Sometimes you just need a break.
For the last two months I’ve been doing a whole lot of losing and not very much winning while playing poker. It all started with a very bad run of cards that I was getting while playing online. Every bad beat imaginable. However, this post is not about bad beats. They are part of poker and we all have to deal with them. Furthermore, no run of bad cards lasts this long.
I have determined that the main reasons why I have not been making money at limit tables or even making the money in tournaments is because I am too stressed. It started with the bad beats I was getting on Ultimate Bet and Poker Stars. In the course of several days I busted on both sites, about $200. Not that big of a deal but it started the downward spiral. I realize now that after a few tournament wins I felt like I was going to win every SNG I entered. So rather than playing poker I just threw my chips around assuming I would win. And when I didn’t, I felt somehow shorted. This is not the attitude to have at the poker table. I started setting myself up to lose.
Rather then rethinking my game, I kept this attitude that I am supposed to win all poker games at the home games I was playing chericasino.net and on my trip to Windsor, Canada. However, once I received a bad beat my stack quickly disappeared because I went on tilt. For some time after I didn’t realize I went on tilt but I can see it now. Instead of blowing it off I started playing hands way to strong against the weaker players. I would be super aggressive with good hands (rather then trapping) from fear of getting another bad beat. I would also call down many hands I shouldn’t have just to try to give someone a bad beat back. This was a really good way to lose money.