October 07, 2009
My current learning focus: quitting well
After having looked at my first 70k hands @ 50nl, despite the fact that I genuinely believe I am skilled enough to C R U S H these games, I have realized that I am a very marginal loser there.. (net loss of $264 over 70k+ = 0.81/bb/100) so this really got me thinking about where I am right now as a player. Recently my focus (or lack thereof) has been on having fun while playing poker, trying new things out and seeing if I can pull off crazier and crazier plays. Thing is, this is just a no no if you actually want to win money at this game, and especially a no no at your current stakes. If you want to get creative for a while, move down a limit or two and go nuts. Really. Nobody cares that you managed to bluff with an under pair on a very wet board vs 4 players, nobody cares that you made a big call down with middle pair no kicker. Nobody.
You care about your results though.
So, what’s the most important to you? Making many fancy plays to jack off to later or having a sexy green line which will make you the envy of your peers? Or neither? Just play for the joy of the game and play to win as much money as possible.
So anyway, before I derail myself.. my current 50nl graph is horrible. The biggest downswing was over 22bi over around 35k hands. There are dozens of +10bi -10bi swings within literally 2k hands of each other. It’s definitely been a challenge coping with this. I’ve tried coaching, going for runs, doing tons (literally hundreds) of live sweats over skype teamviewer/mikogo, joining secrectHQ groups, everything I can imagine, but I still havent addressed my biggest leak. until now. I’ve been re-reading the Poker Mindset by Taylor and Hilger.
My biggest leak is not quitting when I know I should.I should quit THE MOMENT I make a play I can’t justify, THE INSTANT I lose focus, AUTOMATICALLY when I’m in a hand and I begin to waywardly think:
I should fold this, but…
I am stuck/ahead this session , so…
He is getting on my nerves, so…
I have been running badly/well lately, so…
All the above are sure signs of TILT.
The Golden Rule of Tilt:
If you are on tilt, stop playing!
When you find yourself in any of the mental states ascribed above sit out all your tables IMMEDIATELY and quit the session.
A very important thing to remember: Combating tilt is easy, so easy, and yet I’ve managed to get it wrong so many times. I have said things to others and myself to justify staying playing at the tables like:
I knew I was tilting, but..
..It wasn’t affecting me too badly.
..The game was so good.
..I was playing well enough to still win.
..I had nothing else to do the next few hours.
..I wanted to get my money back.
..I made a goal of X hands a month/X hands a day.
This is disastrous thinking, and can only really end up tilting more of your money away.
so, my current ‘learning focus’ (something cool I borrowed from TRD23 on 2+2 and PS+) is to quit well.
I’ll keep you updated
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