Its been countless trial and error in terms of making money playing poker. You go through a progression as a player. First you suck at the game itself. All you really know for sure is what beats what. But you don't have the slightest idea how to tell if your ahead or behind in a hand. Eventually, through experience, you begin to learn the game, and make correct plays. In time, you actually have skill.So you think your ready to make money. Your good now, right? Wrong.
Tilt is the second obstacle you must overcome. So you master staying off tilt.
Now, you can control your emotions and your a good player. Now your ready, right? Wrong again.
You had a bad day and moved up in stakes to try and get your money back. If something goes wrong, your really screwed. Oh my God you have no idea how to manage money and have busted your roll. You need to learn bankroll management skills pal.
Okay, thats 3 important things. Your a good player, your don't go on tilt, and you only risk 5% of your bankroll per day. You got it all. Your now ready to make it as a pro. Right? Maybe...........
Ya see you think you got it all down. You've learned from all your mistakes. You have the experience and have taken measures to assure you keep making money. But your never really prepared for everything. You still haven't realized that the downswing is inevitable. No matter how well you play. No matter how well you manage your funds, and even though you stay off tilt like no other, the downswing eventually hits.
Think of the casino analogy. Casinos have a house edge on you, you in the casino gambling translates into losing for you, profit for them. You will have small upswings though. You need to walk away right after the upswings, the odds are against you and the downswing will come and you'll be broke. Concurrently the downswing exists for both the favorite(casino) and underdog (you). However the favorite's upswings will always more than compensate for the downswing. And vice versa for the underdog. But every now and then the player hits a jackpot! Think of this jackpot as a huge huge downswing for the casino. Eventually it will be repaired, but its a rather large setback.
So now the pro poker player sometimes experiences a run of cards or situations so unlucky that its like he is the casino and just surrendered a jackpot to the guests. Though he is a favorite over time, obviously just like the casino, this setback inevitably happens at times. When it happens to the casino, its all automated, the machines are there functioning the same way, maintaining their advantage. But human beings aren't automated, pro poker players are not automated. And when such variance occurs they have to keep playing as well as possible as if they were automated. They must trudge through the downswing no matter how long it may last. Easy for a machine. Not easy for a human. And we are not going to be able to keep our edge, keep the odds with us, make it so that in the longrun we get the money, unless we continually play the A game.
And in the face of the downswing the A game is just so fuckin damn hard to keep. It's so easy for a machine to keep its edge. So hard for a person, so hard for me.
A truly great, great player has no emotion. Doesn't care if he wins or losses. I fear by the only way to reach my full potential in terms of mindset is to become devoid of all emotion. Which would defeat the whole purpose of becoming good, which is to make lots of money to enjoy life. But the irony at the end of the story is by the time you figure out how to make yourself devoid of emotion, you will have all the money, but now you can't even enjoy it. If only your were full of emtion like you once were, you could enjoy the money. But you would of never got it if you were still like that. IRONY................
I am in a financial crisis because I can't play through downswings. Lets just admit right here and now. Theres been long periods of time where I can do no wrong and win, win, win, but the inevitable downswing always gets me off my game. It's not tilt. I don't go on tilt, I just have such a hard time trudging through the downswing.......
"All these kids who wanna be professional poker players. They're all just chasing fame. They have no idea what its like to play through a rough period. It's the hardest mentally tough thing I've ever had to do." -Mikey the Mouth Matusow
If your not able to keep palying your best your simply not going to recover from downswings, and your not gonna make enough moeny to survive. And then your going to be saying, I should of just kept my job and played poker. But they don't wanna hire you back cause you quit like a dick. And fuck, fuck, fuck..............
I sit at 260, started with 20 remember. Been playing real well cause I need money. But yesterday I just got raped by variance. Lost like 100 yesterday, made it all back today and a little more. I don't think I should have lost 100 yesterday, I shoulda lost like 50-70. But I wasn't playing the A game the whole time, therefore decreasing my edge, therefore now that I have finally come out of the downswing I have 260 in my account, as oppossed to 300.
The Ability.............
The Ability to play through the downswing is the hardest challenge to overcome. This issue is seperate from tilt. Its not tilt, its different, its like a form of tilt I guess, I don't know. I've been working really hard at not checking to see how much I'm up during a session. Theres no way worrying about such can help your achieve the correct mindset. For those of you who think I might be a little bitch about this and don't see the problem with being down for a little bit in a game, I'm not talking about one session. I'm talking about downswings that can last for days. So hard to continue playing each day when your not doing so hot. But you gotta or the edge will not be maintained.
Lets change the subject, oh wait here's a graph of some the last few sessions and you can see the downswing occurring.
