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5 Simple Rules To Stop Losing Money,
And Start Playing Winning Poker
And Start Playing Winning Poker
Rule # 5
Never Lose Your Cool
Never Lose Your Cool
We've all seen it when a player obviously loses their cool, what is often referred to as going on tilt. After losing a big pot, maybe to a long shot on the river, wiping out a large part of the players stack, for the next couple of hands the player plays irrationally. This is obviously losing your cool.
But there are many less obvious ways that we can lose our cool. There are many scenarios.
Here's one. Whenever you're in the big blind and everyone folds, the player in the small blind always raises big, and you fold. After this happens several times you start to get ticked off at the player in the small blind. The next time he does it you re-raise him. You know that he can't always have good cards when he does this. He's probably just bluffing you most of the time, right?
That's probably true. But this time he calls your raise, and you feel pretty silly when his pair of queens beat your T 8 suited. The problem is getting ticked off about it. Sure you don't want another player stealing your blind all the time. But instead of getting ticked, lay in wait till the right time, the time when you've got some good cards, and then make your move. Instead of getting ticked, and reacting emotionally, we want to be calculating, and act rationally.
Another scenario. The betting has been hot and heavy between you and the player to your right. It's a big pot. At the start of the hand you had 1000 chips in your stack, and now going to the river you've only got 200 chips in front of you. The river card comes but it doesn't help your hand. Your opponent bets 200, to call would put you all in. At this point you pretty sure you're beaten, but you think something like, "I've already got 800 invested in this pot, if I have that much in the pot I may as well call to see what happens, or see if he's bluffing".
Well that's kind of like saying "I've already lost 800, why don't I just lose 1000 instead". Not too rational is it?
What we've already put in the pot isn't ours any longer. It belongs to the pot, and the winner of the hand. Never, ever, ever think in terms of how much you have invested in the hand. That can only lead to bad decisions. It is irrelevant how much we have put in the pot. We are at one moment in time, with the information we have at that moment. Our job every step of the way is to make the best decision we can at that moment. The past is the past. What we've put in this pot is past history. The only thing that matters is that we make the best decision we can make at this moment. That's it, that's all that matters!
How about this situation. You've made a pretty strong bluff bet before the flop just trying to take the pot before the flop, but you got called. After the flop, first to act, you make another rather strong bet; it's just a bluff again. But again you're called. Now after the turn card what do you do?
So often I see players be determined that they will get the other player to fold if they make a very large bet. It does work sometimes, but it's not likely to work often enough to be a profitable play. Why? When the player called pre flop he probably had good cards. When he called after the flop, he had a hand, and is not likely on a draw. So a third big bet is likely to get called too. And if you are called you've lost a lot of money, and still haven't gotten to the river, where the same mentality that got you there is likely to lose you more money.
If a player has called two strong bets, it's not too likely he's going to fold to a third. While there are times and situations that a third large bet is in order, for the most part it's a loser. The idea here is that the mentality of "I'm going to bet so big that he's got to fold" is an emotional, irrational thought. Again poker is a game of the here and now. In this case you're on a stone cold bluff, and the other player looks like they've got a hand. It's usually best to let it be, and live to bluff another day.
Here's another situation. The turn card has just given you your fourth card to a flush. The other player bets 2 times the pot. You think "I haven't hit a flush in a long time, I'm due this time, I'm just so overdue, it's just gotta happen this time". So you call, and miss your flush.
The pot odds were screaming for you to fold, but you were too stubborn to listen to them. It may be true that you're overdue, the problem is that the cards didn't know it, or surely they would have obliged (wouldn't they?). Again, playing hunches is an emotional play, not a rational one. Playing odds and percentages will make you money. Playing hunches will lose you money.
How about this one. The river card comes and doesn't help your hand, and you're sure your beat. The other player bets, and you say, "Well, it's not that much and I just want to see his cards". So you call, and lose. It's not that there is never a time to call just to see someone's cards, and to see how they are playing. But calling just to see the cards is a losing play obviously, and you should almost never need to.
If we pay close attention to the play at the table, and whenever cards are shown think back to how the player or players who showed their cards played the hand, we can learn what the other players are doing, and how they are playing anyway. And we can let others pay for it, while we are learning about the other players. For me that is way more rational than calling a hand I know I've lost. Learn that every time cards are shown you want to go back over the hand in your mind and reexamine what transpired in the hand. You'll be learning a whole lot, and you won't feel like you have to spend money making a call to get to know how the other player is playing.
I could keep coming up with scenarios all day, but what do all these situations have in common? In each one of these the thought process is emotional, not rational. Poker is a game where we have to be rational, and not let our emotions get the best of us, and interfere with our decision-making.
To lose your cool means that your emotions are winning your inner battle. But to play winning poker, leave your emotions behind. It's not always easy. I remember one time I had trips three hands in a row, and each time I got beat by a straight and I lost a fair amount of money on those three hands. Now what are the odds of that?!? I have to admit that I let my emotions get the best of me. I was pissed. But I did what I always do when my emotions are winning my inner battle. I quit for a while, until I cooled down.
