How to Win The Inner Game of Poker

The last card is dealt face up and it gives your opponent the winning hand. He made a runner runner full house beating your flopped straight. That is just crazy you think to yourself. Some heat and anger build up inside of you and you start playing like a reckless maniac, raising and calling off your chips.

For the next few rounds you lose more and more money. All the while you think about that horrible beat you got. He was practically drawing dead and he won, how can it be? Does this sound familiar? I know it happened to me in the beginning and still does, but not on such a large scale. Most are in denial and say that they never act like this, but I can guarantee that in some way or another money is being thrown away when it could be kept in your pocket. You know what I am talking about don't you? You wouldn't be reading this otherwise. There are simple steps to eliminate and minimize this kind of behavior.

I call this poker tilt or simply tilt. When I lose control and get hot is when bad things start to happen. I often get tricked by my mind that I have control when I do not.

Here are 5 secrets to getting closer to your black belt in tiltlessness: 1. What Are You Afraid Of? - I'll begin. I am afraid of losing money and not having enough. You see, I am a professional poker player and I make my living off of playing poker and if I lose I can't live (harshly put). What are you afraid of? Why are you acting like a lunatic when you get bad beat a few times at the poker tables? 2.

Goals - Recently I have begun to visualize what my goal is before each session of poker. My first goal is to have fun while I play. I started poker because it was the most interesting game I had ever come across and I have no intentions of changing that! Is your goal to have fun or is it to be miserable? I'm guessing you want to have fun, right? That makes two of us. Identify what is standing in your way of fun. Maybe you are playing a limit that is too high or maybe you just need to re-arrange your priorities.

I don't know. Ultimately it is up to you to find your own way. 3.

Listening To Yourself - Have you ever thought about listening to your mind and observing your body? What are the signs of you going into that zone of "I don't care about anything"? My signs for example are that I get a feeling in my chest, I get hot and start to sweat. Frustration and anger build up and this is when I know I have to stop playing unless I want to lose money. Sometimes I slip and keep playing, it happens to everyone but everyone has lapses. The more you do this, the better you become.

If you even practice these steps a little you are way ahead of most people on this earth. 4. Quitting A Game - The best players in the world know exactly what I am talking about. Quitting a game when you start playing bad is something you too have to learn. This will be useful for you even if you are playing for the fun of it. If you start playing bad that means something is affecting you.

What is it? The bad beat or something else? Has it affected your amount of fun? If no then keep on playing! If you are an aspiring professional poker player then you have to quit whenever your game is slipping. This is absolutely crucial to your long-term success. If you just take one poker tip out of this article then let it be this one. 5. Pleasure - Having fun while playing is why we play poker, isn't it? I mean, it doesn't make sense if someone played because it made them miserable, right? So make sure your priorities and goals are straight. Keeping poker fun will do many things for you.

You will learn faster, you will feel better and everyone around you will notice. Good luck!.

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