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I think there is one recurring theme among poker players, everyone thinks they are better than they are. They think they are good enough to beat the next stakes and beat all the sick regs out there. They think because a few times they did beat them that makes them good enough to do it consistently. If you saw Rounders you remember how Mike beats Johnny Chan so he takes his entire roll and loses it all to TeddyKGB. Unfortunately this is a very common theme in the game.
Well I have some bad news for you, you are likely not as good as you think you are. That even goes for the best out there I would imagine. Ego and the desire to move up in stakes gets the best of us all. We all want those big scores and the high stakes are where those scores are.
Motivation to move up is very important and very necessary to make it to the higher levels in any field but being honest with yourself about when you're ready is the most important part of making the upward move successfully.
A month or so ago I asked a poker friend what he thought of my game and he told me I could crush the low stakes and probably do okay in the mid-stakes. I was pretty devastated by this comment but it was the best thing I could have heard. Despite a prolonged bout of what I blamed on run-bad I still thought I was good enough to beat the better players at the higher stakes. I'm not, tough to admit but I'm just not. Sometimes maybe when I'm playing my A game and running great I can beat them but not on a day to day consistent basis because they are better players than I am. They have more skill and more experience. I can beat mid-stakes tournaments at this point and if I'm playing my best and running decent I can beat them on a consistent basis. I could crush low stakes if I just had more patience.
Right now that's where I am and realizing that and excepting it has been like an epiphany for me. I'm really okay with that too because now that I understand why I'm not ready to consistently beat higher stakes and now I can play so much better at mid-stakes and work on the things I need to work on to get to the higher levels and I will get there! I just have to be patient and work hard and it will happen.
Poker is a tough game that takes a strong mental attitude and a ridiculous amount of perseverance. I've seen so many people quit because they couldn't handle the swings. I've threatened to quit a few times myself but winners never quit. I truly think a lot of people quit because they move up before they are anywhere near ready and experience the unavoidable failure and instead of realizing that they just need to move back down they just give up.
Since this "epiphany" this week has been the best in a long time. I've made 6 final tables and had two 2nd and one 3rd place finish for $3452 in winnings (not as good as it sounds, I was ass deep in makeup but close to the black now). I'm feeling so much better about my game and playing so much better. I've gotten back to the play that I need to be playing. I take my time and think about every decision, or at least try to. I still have some mental game issues to work on and I need a good bit of work on my post flop play.
A big thanks to my backer who has been a world of help. He's really helped me see where my mistakes were and how to fix them and how to get my mental issues straightened out. It's great having a backer who's willing to spend time helping me and who plays MTTs himself. I still miss my old backer, he was a great guy who I like a lot but this situation is so much better for me at this point.
I'm taking my one time for this whole year, it must work cause look how it's going :D Hopefully that long awaited very elusive five figure score is right around the corner and a circuit ring would be really sweet too.
Here's to a great 2014 for everyone!!! Happy and prosperous New Year!
