Emotions and challenges of tournament poker

It's no secret, that tournament poker has ups and downs and rarely does the game go as you may have planned.

How do you handle the mental and emotional challenges of tournament poker?

Shells said:

It's no secret, that tournament poker has ups and downs and rarely does the game go as you may have planned.

How do you handle the mental and emotional challenges of tournament poker?

Click to expand...

how long is your poker experience if it's not a secret and can you tell me a couple of the best experiences !

my poker storms continue!

I avoid them.

Not much edge even against bad players.

Unless the MTT is very deep and has a slow structure, the "luck factor when the blinds get high" is just a variance amplifier that I don't like.

I try not to get upset but to work more on the game

it all depends on how you play, if you aim to play 40 tournaments it's easier because you're playing in another tournament again, it's 3-4 harder to play, don't forget about variance

I don’t have patience and I can only really focus in something for like 5 hours max, so, I choose to only play turbo or super turbo tournaments or a tournament with not so many players.

tourney is all about being a complete luckbox for hours.

For me, luck in poker seems to come in cycles, some games everything I play hits and all coin toss type
hands go in my favor but other times I can't play anything right and get absolutely no good cards. When
it is good, it is real good like getting AA and KK multiple times and winning with them every time and those
good games keep me playing !!

Shells said:

It's no secret, that tournament poker has ups and downs and rarely does the game go as you may have planned.

How do you handle the mental and emotional challenges of tournament poker?

Click to expand...

I have no emotions, so I just play and take the cards as they come. Only one two local tournaments, small money and prizes. Just enjoy playing, cash games are better for me.

I treat it badly sadly.I always trust that I will win now, but no.

I think they type of person I am helps out a ton. I am a very down to earth person and mellow as can be. I don't care about the money so much but the thrill of the competition what drive me to play poker. I live for the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat drive me.

I mean whole books have been written about the mental game of poker......,

so hard to answer in a sound byte but the variance of tourney poker proves exactly why

poker is a long term game, ..... you need a lot of patience and an understanding

of variance or you will be frustrated pretty quickly

luckyfish98 said:

how long is your poker experience if it's not a secret and can you tell me a couple of the best experiences !

my poker storms continue!

Click to expand...

My poker experience is limited and the majority is online. I used to play regularly up until my kids all got married and started families therefore when I do play poker now it's usually an SNG every so often.

My best experiences? Hmm. Some of my best experiences were some great finishes in CardsChat events especially if they had to do with the Team League. Another experience (two that I can recall) was playing a PLO tournament in the early years of learning poker. I had a basic understanding of the game but one particular time, I entered a $5.50 PLO tournament accidentally. I did NOT feel one bit confident to play a PLO SNG let alone a tournament. If I was any of the players at any of my tables, I probably would have been so annoyed based on how much time it took me to decide what to do next but I stayed the course and won the dang thing! I did that twice early on in my poker journey and both times it was PLO.

I remember tournament poker takes a positive frame of mind - staying calm in every tournament was not easy. Frustration would set in for various reasons so I had to find a way to 'fix' that. Believe it or not, meditation helped A LOT! If I was losing hands, and if it was important enough to me, I had to stop and wonder the 'why' and 'how' of a hand or if the hand was fixable for future reference. Sounds simple enough but this takes time to work on. Another favourite method of managing emotions while in a tournament (whether card dead, losing hands, etc.) I also found that sitting out for a couple of minutes without looking at the computer, such as getting up, walking around, and taking a quick break, helped me refocus.

As MK mentioned, if one is serious enough about fixing this part of their game, there is a lot of reading material and videos, too. You only have to find what works for you best.

I'm sure there were other methods I used in the past but it escapes me at the moment.

Becky Eubanks said:

For me, luck in poker seems to come in cycles, some games everything I play hits and all coin toss type
hands go in my favor but other times I can't play anything right and get absolutely no good cards. When
it is good, it is real good like getting AA and KK multiple times and winning with them every time and those
good games keep me playing !!

Click to expand...

I totally relate to the cyclical nature of luck in poker. It's like the game has its own ebb and flow. Sometimes, it feels like the universe is on your side, and you can't lose a hand. Other times, no matter how well you play, the cards just aren't in your favor. I think that's part of what makes poker so fascinating and addictive—the thrill of those hot streaks where everything goes right keeps us coming back for more, even when we're in a slump.

Shells said:

It's no secret, that tournament poker has ups and downs and rarely does the game go as you may have planned.

How do you handle the mental and emotional challenges of tournament poker?

Click to expand...

I deal with such moments very simply. Although sometimes there are situations that upset me, these negative emotions do not last long, a few minutes, after which I realise that it will take another day and more than one game ahead of me

The worst time in the tournament is when the late registration ends and the money stage has not started... you have to be very careful here, I think, and go in even less than you usually play))

I scream and swear bang my desk,lol Thats why I play online

i handle the emotions really well until it comes the 2 outs, god i hate them

I only play on-line poker. At the very beginning I was very patient. And then I became an emotional basket case.
I still am cringing thinking about it today. I am much better today in accepting the changing winning and losing cycles.
I just have to keep an eye on my blood sugar. Making sure I have the proper foods available and ready to eat.
Because when you are winning in a big tourney, you can be playing up to 4 and 5 plus hours.

Shells said:

How do you handle the mental and emotional challenges of tournament poker?

Click to expand...

When things are going well, I try to focus on not playing too confident, and avoiding loose and unnecessary calls.
When I'm not having a good run, I basically do the same thing. Focus on playing the right hands, without dispairing.
Although, I've been hitting the table a little bit lately, when I have a bad beat 😅🙈 but nothing that makes me tilt on the following hands. Maybe I need to meditate more 😅

I understood that the most important thing is to make the best decision in each hand played.

I have developed in my mind a confidence in process which neglects the short term result and which believes in long term results.

I admit that this confidence is not easy to insert into the mind to accompany me throughout the game.

Shells said:

It's no secret, that tournament poker has ups and downs and rarely does the game go as you may have planned.

How do you handle the mental and emotional challenges of tournament poker?

Click to expand...

I mainly play freerolls, so I take any situation and moment very calmly, even unpleasant ones. Freerolls save my nerves and therefore my health, and thanks to my participation in our community and the opportunity to play in our daily freerolls, I definitely stopped worrying even if something goes wrong.

Emotional stability is very important in poker, over time, having gained experience, you become less susceptible to what goes wrong.

I was forced to grow up and become mentally tough at a young age so was likely ahead of majority of poker players in this regard before I turned 16. Not that the one outers still don't bother me lol they sure do. I just can hide it better now in the moment and move on. The old heavy bag and speed bag do take a shit kicking though lol.

It also came down to understanding variance and how awful it can be in the MTT world. The best players in the world can go 2+ years with a major cash or an MTT win. And they put in a lot more volume than a hobby player like me.

The MTT world is a tough dam place whether it be live or online.

Cheers!!!

It's true that poker is a mix of feelings, happiness when you hit a hand, frustration when your opponent's card hits the river, but I know how to handle it well because it's part of the game.