Psychologically playing poker is certainly a challenge. People from any background can log onto an online poker room and play poker against people from all around the poker with equal opportunities to win or lose. Much of the time players do not get the opportunity to adjust to a big win or a big loss before continuing to play and winning a poker tournament with a large prize can be just as difficult to deal with just as a big loss can be, although both are entirely separate experiences.
Coping with Success in Poker
Admittedly this is a good problem to have and you would rather have this problem than the next one, which is coping with losses.
Success experts say that unless someone with one million pounds “becomes a millionaire” in mindset as well as in their wallet they will not hold onto the money for very long and make poor spending decisions and investments to get back to their perceived reality of having little money. When you get a lot of money through a large poker tournament win, you do not automatically adopt this sort of sensible behaviour. You can get complacent, become flash and throw money away or simply start gambling harder, all of which risks your gains. None of this is good for you, or your bankroll.
If you win some money you should book a win. This means removing some of the money from your bankroll and using it either to top up your savings for a rainy day (or a bad beat!) and/or buying something nice for yourself. This reminds you of the benefits of winning rather than simply continuing to gamble in search of more. At some point what you win needs to be enough, or you will continue to take more risks until you eventually lose. This is the mistake made by many gamblers, when they are up they should walk away with a profit (think Isildur1 as a prime example).
Dealing with a Loss
When you are a winning poker player dealing with losses will still happen from time to time. They should not be regular and should not be larger than what you are winning over time but they still occur. It is difficult to motivate yourself to play poker if over two months you make £2000 then lose £1500 over the next month. You need to be able to mentally take these hits and still come back for more.
Dealing with a loss correctly is very important. You should analyse the hands you have played and assess whether it is luck or bad play that has caused these losses. Be very honest with yourself here as turning a blind eye to bad poker playing is likely to lead to further losses in the near future. You need to visualise better results in the future and try to keep a positive outlook. This allows your usually solid game to flourish. If you feel like you cannot win then you need further time away from poker until you mentally recover.
Do not worry that it hurts to lose as this shows that you care and also that you retain an awareness of the value of money. It may hurt but I would consider taking a loss and feeling nothing to be far worse. There is a difference between coping with a loss and being completely indifferent to it.
Poker causes positive and negative emotions and the best players manage these feelings and dull their impact (whilst still enjoying them and feeling the pain) very well. This allows them to play their best game more often. It takes time but it will come and the more poker you play the better you will become at managing these feelings.
By Malcolm Clarke
