IF WE KNOW WE DO, WHY DO WE DO?
How do we tilt?
Why do we tilt?
How often/sessions do we tilt?
How much does it cost us?
... Knowing all this, why do we then choose to KEEP TILTING?!
(YEP, I SAID CHOOSE! WE MAKE THAT CHOICE, IT DOESN'T CHOOSE US!)
Why wouldn't we make improving that part of our game #1 on our priority list?
Because there's such a short-term luck factor in poker, "cards," alone... or how we bet them, will never be enough. We're going to need something else-- something greater than the NEED TO RELY ON THE FLIP OF A CARD. "Burn-n-turn" will sometimes be our best friend, but like many friends... they come and go!
What are we going to rely on when that card DOESN'T hit? When we played the hand beautifully-- reraised to build the pot, while our equity was at it's highest... waited till the turn to pop, and thin the field, creating best chance to win pot. We played pre, flop, turn perfectly, but then the dealer turns over that dreaded river...
WHAT THEN??
How will our hand-reading skills help us then? How will our betting strategies we've learned from book 'X' bail us out then? We need something more, in order to keep surviving, to keep breathing.
What we will do when that nasty river snaps another buy-in? And another? How will we handle the 3rd straight losing month, when strategically, we did everything correct? We've done everything correct! We've done everything correct!
OR DID WE?
How do we really know we're playing our best? It's been 3+ mths. since we booked a winning session worth talking about... that can be incredibly tough on the mind. How do we know we've done all we could?
"Because I talked to friends," Joe said
"I asked questions on forum X," Shmoe answered
"Everyone says there's nothing I can do. The losing streak will work itself out," Moe replied.
Cmon... NO ONE really knows. No one but us! It's up to us to know we actually may NOT be fine. We may need to work on 'X'.
BUT, WHAT IS X?
I ask again. And I'll probably ask again and again:
What are we going to do when the cards we need don't show up? When they say, "screw you, Mr. poker player... we're no longer friends... at least not for a few hours/sessions/mths!"
How do you tilt? Why do you tilt? How often do you tilt? How much does it cost you?
... THEN WHY IN THE HELL DO WE KEEP CHOOSING TO TILT?!
Stay focused,
Dayne
