Do you ever wonder?

[TightEnd]

on any given day do you wonder if you can actually play NLHE?

do you suffer from crises of self confidence with regard to poker?

do you often think "no, I'm not good enough"?



p.s I am not asking from a personal viewpoint particularly, though I have my down stretches emotionally with regard to the game of course, but I was asked each of the three initial questions above by a good friend last night, who is struggling with his life in general and I had to provide my answers...   

[Graham C]

Can't say that I do.

[TightEnd]

ok let me put this another way..


this mate is recently seperated from his long term girlfriend and thier daughter, struggling at work and altogether down with life


I think his questions are really him saying to me "look I need help" and are nothing to do with poker really...


when he is in this mood though, shouldn't I be advising him to stay off the tables til he is a bit happier?

[Ginger]

Yes, yes and yes. The more I try to learn, the worse I feel and the less I knew the better I did!

My MTT game has gone completely to pot and I honestly feel I need to go back and start completely from scratch.

[Graham C]

Depends on his frame of mind.  The poker may be a welcomed distraction from his problems in Real Life.  If he's just losing money and tilting, then yes, advise he takes a break while he sorts himself out.

As for helping without poker, of course you should offer to be there if he needs someone to talk too or maybe take him out to do other things.

[Ginger]

ok let me put this another way..


this mate is recently seperated from his long term girlfriend and thier daughter, struggling at work and altogether down with life


I think his questions are really him saying to me "look I need help" and are nothing to do with poker really...


when he is in this mood though, shouldn't I be advising him to stay off the tables til he is a bit happier?

Hmmm hard to say really, 2 years ago I went through a similar time and I got the best results that I ever have done (but the choice of the split was mine, though still incredibly hard to make) If his head is full of turmoil it probably isn't the best time for him to try to concentrate on playing.

[AndrewT]

Get him to read all of this - it'll make him feel better.

http://88percent.blogspot.com/

[Sark79]

I would imagine doing this for a living gives you a completely different viewpoint than that of an amateur. The limits I play are small, so it isn't the end of the World if I lose a few STT, but at other players higher limits they may be better off staying away from the game and spending the day watching DVD's rather than risk their BR. I always find poker relaxing and have never felt anything but happiness while playing. I guess if they don't feel like playing, there are many other things to do for a day or two, poker will still be there.  Isn't part of being a pro player also the ability to identify when it is the best time to take a break from the game than continue to battle on without the correct mind set for winning. 

[Colchester Kev]

Get him on a no limit heads up table with all his roll and skin him