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No matter how good you are, you cannot control the "luck" factor. Therefore, poker requires players to adjust their mental state more. So when we play cards, we should adjust our state.
So what are the main factors that affect your mental state when playing Texas Hold'em? Is it the outcome of the game? No. Let's consider a common scenario: you are playing multiple regular tables at the same time, and in one of the tables, you are in the BTN position and you have AA. The CO raises, you 3-bet, the CO 4-bets, you go all-in, and the CO calls. The CO has KK, and you have AA. You get bad beat.
How do you feel about this outcome? You made the right decision, it's just bad luck. If next time you get AA and someone 4-bets after your 3-bet, you would still go all-in. Regardless of the outcome, you know your decision was correct.
In every game, if you are as confident in your decisions as in the example above, then no matter whether you make money or not, it will not have a negative impact on your mental state, and may even have a positive impact. Because you have enough confidence in yourself to make decisions. If you make the right decision, you will feel happy.
On the other hand, if every decision you make has an element of risk, your mental state will be affected without exception. When you lose money, you will feel anxious and painful. These negative emotions will increase when you lose money, and decrease when you make a profit. However, if you continue to take risky actions, negative emotions will accompany you all the time, like a time bomb, and will explode when you lose next time. When you enter this state, it's not that you're playing cards, but that these cards are playing with you. You become more and more unsure whether your decisions are right or risky, you can't enjoy the happiness of making a profit, and the constantly updated hands are eroding your reasons until you reach the peak.
In the latter case, how do we adjust? When you constantly doubt your decisions, your energy cannot consider all the cards, so you must first reduce the number of tables in the game. The number of tables to be reduced depends on a person's ability. For an experienced player, 4-6 tables are ideal. After reducing the number of tables, the next thing to do is to focus on the game. Compared with profit or loss, you must be confident in your decisions. This confidence is built on the joy you feel when you make decisions in the game.
Even if you are losing money, but you made a very +ev fold, and you felt the process, then your confidence begins to recover. Or, if you win the pot, but when you look back, you know you were wrong, you only win the pot because of your opponent's mistake. Similarly, your confidence is gradually recovering. Because you are rational about your decisions. |
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