ITH Poker Forum

[anthonya530]

and lucky...

Ian, this is great as all of your writings are. I could not have said this better,

I am waiting for the day that I have zero reaction but that might mean that I am dead and don't know it.

.

Just my 2 cents on this. Only way Ive been able to be numb, and therefore play better, is to multi-table. I don't get pissed at donks, because I don't notice them as much. My bad luck at one table is offset at another. And I'm just too frickin busy to worry about it !!

It's behavior modification that worked for me, as far as avoiding emotional swings go. Not necessarily having any particular mindset. Downside is, I grew to dislike the game. And quite frankly, still do dislike it.

[CJars]

why do we insist on calling it luck when its in poker. business people dont call it luck when they make a good investment that pays off, they call it correctly reading and reacting to a situation. and when something goes wrong with an investment and they lose money they just admit that the factors didnt play out like they thought they would. warren buffet doesnt bemoan his luck when an investment doesnt pay out, he just looks to make a better play the next time. he knows that in the long term correct reads are going to pay off. the luck doesnt matter in the long term. only in individual investments.

poker isnt dice. the luck of the draw is a factor but by calling it luck we are putting ourselves in a position where we think the stars are acting against us. luck doesnt exist. what happens is whats going to happen. the cards are stacked the way they are before we get our cards. all we can control is how we read each situation.

[jdcnb]

NO, someone is not going to be unlucky forever. But you can just play bad forever if you never learn!
The complexity and possibility of actual hands is HUGE! But that is ok, because most times we are playing based on situations. So most of what you learn you will be applying to situations you get into.
When I teach people about poker, I teach them to break the situation down, then it is much easier to handle:
1) Position
2) Preflop action
3) Player type/style
4) Flop texture
5) Flop action
6) Flop re-action

Then as soon as you know a player, you will know his style for each of the steps and be able to adjust/counter it.