Winning and Swinging!

As children, we were told, “it’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how you play the game. Of course, we kids all knew this was a bunch of crap. Our childhood observations taught us that winners got the glory, the girls, and the money. How we played the game didn’t amount to a hill of beans; winning is what mattered. And, of course, that “winning” mindset is entrenched in our brains. We want to book winners, some of us at almost any cost.

But poker is different. It really doesn’t matter whether you win or lose this hand or this session with the exception of how it psychologically affects you and your opponents. Your win-loss record isn’t even relevant. What really matters is that you got the best of it, knowing that over time getting the best of it will turn you into an overall winner, one who amasses the money. It’s better to win one-third of your sessions and be an overall winner than win 80 percent of your sits and be loser. Yet, where is your focus when you get ready to sit down? It’s on winning now, isn’t it?

In the short run, luck is an enormous factor. You’re just going to lose many sessions even though you have played well. Conversely, you may play poorly and have a huge win. But what is going to matter over time is the quantity of edge in which you got your money in, not whether you won or lost. And when you play poker, your focus needs to be on how large an edge you attained on your money wagered.

Winning and losing affects us all psychologically. It’s that “winning mindset” you hardwired into your brain at an early age. You love to win and hate to lose. But swings are part of the game and can be an asset or a liability depending upon how you handle them.

We’ve all observed “tilt” in ourselves and others. How do you handle the swings? If you’re very stable emotionally, choosing a playing style that creates greater swings can be a huge advantage. Not only will your style force you to take larger swings, but it will also compel your opponents to take them, and some of them can’t mentally cope with large swings. Handling those swings better than your opponents will increase your edge. Conversely, if you’re prone to “tilt,” selecting a solid style of play less prone to swings will reduce the effects of that weakness.

Beyond the immediate emotional impact of “tilt” lies a longer-term psychological issue, the loss of confidence during an extended losing streak. When confidence erodes, players get defensive, their mood deteriorates, they lose trust in their decisions, pay off too much and change from correct strategies to incorrect ones because they believe their losses are due to strategic errors rather than luck. Often the player isn’t even aware of the fact that losing has affected him. This psychological effect is often the reason you see once great players come to be run-of-the-mill!

On the other hand, winning will also have a psychological impact on you. We all like to think that when we win it’s our skills and when we lose, it’s the cards. Just like confidence erodes while losing, it accentuates while winning, often to just as much detriment. Players get euphoric, overconfident, and “play their rush” when the situation doesn’t warrant it. Sloppiness creeps in during winning streaks, we let down our guard, don’t focus as hard. Why? Because winning feels good, we’ve already attained that goal and want to enjoy the moment. However, your real focus needs to be on crushing the game for the maximum, not resting on your laurels.

When playing poker, you need to consistently maintain quality play and not let the emotional swings of winning and losing effect your performance.

Of course, you should recognize how you’ve been running has affected your image and your opponents’ play. Examples of correct adjustments are: when winning, opponents may be more intimidated by you and seek to evade you, thereby increasing your “fold equity,” making blind steals and bluffing more lucrative. Different opponents may feel their ego threatened, and confront you more often. Against this opponent you want to analyze their changes, and then design and utilize counter-strategies.

When you’re losing, opponents may feel more empowered to challenge you, thinking that you can’t make a hand. Against this type of opponent you need to play solid hands and trap more liberally. If you have been running “starting hand dead,” you now appear to be much tighter than you really are. Once again, you might be able to steal the blinds and bluff more frequently because your “fold equity” has increased.

The point I’m making is to adjust your strategies based on how your opponents are reacting to how you’re running, rather than adapting to how you are feeling about how you’re running. The plays you select should depend on your read of your opponents’ reactions to your recent results.

Mentally, conclusively accept that poker is a long-run game and your primary object is to get your money in with as big an overall edge as possible. Don’t get caught up emotionally in your results.

Getting too full of yourself when you are running good or getting overly despondent when running bad will cause you to make emotional errors. Because poker is a game of both luck and skill, your short-term results will be determined mostly by luck, your long-term results will be determined by how well you play the game. Use your mental energy to focus on what you can control, playing the game well!

In short, just play good poker and the winning will take care of itself! ♠

Roy Cooke played poker professionally for 16 years prior to becoming a successful Las Vegas Real Estate Broker/Salesman in 1989. Should you wish to any information about Real Estate matters-including purchase, sale or mortgage his office number is 702-396-6575 or Roy’s e-mail is [email protected]. His website is www.roycooke.com. You can also find him on Facebook or Twitter @RealRoyCooke