The world of poker isn´t always cookies and honey as most would have you believe. Don’t get me wrong, it is a wonderful game full of intrigue, cunning and even love. But sometimes it is harsh, and reading a few articles about the harshness of poker might help you more than reading 100 that only speak of the fortunes of poker.
I hear you thinking, he is going to burden us with endless tears but I´m not here to cry, I´m not like that. But I am here to warn you, that although poker life is fantastic, you need to beware of its trappings and dangers, because they could ruin your life in a way you couldn´t have foreseen when you were rolling good and playing well for all those months.
One first form is the simplest, yet the most dangerous of all; the short losing streak. This happens quite a lot when you are sitting at a table and doing fine, not great but fine. You are playing very loose and win quite a few hands, lose some others, the usual poker stuff. You play a little better than your opponents and therefore make money in the long run, basic stuff. But then, seemingly, disaster strikes; you start losing almost all of your hands, be it failed bluffs or bad beats, you lose ‘em. This might go on for a few hands, perhaps 5 or 10 played hands in a row.
Now in the poker player’s mind he is losing touch with reality. In these few hands he starts to doubt himself, his style of play and his image on the table. Yes, the poker player starts to steam. This could seem innocent enough, but rest assured; is it disastrous if you let this slip your attention and go with the emotional flow, even if only for a few hands. Because those hands, after a losing streak, are the ones you are losing your money with. Those hands are the ones that make you a bad player.
Let’s take a closer look at what is happening here in the long run. As always, good runs are often enough associated with skill, and bad runs are associated with bad play. This is the first big mistake a beginning professional poker player can make. Poker is a game of the long haul this can’t be stressed enough, and should never be looked upon too closely hand-by-hand. It is a game that is learned by playing it. If you learn a game by playing it, you need to understand and see your mistakes and learn from them as you go along.
The biggest problem is that mistakes are, in the poker players mind, often overlooked, since they are often left unpunished. And on the other hands, good play is often overlooked, because it is often punished. Simply put, you need to be one hell of a logical and non-arrogant son of a bitch to learn poker properly and feel the real game. This starts with understanding and seeing mistakes that won you a lot of money, and stop repeating them, even if it has been rewarded before, and also recognizing good play if you got punished by it.