Play within your bankroll

Poker is gambling in the short-term and you have to remember that as unlikely as it may be, you can lose ten 80/20 hands in a row for a buy-in each. If your bankroll is as hard to replace as mine is, then you need to protect it by limiting the amount you put in play no matter what your advantage is. You will take bad beats and you will take bad beats for big pots.

I’ve recently had such a streak and dropped a third of my bankroll. I continued to play my regular stakes “knowing” that I have an edge in the game and that it’ll turn. Dropping a third of your bankroll in a short period of time is both depressing and motivating. It gets me to hunker down more and play smart. Don't be afraid to grind for a while.

Play when you’re at your best

Poker is a meritocracy with short term luck. To win at poker, you need to outplay your peers. You may be talented enough to bring your drunk game, your tired game or your bored game and still win, but you won’t win as much as you would if you bring your best game. If you’re not a proven long term winner, don’t expect that you can win without coming to the tables focused on the task at hand. Get pumped, do some study and get yourself in the right mindset before logging into your site of choice. When you login, don’t get distracted by a silly promotion, micro donkament or your friends pulling you away from your task at hand. Get to the right game for your bankroll and grind out your earn rate.

When I got bored with poker, I continued to play while watching TV, surfing the internet and pausing every 15 minutes to do something else. I wasn’t focused on my play and let it deteriorate along with my bankroll. I went a long time without playing (months) seriously and now I’m back. I’m starting to get back into that groove of attentiveness and feel like I can get back to where I once was. When I was playing my best and making the most amount of progress in poker, I was ignoring my friends IMs, playing sober and staying focused. When I got tired, I closed up and went to bed. Lately, I’ve been drained from work or personal activities and have had a hard time finding time at night where I can seriously concentrate solely on poker. If you can't seriously concentrate, don't play. You must be 100% focused to play optimally.

Find good games

Table selection is a big deal and the key to good table selection is having a good PT database for the games you’re playing. As far as people saying that the games are harder these days, I’m not sure but I have seen some pretty bad play by some experienced players lately. Just read blogs or “professional player” articles where they’re talking about their play. Call it tilt. Call it whatever you want but well-known players donk off their money too. Rumor has it that a large number of the players that I looked up to in the short-handed NLHE games are busted. Who is the better player: the person who does it as a part-time hobby and is still playing mid-stakes after 3 years or the guy who has been playing for 10 years and dominated the highest stakes games for 3 years until finally busting himself down to having to get backed in order to play even the mid-stakes games and his pride doesn’t allow him to play that low?

Check out doubleas's book, Pressure Poker: Poker Strategy and Tools to Improve Your Game (also available in the PokerSavvy Shop)