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How To Stay Focused


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I have the absolute worst time keeping focused after a shaky start or a big loss. I play my own game I'm incredibly patient but when I make a bad read it's terminal. It's like dropping a bomb in the rockies and watching the ensuing avalanches. My game falls apart. I correct after a while and get my concentration back but when hit hard I get rattled. How can I get this under control? Today I had one of the worst days I've had since starting to play. Always 1 card short of a straight or losing with KK to AA all day long it's been terrible and I can't get out of my slump right now. I know it's primarily a bad day right now but I figure I would ask because I'm sure there are a lot of other people who have a similar issue. What do you do to keep focused and not make stupid moves? ThanksBy the way first post. I have read the site for quite a while and finally joined up. Thanks for having me.

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I primarily play tournaments, but whenever I take a big hit from a bad beat or cold deck, I usually stand up or just kind of look around a bit, get myself out of that level of focus for a bit and get back to reality. Then I think about the hand for a second: What just happened? Did I get my money in as good as I could? Could I have played it differently?I find that I need to shift my focus from the result of the hand, and instead focus on my play. When I do that, I'm able to refocus and get back to business rather quick. If it was a bad beat/cold deck and I'd play the hand the same way next time, then you need to feel good about making the right play, not feel bad about getting unlucky. If you played the hand poorly, or just not optimally, concentrate and identify what mistakes you made and what you'd do instead next time. Because it's impossible to get your money in with your opponent drawing dead every hand, some of your strong hands WILL get sucked out on. Gotta keep that in mind and keep on truckin.

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What do you do to keep focused and not make stupid moves?
I always remember that in poker you can make the best play at the best time and still end up on the short end of the stick. If you feel yourself losing control and "making stupid moves" you should definitely take a break and study up on some HH's and see where some errors were possibly made.
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Sounds like you do fine as long as you don't start the session out badly. If you start playing and a few hands go wrong early on, just take a break for 20 or 30 minutes to clear your head and start again.

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Thanks everyone. You were a big help. Something as simple as standing and taking a breather I think is going to strengthen my game. I just need to get away for a while. Leading a table comfortably I tend to stick around too long. Best to just stand up for a while and take a breather.

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there is no magic trick for this or fast solution. it just takes lots and lots of playing until you are used to it and it doesn't bother you anymore. now, granted somebody could play for years and never improve in this area at all so it does require effort on your part too, but imo the experience component outweighs the effort part by quite a bit. the best thing you can probably do for yourself is to stop playing when you no longer feel like you are playing your best. this is easier said than done for a few reasons. the hardest might be objectively monitoring your play and deciding its enough. since you are usually at your most emotional when you need to stop the most this is an insurmountable task for a lot of people and i sincerely believe some are just not capable of it. another reason is ego, its hard to walk away from a loss. just remember that you always are where you are right now and even if you tripled up your money an hour ago and now your down a bunch the tripling up is irrelevant and you are now just down. there are other things also but i think these are the most predominant two.

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I have the absolute worst time keeping focused after a shaky start or a big loss. I play my own game I'm incredibly patient but when I make a bad read it's terminal. It's like dropping a bomb in the rockies and watching the ensuing avalanches. My game falls apart. I correct after a while and get my concentration back but when hit hard I get rattled. How can I get this under control? Today I had one of the worst days I've had since starting to play. Always 1 card short of a straight or losing with KK to AA all day long it's been terrible and I can't get out of my slump right now. I know it's primarily a bad day right now but I figure I would ask because I'm sure there are a lot of other people who have a similar issue. What do you do to keep focused and not make stupid moves? ThanksBy the way first post. I have read the site for quite a while and finally joined up. Thanks for having me.
So in short, you get tilt? Do like everyone say when you are tilt. Leave, cooldown then analyze the hand if there is anything to analyze.
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  • 3 weeks later...

I think it's key that you at least realize that you are getting rattled and that your game suffers from it. Most people get rattled and just keep playing, sometimes unaware that it is messing with your game. Taking a breather and standing up from the poker table really can make a huge difference in your attitude and success.

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I think it's key that you at least realize that you are getting rattled and that your game suffers from it. Most people get rattled and just keep playing, sometimes unaware that it is messing with your game. Taking a breather and standing up from the poker table really can make a huge difference in your attitude and success.
A cleverly disguised spam post is a spam post nonetheless...
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Hello everyone,I just wanted to say I actually started playing poker this year, and been doing quite good for myself. There is also this website that I found that is quite good at teaching you a lot about playing poker: http://ajpickens.com/If anyone is interested I hope the site help. This forum seem interesting enough so I think I'll hang around for a while.

