|
« on: April 12, 2007, 01:37:09 PM » |
|
I found this excellent post by 2Slick4u at
www.pocketfives.com that I thought was worth re-posting. Check it out.
Cold streaks are the hardest thing in the world for a serious player to handle. Even in the best of streaks, you're still only Final Tabling a small percentage of your MTT's and winning even fewer. Given this small window of profitably, only those with huge bankrolls really can withstand these streaks without serious anxiety and aggravation.
The longer a cold streak lasts, the more apt even the most confident player is to second-guessing his play. In an effort to "do something, anything" to change our luck, most of us will begin to play more loosely, then more tightly, then finally more erratically hoping to break out of the slump.
If your income is in any way seriously affected by your cold streak, your frustration and aggravation turn into semi-panic and you lay in bed wondering and worrying about the bills and time itself starts to feel like a vise closing around your neck.
As I've said many times here, luck determines your poker profit and loss more than your skill. Anybody who says different is full of crap. Poker isn't golf. If Tiger Woods plays his best game, it doesn't matter who else is playing well; they can't "bust" Tiger out of the golf tournament by birdieing a hole by caroming their golf ball off of Tiger's into the cup while at the same time luckily knocking Tiger's ball into the creek. Which, in essence is what happens when you take a bad beat in poker. Skill gets punished while stupidity or bad play is rewarded at your expense.
When you get all your money in late in a tourney with AA and get called by some big stack who's been on a luck streak all tourney with 7-4 suited and he catches quad 4s on the flop, you're done even though you played your hand perfectly and he made a donkey call.... and, of course, in a cold streak this keeps happening over and over and over and over ......
Whenever someone posts a desperation request for help in a cold streak you always get the same litany of suggestions: "play fewer tourneys, play lower limits, take a few days off, blah, blah, blah." You can do all of these things and still have just the same rotten luck the next time you play.
I honestly believe my luck is as bad as anybody's who plays poker on a regular basis. My cards typically run good for at most a week or two, then run poor-to-god-awful for two to three weeks at a time or longer. During these bad periods I get almost nothing to see a flop with and when I do, I get crushed by loose-playing donkeys. And of course I do all the things I just described.
It may not make a hill of beans difference in your results, but I do think it's healthy and necessary to just get the hell away from poker (and gambling in general) for at least a few days during a bad steak, just for the sake of your own bruised psyche if nothing else.
Try to take time off and while you're taking time off, try to do things that are physical ~ get out and cut the grass, work out, do some bikeing, mountain climbing, anything which will exert you and make you tired enough so when you hit the sack at night you actually sleep deeply and restfully.
While I'm not a scientist and there are no definitive studies out on the subject, I believe the more mental energy you bring to the poker table will enhance your poker skills. A lot of mental energy, coupled with that intangible known as "a positive attitude" are two of the strongest things you can bring to the table IMO.
