Poker Attitude

[HarlemShuffle]

I have been playing poker for a while and I know I'm a half decent player but was finding that my results weren't good. When I put my mind to it I always did quite well. In the end I put it down to my attitude. Having the right attitude at the table goes a long way. I believe it improves your game.

Read this and I hope it helps someone:


"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company ...a church ...a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes. Don't become a wandering generality. Be a meaningful specific."

[vampitup]

 

This happens to me as well, in poker and in life.

  When I feel down I get outdrawn and play badly.  When I am in a good mood my results improve. 

[AndrewT]

Essentially this is just a long-winded way of saying that you should strive to always put yourself in the frame of mind in which you play your best game.

Different people have different ways of ensuring they are playing their 'A' game. Some can only manage it for a while before they revert to type, whereas some convince themselves they can do it so they don't have to change their ways ('I always play my best after a few drinks').

For me, the best piece of poker advice I ever received was from John Shipley. He said the key to success at online poker is just four simple words - 'Turn off the TV'. I was amazed at the improvement in my tournament results once I concentrated properly on the poker. Of course beforehand, I'd convinced myself I was already playing my 'A' game ('I can watch The Simpsons and play poker at the same time') but I was only kidding myself.

BTW, the last line of HarlemShuffle's post (the 'wandering generality' bit) is a separate quote from Zig Zigler - who's a motivational speaker and salesman.