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I have the absolute worst time keeping focused after a shaky start or a big loss. I play my own game I'm incredibly patient but when I make a bad read it's terminal. It's like dropping a bomb in the rockies and watching the ensuing avalanches. My game falls apart. I correct after a while and get my concentration back but when hit hard I get rattled. How can I get this under control? Today I had one of the worst days I've had since starting to play. Always 1 card short of a straight or losing with KK to AA all day long it's been terrible and I can't get out of my slump right now. I know it's primarily a bad day right now but I figure I would ask because I'm sure there are a lot of other people who have a similar issue. What do you do to keep focused and not make stupid moves? ThanksBy the way first post. I have read the site for quite a while and finally joined up. Thanks for having me.
Hi, Im new to the site as well. In answer to your question, if it is online on a cash game and I cant shake it, I just leave. If it is a live game, usually I will hit the bar have a beer and shake it off. Usually I will try a different table as well.. Good Luck :club:
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You can't always control how the hand is going to go. If you find yourself losing focus take a step back and give yourself a minute to pull your thoughts together. If you continue to play while your focus is off you are just handing the game to the next player. Then it just becomes a slippery slope!

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  • 3 weeks later...
there is no magic trick for this or fast solution. it just takes lots and lots of playing until you are used to it and it doesn't bother you anymore. now, granted somebody could play for years and never improve in this area at all so it does require effort on your part too, but imo the experience component outweighs the effort part by quite a bit. the best thing you can probably do for yourself is to stop playing when you no longer feel like you are playing your best. this is easier said than done for a few reasons. the hardest might be objectively monitoring your play and deciding its enough. since you are usually at your most emotional when you need to stop the most this is an insurmountable task for a lot of people and i sincerely believe some are just not capable of it. another reason is ego, its hard to walk away from a loss. just remember that you always are where you are right now and even if you tripled up your money an hour ago and now your down a bunch the tripling up is irrelevant and you are now just down. there are other things also but i think these are the most predominant two.
This is key.After 3 years, I have finally learned to accept this.
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  • 2 weeks later...

I play about 90% limit holdem, so I hear where you are coming from. I saw that your favorite game is stud which is a limit game. In limit games, it is vitally important to remember that it is NOT easy to make money back if you make mistakes or play badly. In no-limit, you can make a few small mistakes early on in the hand, and make it for it on later streets because the bets are so much bigger. Not so in limit poker. You have to remember that every decision is of the same importance. You have to fight to win and protect every dollar at the table.It sounds as though your problem is that you need to learn how to lose. Losing is part of the game, and sometimes it is out of our control whether we win or lose in a particular session. We can make all the right plays, but the cards don't fall in our favor and we lose for the day. That is perfectly OK. One of the best lessons a successful poker player can learn is how to lose. I admit, I do not have this mastered, but I am much better than most people at this. I never chase my losses, and I find it easy to stop playing the game for days at a time if necessary. One thing to remember is poker is a long run game. Winning and losing for a particular day means nothing. You win $1,000 one day -- big whoop. No big deal. You lose $1,000 the next day. Big whoop. No big deal. I'm having a hard time write my thoughts so watch this youtube clip. It's an interview with Chip Reese and it pretty much voices what I am getting at:

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An easy way to not get emotional is just to quit. I always buy into a live game for 20 bets. If I happen to lose the 20 bets, for whatever reasons, I quit. Even if I was playing perfectly and my opponent were terrible -- I will still quit. I know myself, I am honest with myself and I am just not as good a player when I am losing as I am when I am winning. I never want to lose more in one session than I can get back in the next session or definetely get back in the next two sessions. You just have to know yourself, and be honest with yourself.The cards don't care who wins the pot. If the cards don't care, why should you care? Is your life going to be any different if you win the pot as oppose to lose the pot because the board paired on the end? If it is, you're playing too big. Play smaller games. The results really do not matter.

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The only person you hurt by going on tilt is yourself.You actually become a big target at the table and get called a lot more in general.Deep breathes and a big smile will keep you calm.It's definitely part of the game to lose even though your ahead.Once you've had thousands of bad beats, you realize it's just another hand.GL, stay cool.

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Just stay calm and relaxed. Stick to your guns, have faith in your game.Just remind yourself that when you get a bad beat, you didn't do anything wrong.
Normally there are things you could've done different to prevent certain situations. But hey, that's what analyzing is for.
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