Last week was a good one for me. I won money in 7 out of 10 tournaments! I was focused, watched the other players, got information and played with patience and the knowledge that I was playing right.

Then it happened. This last Monday, I started out with confidence and things seemed rather normal, I was playing only 20% of the hands at most( which is about average for me). As the tournament progressed, we got to middle stage and I started to play a bit more aggressively. I took a bad beat and lost a bunch. Not to worry. I just went on to the next hand, which was AK suited. I was in position so I bet aggressively, only to be called by three other players. The flop hit A56. I was still in good position, so I bet aggressively again, only to be called by all three players. By the end of the hand, I was low on chips and was beat by a straight. This kept on until I was out of chips. This scenario continued for the next three tournaments!  Now I’m a little upset and wondering what I am doing wrong.  I found myself thinking ‘my AQ suited is probably going to get beat by the guy with the 92 off suit’.  I started betting erratically (for me) and finally realized that my attitude was terrible!

One Solution:

When my attitude gets bad, I have a method to set me right.

1.  I take a break for the rest of the day.  I well know that slumps come in many different time frames. One tournament, one day, one week!

2.  I log onto one of my poker sites (I play at many), watch for an STT getting ready to start and log in as an observer.

3.  I watch the play as if I was a commentator.   In fact I am but only to myself.

4.  I comment on the guy who is in every hand and what I think of his play.  I comment on the guy who is totally out of position but goes all in when he didn’t have to.  I comment on the bad beat and  all the information that the table gives me.  I keep this up for two tournaments.

By now I start to realize that if I played the way that I comment (as an observer), MY play would be more objective and I would be seeing the tournament as I should.

Works for me!

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