There is only one thing that is certain in the game of Poker: You WILL lose. You will suffer seemingly endless amounts of bad beats, unlucky drawouts, and horrendous plays that always seem to suck out against you. Almost all players, from Doyle Brunson to the two great Phils, Ivey and Hellmuth, have gone on terrible losing streaks and gone broke many times. But to be a successful poker player you have to play the percentages, and understand it is a game of patience. You may go bust 10 straight times when you have a 70% to 30% advantage and get drawn out. It happens to the best of us. Fortunately for us, the percentages WILL even out over the long run, its just the nature of mathematics.
So I guess this rant has 2 main points to it.
1. If you are serious about playing online poker, start with a high enough bankroll to be able to withstand these inevitable swings of luck. There is no set amount you should start with, but many poker pros believe that 20 times the amount of the tournament buy-in is a safe amount to start with.
2. Don't go on tilt. When you lose a tough hand, you aren't thinking as clear as you normally would about the next hand. It is just one hand, and there will be many others to play. Continue to play your game and avoid making reckless decisions trying to make up for the chips you just lost.
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This is a very important post here. You win some and you lose some, but its how you lose thats important. Take this clip from vinyl burns for instance...This is a poker genius and makes Ivey and Hellmuth look like newbs time and again. However not even a man this good can win them all and he demonstrates great dignity with his handful of loses.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aSkFlF3_M4