over beers with friends, by watching people's court or by wearing a suit/holding a briefcase. You need training, education, mentorship, articling, real world experience, and serveral levels of jobs in the field of law before you can become a lawyer. Then several more years of training, education, mentorship, and experience to become a good one. This is the same as poker with all the same requirements.

So for you to decide which side of poker you are on is the first step. If you do want a monetary return from poker. Then realistic long term goals are needed and realistic expectations of the requirements to meet those goals as well.

I hope the windows idea works for you. Focusing/studying while you are running good is just as important to maximize profits. But doing it when you are not running well for what ever reason is essential to staying on track with your goals.

Originally posted by Ultifanatic
You do not go to the movies with your last 20 dollars and 10 days left before payday....

Ones does not become a lawyer but arguing points over beers with friends, by watching people's court or by wearing a suit/holding a briefcase.

These are some nice points... really sums up what kind of mentallity it takes if you want to move up. The one thing I find that works really well is if you play less tables 4-6 usually 4 is best though and focus on reads, rather than just trying to play 12 tables and play ABC, this will create a better win rate though you will play less hands BUT you will learn while you are playing rather than after grinding out hands and reviewing (though you should still do review post playing a session).

Thank you guys. I know it might be better for game-development to play less tables but I find it not as funny as playing many tables, because I like action. But I will try to play less tables from time to time to focus on reads and stuff like that.

Now I have watched movies and visited coachings for 2 days (instead of playing a single hand) and it is staring to feel better. I will soon be ready to face to game at the table again I think but I will keep your words in mind.

Thanks
J.R

I'm playing sessions of 5k hands.

After i'm done i point out thing that made me lost money, grab the hand histories of those i recall and start analyzing by myself.

Then i go to book, articles to see if i could've done different.

I always find myself right.

You can always improve your game. If you're are feeling like a fish, start thinking why are you putting yourself as a fish to others. If it's just your head or maybe you are playing poorly.

And never-ever think that you're better than anyone and that you can always outplay them. 2 big mistakes in one sentence.

ps: get out of the house and grab a beer from time-to-time