Setbacks Will Happen

Everybody has to deal with downswings in poker. This is basically a period during which you are consistently not making good hands and you are getting coolered and taking bad beats much more often than normal.

There is no rhyme or reason behind when a downswing occurs. The same goes for their length and intensity.

Unfortunately there are many people out there who could have been great players but they faced a period of intense bad luck at the very beginning of their poker career and it was too much for them to handle. This is especially difficult because they had no experience in dealing with it.

On the flip side, how many times have we heard about the high stakes players of today who hit a huge heater to start their career? A huge HU session versus some particular fish. Or they got lucky and hit a big score in a tournament to jump start their bankroll.

Variance (both good and bad) happens to everybody and there is no telling when it will occur. There is a never a good time for a downswing and we will always feel like the heater is simply something that we are owed.

It is better to just stop thinking about it so much. The randomness of variance in poker is never something that will be in your control.

Source: http://www.blackrain79.com/2015/07/15-mental-tips-that-will-double-your.html

The Money Doesn't Really Matter

One of the great things about the micros is that if you have a bad day then you lose a few movie tickets or a nice dinner for two. At high stakes if you have a bad day then you could lose a luxury vacation, a car or even a house.

The money doesn't really matter to most people at the micros. Everybody hates to lose but is it really worth losing your mind over $20? How about $50?

You are going to have losing days in poker. It doesn't matter how good you are. The sooner that you start distancing yourself from viewing the chips as "money", the better off that you will be. And at the micros, this is extremely easy, because the amounts involved are often trivial.

But more importantly, and no matter what limit you are playing, you should learn to view the chips for what they really are, big blinds or simply capital in your business. They are just a convenient way of keeping score like points in a video game.

When you put them back into your bank account, then you can start thinking about them as actual money again.


Source: http://www.blackrain79.com/2015/07/15-mental-tips-that-will-double-your.html

Finally an Update with Results

Finaly an update with reslults at my 2+2 poker forum thread.
The profit was 158$ for these 15 days and as I said I will not give up my goal to nl100 no matter what.

I learned many things these days. I was mostly at the grinding side of game instead of searching for bad players. The most profits from cash games though came from hunting bad players. Also this strategy is more funny and made me enjoy the game more. I didn't follow my bankroll management rules and I played some hands at nl25. I know that I have a very tight BRM so it's not so bad thing. I realized that there is not so much difference to nl16. I will try to play more the next days, when the tables are good. See you at the tables and good luck! (I don't really need luck)

The Dream was Close

The dream was close on Saturday at the VIP tournament for Silver Star+ players at Pokerstars with 100 fpp buy in. The dream was the 1st place with price 3.700$. I managed to hung on until the 59th place of 6176 entries for 45$. Don't worry derek! next time!



The funniest hand was one that I was at big blind with AA and around 17 big blinds stack. One guy opened from UTG with stack 24 big blinds and stats 5/3 in 38 hands! I was happy of this because I though "He is never folding to my 3bet shove here". Of course he called to see AA and chop the pot hehe.

Embrace the Madness

I used to tell people with a straight face that I have probably taken more bad beats than anyone in the history of poker. I don't think that this is true anymore. But the reason that I was able to make this outrageous claim was because at the time I had probably played more hands of poker at the lowest stakes than any one else in history.

You know, the stakes where you see some of the wackiest stuff on earth all the time.

• Chase that gutshot!
• Flush draw or straight draw? We be calling the whole way!
• Middle pair? Bottom Pair? You crazy!? I can't fold that!

When this is the mentality of half the players that you are up against it should not be any surprise that you are going to take all kinds of crazy bad beats. It's just simple math.

However, at the same time, this is also the reason why the top winners at these stakes are able to sport such ludicrously high win rates. The math works the other way too. You see, most of the time when your opponents are chasing their ridiculous draws, they actually miss.

Our brains are hard-wired though to only focus on the few times that they hit. We conveniently forget about all of the times when our opponent ends up whiffing on whatever nonsense they were chasing and we end up winning the pot.

Yes, these kinds of players can be extremely frustrating to play against at times. But this is precisely why the micros are so profitable! You have to simply learn to embrace the madness.

Source: http://www.blackrain79.com/2015/07/15-mental-tips-that-will-double-your.html

Give up is not at my wordlist

After 10 days of uncertainty and full grinding, I finally did some kind of update at my 2+2 thread.
It's just a short update without results but it will come soon. My goal to nl100 will continue no matter what.

Give up is not at my wordlist!

Uncertainty in Greece

So much uncertaintly about economics in Greece last days. Things are going from bad to worst. Debt getting bigger, the unemployment is huge and there is no good mood for anything.  There is a daily withdrawal limit from bank accounts last days up to 60€. Paysafe card stopped offering services to Greece. At least this is not a problem for me because I rarely do any deposit except there is a good bonus offer. But who knows what comes next.

All this uncertainty causes anxiety and may affect your playing quality and decision making. For now we can only wait to see what comes next. Play only when you feel ok and relaxed. Hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Poker is very demanding and can be a disaster if let it be affected with real life problems. A clear mind is a "must", otherwise the game is lost before it started.