Positive Thinking and Proper Thinking!

Well to say I've been running bad would be an understatement and I could sit here and write yet another blog about the bad beats and horrible run I've been on but that's not what the post is going to be about! Why? Because I totally believe dwelling on the negative only creates more negative. We get what we expect in life! If we are sitting a poker table and we get dealt kings and the first thing that pops in our heads is "well how many chips will I lose with these this time" then it's time for a mental reality adjustment. Even though I win with pocket kings about 75 to 80% of the time I dwell on the 20 to 25% of the times I lose with them. Yes, I lost with them more over the last two weeks, about 40% of the time but over all hands played that's not the case.

Yesterday it was AK and even though I was getting beat with it or by it at every hands turn doesn't mean I should just start folding it. I win with AK around 70% of the time so over all that's good. Maybe it means I'm over playing that hand or playing it poorly and that's something I can fix but mostly it's just the run of the cards.

So starting today I am going to do my best to improve my attitude. Is this an easy task, absolutely not it's pretty difficult actually. We get set into one way of thinking and it is extremely hard to stop thinking that way.

First we have to stop making excuses. Yes, in poker it's up to the luck of the draw to a point but how we play our cards and more importantly how we play our opponents can make more difference in our results than the cards we are dealt. Here are the famous excuses:

• The sites are rigged - no they are not
• If I could afford higher stakes and play thinking players I could do better - no you would do worse, if you can't beat the donkeys you'll never beat the thinking players
• I'm just unlucky - well so it everyone else at one time or another

Get over it and stop thinking negatively and incorrectly!

Proper thinking = proper playing:

Poker is about thinking in levels:

• Level one thinking is only thinking about the cards you are dealt.
• Level two is thinking about the cards you are dealt and the cards your opponents may have been dealt
• Level three is thinking about the cards you were dealt, the cards you opponent was dealt and what cards does your opponent think you were dealt.

The way we play our cards changes the results no matter what the cards really are. This is why a very well plan bluff will often work because you plan it out step by step starting before you ever see a flop. You look at your table position and your cards, you look at your opponents left in the hand and how they have previously played. Then you look at the flop which the cards in your hand failed to hit, okay now what? Based on that flop and opponents left in hand we make a decision on whether we can bluff here with a bet. Say we did bet the flop and one opponent calls us now we think okay here's what I have, here's what's on the board and based on that and my opponents actions here is what I think he may have but if we stop here and don't think about what that opponent thinks we have then we are making a mistake. For a bluff to work it has to be believable at each step. We can't get to the river and then decide to bluff because this looks, even to a donkey, like a stab at the pot and they will call you even with ace high or bottom pair. So when we bluff we have to think out every step and think ahead.

Now that said it does us little good to think at level three when our opponents aren't thinking past level one. If they are not thinking of what cards we may hold and thinking only about the cards they hold then we have to play them based on this level of thinking. This is why it can be difficult to play donkeys especially lucky ones but their bad play and level one thinking will catch up with them and hopefully we will be there to benefit.

In closing if we believe we will lose then we will but if we believe we are winning players then overall we will be as long as we make every effort to learn and to play properly.

I've also realized that I've been very obsessed with poker and all I want to do is play and this has caused a imbalance in my life and this is not good. We have to nurture all of ourselves, our mind, our spirit and our body and to neglect either of the three will not result in a positive outcome. So I will also rectify this issue as well.

Lots of big changes being attempted here so wish me luck!