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Message: [QUOTE="apokerplayer, post: 1971685, member: 89201"] I no longer play for a living; only did that for three years. I came to realize I wasn't cut out for such a lifestyle. Too many psychological shortcomings, to be honest. On a related note, I was not great at handling downswings. One of my weaknesses and how I knew I probably wasn't cut out for full-time poker. It can be quite brutal and maddening. I think some people are just better suited at psychologically handling the variance of poker; some people are just born with more stoic temperaments. Not to say that the correct poker mindset can't be acquired through diligence and reinforcement, but it seems to me that some people just have more of an uphill fight than others. As to strategies to fight the negative effects of a downswing, I'd say that the only thing that has worked for me is to continually remind myself that there can be a huge amount of variance in poker. The people who best succeed at poker are those who accept that variance with an open, objective heart, and this is not easy to do. It's the reason there are very few people who can play at the highest levels. When I am running (or playing) my worst, I try to remind myself that this internal pain I am feeling is the very fight that separates the best players from the good-but-not-great players. And if I want to have a shot at playing exceptionally, I must confront the often-painful nature of poker full-on in the hopes of rising above it. Assuming one is a winning player, I think that eventually one will rise above the pains of normal variance. Although, as I've said, I think that for some people it is very difficult. I group myself in that group for whom it has been very difficult. But I have improved, which means I believe that I eventually would become as mentally strong as some others who are more naturally-gifted in that regard. Hope that wasn't too rambling. I'm looking back now and it looks kind of crazy. [/QUOTE]

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