See the huge downswing? Now that I have gotten back almost to the top, its like finally being out. But if I would have limited my losses better the bottom of the downswing would be higher up, therefore the point I'm at now would be higher up. Gobeesh? A casinos money making graph would look similar to this one, and when someone hit jackpot it would look like that huge downswing from yesterday. HAND OF THE DAY: check out this sick pot that helped pull me out of the downswing, couldn't of came at a better time. You see those two ladies brezlin has showing? Do they look scared? Copy and paste: http://www.pokerhand.org/?3935938PChanging the subject, heres some hilarious, hilarious, shit.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/david-benefield-2-5-million-downswing-423440/
I'll just copy and paste the jist of it right here for ya if you don't feel like going there. Here:
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Originally Posted by David Benefield
I am on a 750k downswing in poker (500ish today), and I just figured out my tax total that comes to around 1.1 or 1.15m. This means, I am down 2.5 million dollars. Now, that is a lot of money in anyone’s book. I highly doubt I am as rich as some of you all think (especially now).
Anyways, I was feeling pretty ok about the tax thing when I thought I had to pay out about 700-750kish. That was something I could handle. I mean, I can handle the 1.1-1.15, but I am really really unhappy about it. I know I can be like wow I am so lucky to get to pay that much money in tax! That means I made a whole lot!
Well, yes, and no. See, the retarded stupid idiotic tax system in the united states stipulates that say, I make 500k in 2008 from Jan 1 to Dec 31 and leave it all in my FTP account. Then, on Jan 1 2009, I blow it all up, I lose EVERYTHING, all of my money. Well, the US government still wants its 230k or whatever in taxes. So, you are busto, ran it all up on a freeroll, have no job, no skills, and will be paying off that 230k in taxes for the rest of your life. Isn’t that awesome? I think it’s awesome.
I wish my downswing happened at the end of last year instead of the beginning of this year. I have nothing to write my losses off against now, which is absolutely ridiculous. So basically, I need to go on mega heater for the rest of the year and cross fingers I break even. Isn’t that stupid? The last thing I want to do right now is play poker, but over the next year I am going to have to play a bunch just so I don’t get screwed on taxes. Sweet.
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Frank back, talking again, sorry about the new font, all this copy and pasting screwed something up. Anyway this poor bastard Mr. Benefield, pretty much has to pay taxes on money he made, but lost the actual money, well you understand. The government really needs to give him a break. I love the part where he says "So, you are busto, ran it all up on a freeroll, have no job, no skills, and will be paying off that 230k in taxes for the rest of your life. Isn’t that awesome? I think it’s awesome." Thats great comedy. Isn't that awsome? I think it's awsome. Thats sick sarcasm had me laughing my ass off.
Hey guys my name is Frank. I am a professional poker player with 260 dollars in his account. Yeah! 260 smackers, I get to play super lowstakes with superdonks for a very long time and when I finally have more money I may still fuck that up cause it's so hard to play through a downswing. Isn't that awsome? I think it's awsome.
Anyways, I was feeling pretty ok about the tax thing when I thought I had to pay out about 700-750kish. That was something I could handle. I mean, I can handle the 1.1-1.15, but I am really really unhappy about it. I know I can be like wow I am so lucky to get to pay that much money in tax! That means I made a whole lot!
Well, yes, and no. See, the retarded stupid idiotic tax system in the united states stipulates that say, I make 500k in 2008 from Jan 1 to Dec 31 and leave it all in my FTP account. Then, on Jan 1 2009, I blow it all up, I lose EVERYTHING, all of my money. Well, the US government still wants its 230k or whatever in taxes. So, you are busto, ran it all up on a freeroll, have no job, no skills, and will be paying off that 230k in taxes for the rest of your life. Isn’t that awesome? I think it’s awesome.
I wish my downswing happened at the end of last year instead of the beginning of this year. I have nothing to write my losses off against now, which is absolutely ridiculous. So basically, I need to go on mega heater for the rest of the year and cross fingers I break even. Isn’t that stupid? The last thing I want to do right now is play poker, but over the next year I am going to have to play a bunch just so I don’t get screwed on taxes. Sweet.
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Frank back, talking again, sorry about the new font, all this copy and pasting screwed something up. Anyway this poor bastard Mr. Benefield, pretty much has to pay taxes on money he made, but lost the actual money, well you understand. The government really needs to give him a break. I love the part where he says "So, you are busto, ran it all up on a freeroll, have no job, no skills, and will be paying off that 230k in taxes for the rest of your life. Isn’t that awesome? I think it’s awesome." Thats great comedy. Isn't that awsome? I think it's awsome. Thats sick sarcasm had me laughing my ass off.
Hey guys my name is Frank. I am a professional poker player with 260 dollars in his account. Yeah! 260 smackers, I get to play super lowstakes with superdonks for a very long time and when I finally have more money I may still fuck that up cause it's so hard to play through a downswing. Isn't that awsome? I think it's awsome.
1 comment:
Who says you need to be emotionless outside of poker? It may be tough, but can't you be emotionless Frank while playing and normal Frank when you're not?
Also, what's up with today's girl?
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