Most successful poker players fail. Or, at the absolute least, they fail to meet their full potential. Even when they have mastered the little games and can easily play profitably at the medium levels, they frequently find themselves back at the bottom, hunting for a stake or rebuilding their roll in the $1-$2 game.
There is no shame in it. Even the most gifted and experienced poker players find it difficult to play full-time. However, the majority of these players struggle to stay focused on the game. It’s not that they’re playing games that are above their abilities. They consistently make mental and judgment errors, which prevents them from achieving where they want to go.
It is impossible to achieve no-limit hold’em success without addressing the mental aspect of the game. I can’t cover everything in this essay, but I’d like to offer a few pointers with you.
You’re Going To Get Stacked Sometimes
My first mental obstacle while transitioning from limit to no-limit was stacking. Frankly, I was terrified of it. It did not matter how much money was involved. I played in limit games where $300 was a typical loss on a hand that went to showdown. These losses did not phase me at all. I had lost almost $5,000 in a single session and returned the next day to play.
But it was a whole different story with no-limit. I protected my $100 stack as if it were my baby. I wasn’t terrified of losing the money; I was afraid of being stacked. To me, getting stacked in no-limit meant being outplayed. It implied falling for a trick. It referred to being had. I had pictures of a Doyle Brunson-style Texas rounder from the 1950s piling my chips and comforting me, “Son, you win some and you lose some.”
This is just bullshit. Getting stacked has nothing to do with any of that. It’s a standard aspect of the gameplay. In fact, if you play no-limit often and don’t get stacked, you’re either investing a million dollars or playing poorly.
A good no-limit strategy is putting your stack on the line when you have the advantage. And having an edge is not the same as having a sure thing. You may have the upper hand with a large all-in bluff, but you will occasionally be called. You may have the advantage by going all-in on the flop with the nuts, but the river can catch you off guard.
If you have top pair against a really loose player, you frequently play to go all-in. It is a winning strategy since they will call with even poorer hands. However, they will undoubtedly call with better ones. If you play correctly and take the right risks, you will occasionally find yourself all-in with a top pair against a weak opponent with a set. You’ll end up stacked.
Leave Your Ego At Home
Consider that last scenario. You place a large all-in wager on top pair. A poor player you’ve been targeting all night makes a call and rolls over a set. Would you feel foolish? Be honest.
Many individuals would. I sure would have when I first started playing no-limit. Where does that emotion come from? It originates from your ego. Most poker players lose money because of their egos. Either they make unsound moves with weak hands because they are overconfident, or they avoid taking sound chances to protect their ego from the bruising of an unfortunate outcome.
The ego has to leave. It is completely unnecessary in your decision-making process. If your opponent is awful enough to call an all-in bet with middle pair, going in with top pair is the proper move. Who cares what he brought with him this time? Don’t feel silly just because you were unlucky—even if he mocks you about it. Who cares? Your duty is to make the greatest decisions possible, and if you do, you should be proud, regardless of who is stacking the chips.
Complaining about terrible beats is another sign of an inflated ego. In fact, if you’re complaining about terrible beats, you have a really serious ego issue. After all, if you lose to a poor beat, everyone can see that you played your hand well and had an advantage. And, now that everyone knows you should have won, your ego is still bruised? What happens when you go all-in versus a superior hand? I can only imagine the internal mushroom cloud such scenario would cause.
This is ridiculous. Every poker player wins and loses. No one cares if you win or lose today, this month, or your entire life. Nobody cares if you got the best deal or not. They may claim to care, but they do not. Losing a hand does not mean you lose face. Everything is just part of the job.
If you’re feeling angry, depressed, or embarrassed at the poker table, it’s likely that your ego is dictating decisions rather than your poker brain. Tell your ego to keep out of this.
Every Session Is A Learning Experience
Nobody has truly mastered no-limit. Everybody has more to learn. Even the world’s finest players must continue to develop, or someone else will take their spot.
You’re going to make mistakes in almost every session. Sometimes you’ll make several. Sometimes you’ll make a whopper. It is natural, and allowing it to affect you is another error.
Why are you playing today? Are you playing to show everyone how good you are? I hope not. I believe that playing to learn fosters the healthiest mindset. If you’re learning, it’s fine to lose. It’s fine to make mistakes. It’s also acceptable to stack. You’re only learning, and the experience will benefit you tomorrow.
That’s how I perceive the game: as an ongoing learning process. And here is the strategy I used to acquire control of the tilt monster.
Tilt is an issue for every player, but if you keep your ego at far as much as possible and let yourself to make mistakes because you’re still learning, playing poker will be a more enjoyable experience, your decisions will improve, and your results will eventually reflect that.
Keep The Stakes Comfortable
To be successful at no-limit hold’em, you must be willing to risk your stack when the circumstance requires it. Even if you’ve lost four buy-ins, you should still be willing to risk your stack when the circumstances warrant it. If you can’t—if you’re afraid of losing—you’ll play poorly and should give up.
Take out as much money as possible. Play for stakes that allow you to lose ten buy-ins while still wanting to risk the eleventh. Some people say, “I can’t play at those stakes because the money isn’t important.” “I simply don’t care anymore.” You must keep the game meaningful, but playing large stakes is not the only way to do it. When playing for a modest sum of money, I focus on one player and attempt to learn everything I can about their style of play. Then I look for scenarios where I can apply what I’ve learned to win something extra that I might otherwise have missed. It becomes a game in and of itself; I stop worrying about money and begin to play better.
The bottom line is that if winning money is what inspires you most to play (or losing money is what terrifies you the most), you’re going to find yourself in some extremely unfavorable mindset circumstances later on as variance carries you one way or another. Try to discover non-monetary reasons to play to keep you engaged. If you don’t, you won’t have anything to soften the emotional effect when the results roller-coaster starts hurtling downhill at full speed.
Losing is as much a part of poker as winning is. You don’t have to enjoy losing in order to achieve, but you must be willing to accept it. Whenever you lose, realize that you can start over tomorrow, completely fresh. The only difference is that you will be more prepared.
