Poker - It’s the Decision That Counts, not the Outcome

Tilting is so rampant in the low limit online games I play that I am often more amused now at my opponents propensity to fly-off-handle than I am surprised. It happens nearly every game, whether the result of a bad beat, bad play, or God forbid… a miss-click. Granted no one is immune from tilting and even though I normally avoid it, there is still a tendency once in awhile to throw my laptop into the backyard fish pond. That being said, I am far more composed when compared to the antics of table monkeys having poker fits that I am sure would make hilarious, if not outrageous youtube scenes. Poker is a game of decisions and making mostly correct decisions is bound to move your bankroll upward consistently. The key here is decision making and assuming you are within your bankroll and have chosen your level wisely, you really need to start counting decisions as wins or losses because long term that is what will effect your poker progression, not suckouts. So after every hand you are involved in, start marking in a notepad beside your game window if you made a mistake or not – NOT whether you won or lost money. A huge pot win could have been deemed a mistake such as you being a 4:1 underdog with 99 against your opponent’s JJ and a river 9 saves your no limit poker tournament. Of course there are other factors involved but after the fire from the hand dies down, realistically assess your action and tabulate a right or wrong in a notepad and keep a cumulative tally as well. It’s sort of like a self check system, but sooner or later when you come to a skill level where you can say I am making very few errors you will have learned, finally learned that it is all based on decisions, not the outcome in a hand that counts. You will find it invaluable here to get to know and use your poker calculator during every game as they basically tell you straight up if you are making a mistake or not. If you find yourself making a huge majority of correct decisions and still struggling then you may be on a bad run, but over time that just cannot be the case. You are probably risking too much with marginal situations, deluding yourself as to what actually a good decision is or is not, or simply giving up and accepting the idea of an eventual reload. Come on now, you can do better than that!

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