stevesbets

Dealing with downswings is the single hardest part of being a professional poker player. It’s cliched but true that most people don’t go to work, work all day, and end up with less money than when they started. The reality for poker players is that your compensation structure can be even bleaker than that. It’s entirely possible to go weeks or even months playing well, by all rights deserving to win, but losing anyway. Most people cannot handle this reality. Most people cannot be poker players, professional or otherwise. One has to be willing to rethink and readjust constantly.

A nonsensical but incredibly common question I get when I win for awhile then lose for awhile is, “Why didn’t you stop when you had X dollars?” I try not to get angry at the absurdity of this question because the people that ask me always have the best of intentions. Back when I first started playing, slightly over 4 years ago now, I remember I had won about 4000$ on partypoker prior to starting a summer program where I met a bunch of new people. My recent poker run came up after getting to know everyone better and a girl memorably stated, “Wow you’ve won $4,000 GAMBLING!! That’s amazing, STOP NOW before you lose it!!!” Sure enough I did lose it a few weeks later. She was kind, well intentioned, and in the end right…but still wrong.

So anyway, assuming stopping isn’t an option since we are doing this for a living, there are various strategies we can employ to cope with the negative end of our profession. Sbrugby, perhaps the most profitable online player of all time, makes it clear on his blog that what he does is thinks about his wonderful family, friends, house and retirement package and he always cheers up. My strategies are a bit easier to universalize since we don’t all have those things.

1) Remember that if happiness is the goal in the end, many rich people are miserable and poor people are happy, in the end money only is a piece of the puzzle and possibly a small piece.

2) Talk to ANYONE who doesn’t play poker about subjects other than poker. Trust me it helps.

3) When you’re ready to play again, be prepared to break the habit of losing. Play smaller, play fewer tables, do anything it takes to book a modest win

4) Forget the past. There’s a saying that if we don’t learn from history we are doomed to repeat it…forget that saying. There is a time and place for learning but to focus on the fallen glory of the past is to deny yourself a prosperous future. DON’T DO IT. Regrets are tough sheets to sleep on, especially when they stink. In poker there is only ONE direction to look. Owls would have no chance.

5) Get hungry and start thinking that all you want is a grilled cheese. You have 3 dollars in your pocket. Go to the diner and fulfill your goal.