Poker Forums

Day 1:

$10 sitngo, played my way up to 4th in chips, folded to 1 guy in front, he limped I raised with a10, he calls, hit's his q6 os, i raise he reraises.....common sense id fold here, continued lost 3/4 stack...

knocked out later by qq with qq.


$3 touney, Aces cracked by k8 os


$10 tourney, qq cracked by ak early.


So now what do a tilt check? lol first game was bad on my part, 2nd was bad on my part board was horrible for me but figured with 2 pair on the board I was good, nope. 3rd was just ul.

so 2/3 lost to bad moves.

ill try to more before bed, to be continued.

Stop playing. There's no rush to recoup your losses. Take a break. Do things other than poker.

Take a break that is long enough that you've stopped thinking about poker and previous hands. Often times i'll take a day or two off, but am still re-running hands in my head. For me, this means i'm still not over my losses. I want to get back into the game after fully leaving the previous. You're clearly running bad and playing poorly. TAKE A FEW DAYS OFF!

This is real good advice. Running bad and playing bad is a lethal combination. If you don't get a handle on it quickly, you will find that it will take many months of good play to overcome a few days of bad play!

So what is running bad then you can't win nothing? I have no interest in recouping my losses, i just want to play good and see what happens.

Only placed once today so just a little under my deposit today and time for bed.

Though I learned something today that I really should start a daily log book on every game I play cause I realize some really bad patterns.

think i'll get some sort of online diary so I can look over each game and evaluate what needs fixing and what i'm doing right.

I dont really know how more clear we need to be when we say, STOP PLAYING.

Don't pretend you don't care about recovering your losses. You're playing poker for money, period. If you want to delude yourself into believing money is not your purpose, sit w/ play chips. You're playing for money, just as I am playing for money. Sure, playing good is a fantastic goal, but we desire to play well b/c doing so MAKES MONEY. No one plays good poker for good poker's sake. The sooner your identify your true goals, the quicker you'll realize how desperately u need to take a break.

There is no shame in conceding defeat for a couple days. There is no room for ego in poker. The greatest shame would be for you to A) lie to yourself about winning real $$$ and B) continue your stubborn, destructive path to poker bankruptcy.

Like Ed said about teenagers...take advice from people who have been in your position. You'll thank us for it eventually. Trust me.


PS. I am not trying to be condescending or accusatory, I say this because i wish someone had said it to me when i was in ur spot. As someone who shares space on the forum, i feel partially invested in you. I want you to succeed just as I hope you do for me. You help me w/ my hand analysis, i help you w/ ur discipline.

Great post Husky. I can see that some of you guys are raising the bar.

thx for the concern, understand where your coming from. Though honestly the thought of getting back to where i was before I lost it isnt something i'm worried about. It was 180 buyin and made up to 1500 so it's not a huge loss...if you think of it as what came out of pocket.

I really have nothing better to do right now than to play. I did take some time to get some things done i had neglected. Sure I want to win money but i'm not going to obsess about it I'm pinpointing my downfalls so all is good. Nor am I letting it influence my play wanting to catch up, was different when I was in the tilt zone.


The comment ed made about needing to have things under control all the time, kinda struck a chord. Well see what happens on day two!

btw, i really appreciate your guys info and concern it does mean alot. Mostly it's nice to know other people have been in the same spot.

If I take a break what books do you suggest I read? I have greensteins audio book thats about it.

Poker Theory by David Sklansky is a required read.

No Limit by Sklansky
Super System by Brunson
No Limit Cash Games by Harrington

All of these books are worth way more than what you pay for them. Remember when you buy a good book, all you need to do is learn one thing that your didn't know and the book has paid for itself many times over.

It is easy to think, "If I use up all my time reading a book, I won't have any time to play." If you are looking to be a REAL player, these books are a must. It doesn't do any good practicing, if you don't even know what to practice. Reading these books will get you thinking along the right direction and then when you screw up on a hand you will think, "that was covered in Super System and flip to the exact passage and reread that part.

There is NO WAY to acquire the knowledge that is contained in these books on your own. From the 70’s to the mid 90's I would read Poker Theory and the NL section of Super System at least once a year. It finally got to the point that I knew them so well that I knew what the next paragraph was going to say.

I wanted to be a great player and worked at it real hard. Poker Theory is not a "how to" book. It is every concept that a winning player needs in his arsenal. If one of these concepts isn't contained in your overall strategy, you have a leak that needs to be plugged up. On the other hand, if you manage to figure out how to get every concept incorporated in your game, you will be a real player.

I was a winning player capable of making a decent living playing poker every year. I still bought two lessons from Sklansky, because there were certain things that I wanted to kick around with him, so that I had them straight in my own mind.

It all depends on your attitude, are you looking to entertain yourself or are you looking to be a real player? If the answer is the latter, buy these books and take lessons and I GUARANTEE that you will be a winning player.

Yes, it means making an investment, going to college for 4 years is time consuming and expensive also, but it teaches you how to make money. I have heard a lot of people say over the years, "I am not spending $150 an hour to talk poker with somebody." If that is your attitude, it is the wrong attitude. $150 isn't much for one hour of drilling a pro with one question after another; so much gets covered in an hour that the student will say that it is the best money he ever spent when it is all over.

Look at what I have been sharing with you guys for free, what do think I will share with you for the money? I think after reading my posts, you already know the answer to that question!