Closing my Zoom NL50 tables after a 30-minute session, I checked my balance in the Poker Stars Lobby to see it to have barely moved off the $1,000 I deposited 3 months previously. That capped off 8 months of a flat win rate in online poker, something that had not happened to me in almost 2 decades of playing. Lack of a winning streak? All of my good streaks and all of my bad streaks of every length and depth
Five days left in WSOP’s DIY bonus. I feel like I never want to see another card again. So far, I’m about $500 up, not a good two weeks normally, but the $2000 bonus will make it worth it. Even if I break even, I’ll consider the bonus a successful half month. But this will be my last grind of its kind. Today, I was playing with ease. I was making hands and getting calls, things were fine. When I
I was chatting with another player about his “particularly bad run” over the last two days. I suggested that he take a break and do something else and he answered that he “plays through” his bad runs and that it “doesn’t affect his play.” I’ve heard the same thing for two decades of playing poker and it’s as much bullshit today as it was in 2000. Do I fall into the same trap as him? Absolutely. But as my career
Never stop learning. If you believe you know all there is to know about poker, then please, sit at my table! Below I’ve outlined a few of the best books I’ve read recently. Best Online Poker Book The Grinder’s Manual by Peter Clarke Peter Clarke is an accomplished online poker coach at Deuces Cracked. In his 689-page book, he covers online poker strategy ranging from simple position awareness to advanced 3-bet ranges. With the aggressiveness of online poker games all
Most poker players know of the withdraw doom switch, in which a downswing occurs immediately after withdrawing from the site. For me, it’s the promo doom switch. I tend to have my best months when I’m not playing for any kind of bonus. In the months the poker site is offering tons of rakeback via different promotions (read 55% rakeback), I tend to not do as well. My base cashback is 20%. I receive that because of my elite status
Stress or Tilt? We like to use the terms interchangeably. Recently I read The Mental Game of Poker, and he coined the word Accumulated Tilt, when referring to a streak of tilt that builds up in a player and affects his decisions. Recently, for me, I’ve decided to never use the word tilt when referring to ongoing emotional or mental problems. Tilt is what happens immediately after a loss or some other negative poker instance. Stress is what happens as
Accumulated Tilt! That’s exactly what I’m feeling. Of course, it’s just another term for stress, which I was already very aware of, but it was comforting to read that definition when I sat down with The Mental Game of Poker. My technical game in poker is strong. It’s been strong for a long time. There really aren’t any concepts in No-limit Holdem that I’m lagging far behind other players, even the best players. Sometimes though, I just can’t get out
For me, my biggest leak is playing while tilted. I could say it is simply being tilted, but that is not actually the case. I can be tilted and not playing and I won’t lose any more than I just lost. I’m going to get tilted when I play — most of us do. I guess there may be some Zen masters out there who could lose set under set, get someone all in on the turn drawing to 4
Winner’s tilt? I’d never even heard of that before watching Dutch Boyd’s twitch stream one evening. I’ve always felt I play much better when I’m winning… usually I believe that if I could just catch a couple good hands, I’d calm down and play better. I’m not certain of how much better I play when I’m winning, but I’m certain I play a much lower variance style. I keep out of marginal situations, with a general thought process of “oh,