So always, always, always keep your cool!
But there are many less obvious ways that we can lose our cool. There are many scenarios.
Here's one. Whenever you're in the big blind and everyone folds, the player in the small blind always raises big, and you fold. After this happens several times you start to get ticked off at the player in the small blind. The next time he does it you re-raise him. You know that he can't always have good cards when he does this. He's probably just bluffing you most of the time, right?
That's probably true. But this time he calls your raise, and you feel pretty silly when his pair of queens beat your T 8 suited. The problem is getting ticked off about it. Sure you don't want another player stealing your blind all the time. But instead of getting ticked, lay in wait till the right time, the time when you've got some good cards, and then make your move. Instead of getting ticked, and reacting emotionally, we want to be calculating, and act rationally.
Another scenario. The betting has been hot and heavy between you and the player to your right. It's a big pot. At the start of the hand you had 1000 chips in your stack, and now going to the river you've only got 200 chips in front of you. The river card comes but it doesn't help your hand. Your opponent bets 200, to call would put you all in. At this point you pretty sure you're beaten, but you think something like, "I've already got 800 invested in this pot, if I have that much in the pot I may as well call to see what happens, or see if he's bluffing".
Well that's kind of like saying "I've already lost 800, why don't I just lose 1000 instead". Not too rational is it?
What we've already put in the pot isn't ours any longer. It belongs to the pot, and the winner of the hand. Never, ever, ever think in terms of how much you have invested in the hand. That can only lead to bad decisions. It is irrelevant how much we have put in the pot. We are at one moment in time, with the information we have at that moment. Our job every step of the way is to make the best decision we can at that moment. The past is the past. What we've put in this pot is past history. The only thing that matters is that we make the best decision we can make at this moment. That's it, that's all that matters!
How about this situation. You've made a pretty strong bluff bet before the flop just trying to take the pot before the flop, but you got called. After the flop, first to act, you make another rather strong bet; it's just a bluff again. But again you're called. Now after the turn card what do you do?
So often I see players be determined that they will get the other player to fold if they make a very large bet. It does work sometimes, but it's not likely to work often enough to be a profitable play. Why? When the player called pre flop he probably had good cards. When he called after the flop, he had a hand, and is not likely on a draw. So a third big bet is likely to get called too. And if you are called you've lost a lot of money, and still haven't gotten to the river, where the same mentality that got you there is likely to lose you more money.
If a player has called two strong bets, it's not too likely he's going to fold to a third. While there are times and situations that a third large bet is in order, for the most part it's a loser. The idea here is that the mentality of "I'm going to bet so big that he's got to fold" is an emotional, irrational thought. Again poker is a game of the here and now. In this case you're on a stone cold bluff, and the other player looks like they've got a hand. It's usually best to let it be, and live to bluff another day.
Here's another situation. The turn card has just given you your fourth card to a flush. The other player bets 2 times the pot. You think "I haven't hit a flush in a long time, I'm due this time, I'm just so overdue, it's just gotta happen this time". So you call, and miss your flush.
The pot odds were screaming for you to fold, but you were too stubborn to listen to them. It may be true that you're overdue, the problem is that the cards didn't know it, or surely they would have obliged (wouldn't they?). Again, playing hunches is an emotional play, not a rational one. Playing odds and percentages will make you money. Playing hunches will lose you money.
How about this one. The river card comes and doesn't help your hand, and you're sure your beat. The other player bets, and you say, "Well, it's not that much and I just want to see his cards". So you call, and lose. It's not that there is never a time to call just to see someone's cards, and to see how they are playing. But calling just to see the cards is a losing play obviously, and you should almost never need to.
If we pay close attention to the play at the table, and whenever cards are shown think back to how the player or players who showed their cards played the hand, we can learn what the other players are doing, and how they are playing anyway. And we can let others pay for it, while we are learning about the other players. For me that is way more rational than calling a hand I know I've lost. Learn that every time cards are shown you want to go back over the hand in your mind and reexamine what transpired in the hand. You'll be learning a whole lot, and you won't feel like you have to spend money making a call to get to know how the other player is playing.
I could keep coming up with scenarios all day, but what do all these situations have in common? In each one of these the thought process is emotional, not rational. Poker is a game where we have to be rational, and not let our emotions get the best of us, and interfere with our decision-making.
To lose your cool means that your emotions are winning your inner battle. But to play winning poker, leave your emotions behind. It's not always easy. I remember one time I had trips three hands in a row, and each time I got beat by a straight and I lost a fair amount of money on those three hands. Now what are the odds of that?!? I have to admit that I let my emotions get the best of me. I was pissed. But I did what I always do when my emotions are winning my inner battle. I quit for a while, until I cooled down.
So always, always, always keep your cool!
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