Where is the best place to play poker?
4. Strategic Reminder
Depending on when you catch your emotion (how advanced it is), you may need some time to return to solid play. You can shorten this time by reminding yourself of a few essential technical aspects.
This step has nothing to do with the psychological game; it's pure poker strategy.
For example, when trying to deal with an impending or ongoing tilt, you might make technical mistakes such as being too loose preflop, ignoring position, forgetting to assign a certain range of hands to your opponent, or not considering how your range appears to your opponent. Since you're dealing with a not fully functioning mind, those new skills you're currently learning disappear. To prevent this, write down one of these lists along with your chosen statement:
- A list of things that disappear (due to emotions) when you try to make decisions while playing poker.
- A list of all the factors you consider when making a decision.
You cannot expect to always play your best game. Such thinking ignores the reality of brain function under intense emotions. A strategic reminder helps maintain control of the game.
5. Repetition as Needed
The psychological issues in your game are not yet resolved. While playing, these issues will return and bother you, much like a fly you keep trying to swat away. Be prepared to go through the first four steps again and again as needed to maintain emotional control and good play. On some days, you may need to repeat these steps more often than usual.
6. Game Termination
Game termination is a skill. One component of this skill is understanding when a psychological problem becomes too big to continue playing. There is no precisely defined rule that dictates the best time to end the game. Sometimes you need to pull yourself together and just play, and sometimes you need to stop everything before it's too late.
However, ultimately, solving the psychological issues of the game means you have found a way to continue playing.
Some players have no choice – they must find a way to play despite any psychological issues. Tournament players are the best example of this, but even cash game players who make a living from it must find a way to play despite the problems. The point is that without a clear plan for solving problems, game termination ultimately only improves the skill of stopping the game but does not solve issues like tilt.
In fact, there are players who claim they have no tilt problems because they simply stop playing before they start tilting. However, avoiding tilt does not mean the problem has disappeared. Tilt does not appear because they are not playing, but this approach is also costly as it loses game hours during which money could be won.
Game termination gains strategic meaning when a player has a clear plan for solving the psychological issues of the game. There is always a choice, and each player must decide what suits them best.
The main factor to consider is the ability to recover and return to solid play. If you firmly know you won't be able to recover, then game termination is necessary until you can return to the game with a clear mind. If you firmly know or slightly doubt that you will recover, then consider the following method to increase your chances of success.
To play well during a bad period, mental strength is needed to control your emotions. Emotional control does not happen automatically. Effort is required to develop mental strength. It can be compared to lifting weights to build muscles: start with weights you can lift, then gradually increase them.
Similarly, when playing, instead of trying to continue playing in situations where you previously stopped the game, try to extend your solid play by just 5 or 10 minutes, avoiding major mistakes. As you feel psychologically stronger, add another 5-10 minutes.
Starting with small sessions, forcing yourself to maintain good play longer and longer, you will learn to control your emotions not only during certain hours but also during very unsuccessful periods.
Of course, such a strategy is somewhat risky. But you are a poker player. Evaluate the relative risk/reward of stopping and continuing the game and make the best decision depending on the situation.
