Playing Well on Bad Days

[babyrosejr]

The hardest part of poker is not learning ranges.
Not math. Not strategy.
It’s accepting that you can play well
and still have a bad session.
No mistakes. No tilt.
Just bad outcomes.
Poker quietly checks one thing every day:
Can you keep playing well when nothing goes your way?

 

[hardongear]

I think the hardest things about poker is doing and being good at the following things: bankroll management, mental toughness/tilt control, patience, discipline and game selection. Cause if you can't do them things well one will never be a winning player.

I mean anyone can learn charts, learn poker strategy, study ICM and read poker books. Poker isn't rocket science and poker math isn't even that hard. What's hard and what the majority of people are terrible at are the 5-6 things I listed in my first sentence. Do those things well and a simple TAG strategy will get you pretty dam far in poker.

Cheers!!!

 

[joango123456789]

When such thing happens (bad outcome no matter what) I just quite for that day. And I would recomend doing so to every player. On the other hand, there are days when everything seems to go extremly well -then just stick to playing as long as you can.

 

[odonob]

Yes, one has to fatalistic when it comes to poker indeed. One day you get the breaks, the other you can play well and lose almost all your hands. It is what it is.

 

[Propane Goat]

Sometimes its better to recognize that you're done for the day instead of trying to force it and chasing losses, there's no harm in taking a break and coming back fresh tomorrow with a clear head.

 

[TheniT]

When the game is bad, I simply keep playing, because we never know when it will return to normal.

 

[R.Melnyk77]

The hardest part of poker is not learning ranges.
Not math. Not strategy.
It’s accepting that you can play well
and still have a bad session.
No mistakes. No tilt.
Just bad outcomes.
Poker quietly checks one thing every day:
Can you keep playing well when nothing goes your way?

I agree. Difficult days can significantly affect a player's motivation. But I do something very simple: I focus my attention on long-term goals, and this focus allows me to easily cope with temporary difficulties and challenging periods.

 

[csabika94]

The moment comes when you have to realize that this is not your day... new day, new hopes... you have to stop not because you are forbidden, but because after a while your game changes and bad habits are formed.

 

[veszmo]

I agree with you, it's useless to play well if you're not lucky. Poker is primarily a game of chance. It's not worth getting into it without a love of the game. In addition to luck, experience, self-discipline and perseverance are very important.

 

[KeyPatience]

The hardest part of poker is not learning ranges.
Not math. Not strategy.
It’s accepting that you can play well
and still have a bad session.
No mistakes. No tilt.
Just bad outcomes.
Poker quietly checks one thing every day:
Can you keep playing well when nothing goes your way?

The answer’s hidden in your question itself!
Everything in poker (and life) will go your way if you keep playing well (staying positive) when nothing’s going your way! ✌🏼

 

[fundiver199]

Sometimes its better to recognize that you're done for the day instead of trying to force it and chasing losses, there's no harm in taking a break and coming back fresh tomorrow with a clear head.

Exactly. Even if we are not super tilted, for the vast majority of us we enjoy poker the most, when we are winning. And unless poker is our sole source of income, which is not the case for the vast majority of players, it should always bring us enjoyment. So be honest with yourself and ask this simple question “am I still enjoying to play”?

And if the answer is no, but the motivation to continue is to “get unstuck” or reach goals of playing a certain number of hands or tournaments per day, then call it a day and stop. If we are facing a longer period of negative variance, then its also fine to scale back in a more general way. Play shorter sessions, take more days off, play less tables, manage your remaining bankroll more conservatively.

 

[Ruslan L]

The hardest part of poker is not learning ranges.
Not math. Not strategy.
It’s accepting that you can play well
and still have a bad session.
No mistakes. No tilt.
Just bad outcomes.
Poker quietly checks one thing every day:
Can you keep playing well when nothing goes your way?

Those who do not rely on poker for their financial income can play any days. Those who live off poker need to understand when it is better to take a break, a break that will preserve their bankroll.

 

[dzsire]

I don't give the game a chance if I know I'm having a bad day. In those cases, I look for something else to do. I find plenty of other things. Of course, for someone who makes a living from this, it's hard. But there are plenty of other activities in life that you can do on a bad day. And if everything goes wrong there, then you should rather lie down and sleep to end the bad day.

 

[phoenixKK]

These days are black days with hell storm!
Playing correct but be eliminated by the bad beats is part of the game.

 

[Happy Bobi]

You need to react to the signals that the game gives you. Sometimes it's enough to spend 1-2 dollars to understand that today is not the day. Sometimes you can spend a little more when the conditions are more favorable. Limits on the game are good, but they need to be adjusted according to the situation.

 

[Phoenix Wright]

The hardest part of poker is not learning ranges.
Not math. Not strategy.
It’s accepting that you can play well
and still have a bad session.
No mistakes. No tilt.
Just bad outcomes.
Poker quietly checks one thing every day:
Can you keep playing well when nothing goes your way?

I remember Daniel Negreanu saying that he tries to focus on the things he can control. If he's playing well and knows it, then he's okay with that because he knows the results will eventually turn in his favor again. While in a downswing, he keeps learning and improving, so that when he begins winning again, he'll be a better player.

 

[Claudiunm]

Bad hands happen all the time. The main thing is to ask yourself: did I play correctly?
If you make a three-of-a-kind of aces on a board with four cards of the same suit, and the flush isn't yours, insisting on that hand is asking to lose. If you have AA in UTG and go all-in, you're not doing it right.
Now, if you played correctly and still lost, it's just bad luck.

I try to think like this: If I played correctly, I don't worry about whether I was lucky or not.

 

[kunkgreen]

Most of the time, no! haha
My patience runs out with every outrageous thing that happens at the table! lol

On rare occasions, even when everything goes wrong, I'm happy with the result if I've noticed some kind of improvement, and other times I'm upset even if I won a tournament, if it was an 'ugly' game with no progress.