⬆️ Self-help during upswings and downswings⬇️

There is a good quote:

YOU ARE DEFINED BY TWO THINGS:
YOUR PATIENCE WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING,
AND YOUR BEHAVIOR WHEN YOU HAVE EVERYTHING.

Poker will always test us for strength.

When everything is going badly, but we don’t break —
we go through an important lesson
that shapes our character and makes us stronger.

When everything is going well, a different test begins.
We relax and start playing loose.
Euphoria, self-admiration, and a sense of invincibility
can blind us
and destroy an entire stack, becoming the cause of defeat.

Going through these mistakes,
I continue to admire those
who are able to control themselves
both in bad times and in good.

To stay resilient when everything is against you.
To remain humble when you are the chip leader with a big advantage.

Self-regulation is one of the most important psychological aspects of the game.

How is it for you?
Are you able to control your emotions
during upswings and downswings?

I want it all,
I want it all,
I want it all, and I want it now.

-Freddy Mercury.

If that doesn't sum up the human condition and tilt I don't know what does lol.

GL

EDS

Sos1l said:

How is it for you?
Are you able to control your emotions
during upswings and downswings?

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Hello Poker fan,

I recently had a small melt-down and blew a few bucks in a rebuy and add-on tournament - which is not a tournament I play regularly. Short story, I got upset at the hands that I kept losing and got a bit wild and sharted shoving like a mad man .

Before this melt-down, I was doing pretty well and was proud of myself going through the upswings and downswings with wonderful self-control and a positive mindset. Poker is great at testing your resolve - the times when you do win it all wipes away all the bad beats and you get that "finally" feeling .

I really enjoyed the poem. Thanks for sharing and good luck at the tables!

redboy23 said:

Hello Poker fan,

I recently had a small melt-down and blew a few bucks in a rebuy and add-on tournament - which is not a tournament I play regularly. Short story, I got upset at the hands that I kept losing and got a bit wild and sharted shoving like a mad man .

Before this melt-down, I was doing pretty well and was proud of myself going through the upswings and downswings with wonderful self-control and a positive mindset. Poker is great at testing your resolve - the times when you do win it all wipes away all the bad beats and you get that "finally" feeling .

I really enjoyed the poem. Thanks for sharing and good luck at the tables!

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Hi, and thank you as well.
Yes, the poem is very good. I don’t know who the author is, but he’s clearly a man with real life experience.

That’s true — victories help you forget defeats.
I think that even the most iron-nerved regs sometimes lose control. It’s impossible to keep losing without it affecting you at least a little in a negative way. No one is a Terminator.

But still, the one who knows how to control himself will go far.

Patience when you have nothing (mentally surviving a downswing is already a victory).
Humility when you have everything (becoming more emotionally conservative when you’re winning).

austral said:

Patience when you have nothing (mentally surviving a downswing is already a victory).
Humility when you have everything (becoming more emotionally conservative when you’re winning).

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You explained perfectly what I wanted to say👏👏👏

When you lose because of bad beats and start tilting, you start losing even more. Most people are susceptible to tilt, but I still try to fight it. When this doesn't work, it's cheaper to interrupt the session.

Fosterbio said:

When you lose because of bad beats and start tilting, you start losing even more. Most people are susceptible to tilt, but I still try to fight it. When this doesn't work, it's cheaper to interrupt the session.

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Well said — everything is straight to the point.
When self-control is strong, our self-expression improves.

Hello everyone! I read it and agree with all the words; indeed, it is a small victory when, after a downturn, you don’t give up and continue to play. And truly, it’s another test: when you have everything, to not lose control and not start doing foolish things. Mental attitude and calmness are important keys to success. Every time, every day after the game, I analyze my actions. It’s not really about working on mistakes, like how I played a particular hand, but rather how I felt at a certain moment during the game.

Dzill_230 said:

Hello everyone! I read it and agree with all the words; indeed, it is a small victory when, after a downturn, you don’t give up and continue to play. And truly, it’s another test: when you have everything, to not lose control and not start doing foolish things. Mental attitude and calmness are important keys to success. Every time, every day after the game, I analyze my actions. It’s not really about working on mistakes, like how I played a particular hand, but rather how I felt at a certain moment during the game.

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Yes, the game requires hard skills that are formed only after many years of practice. Without improvement, you won’t achieve anything. It’s no secret that only a very small percentage of players are actually profitable in poker.

Analysis is valuable in all its forms — whether it’s analyzing actions or analyzing emotions. The first helps improve the quality of decision-making in future sessions, and the second helps with self-regulation during the game.