Of course there is the OBV fundamental things that you learn from training sites, books, and lots of trial and error, but I believe it is something else. I am a strong believer in positive attitude and positive surroundings. I also think that emotional detachment is very important but will be a forever improving process. One of the things I try to tell myself when I take a beat is, if ten other players took the same beat, would I have handled it the best? Also sometime I try to imagine the ten most important people I know watching and try and act accordingly. I think that negativity and to much emotion in poker can consume you and make the game intolerable. In my opinion, these things are just as important as understanding stack sizes and re-steals. Good luck to everyone in the future and remember that positivity is key!

 

Originally Posted by Chet Steadman

Cracker=da nuts. So much truth in this post!

Thanks Chet, much <3. Plan on me and you doing some work in 2011!

 

Originally Posted by catdoggin

Good advice Cracker - if u r negative ur thoughts become ur reality.

Good luck at the tables - run hard, run good and run deep

Yes, positivity and negativity are both infectious, contagious life forms with a mind of their own. If you or someone around you or even someone in a chat group is negative, you will notice that others or maybe even yourself will begin to feel more negative. But, if you are positive, or around someone positive the same will happen and you will feel and be more positive. In all actuality its just a simple choice everyone can make to be more positive and keep negativity away.

I know when I was in sales that they taught me to fight off every "NO" with ten "Yes". I treat positivity the same way. When someone around me or in my chat group is negative they are usually immediately riddled with ten more positive thoughts. No one wants to be multi-tabling and feeling good and then see a bad beat HH, or hear about some suck out. In my chat I like to post hands I have a question on and hands that make you feel positive. I completely try to avoid ever posting a bad beat because it makes the beat linger and unleashes some negativity. I will admit that I do occasionally slip up, but have surrounded myself with positive guys that whip me right back in line.

Positivity is key to be a winning poker player, good luck!

Encouraging words from an inspiring player. Thanks John.

good post cracker. I think your attitude is a foundation for a lot of things you do in life. you can never be in total control of what happens to you, but you can always control how you react to it. Most of us could us a little more time spent on learning to control ourselves.

Gl to you this year.

Great post cracker9ball,,im only a member on here since november and this is probly the best post iv read on here,so true,,cheers,Dave.:)

i mean yeah, all this positive thinking is gonna make u win theory is all good and well, and sounds great, but does this mean that u have to ignore the factual mathematical facts that actually the vast vast majority of sessions of mtt that u play the truth is is that you are not going to encounter success??

its all ok thinking "positively" but in reality what will this achieve? all u can do is stay confident and play your best, think positively but at the end of the day 99% of time time your going to meet some degree of "failure" playing mtts

oh and OP, actually think this post would carry a lot more weight and credibility if posted on the back of substantial downswing rather than on the back of some nice results/heater

 

Originally Posted by mully_85

i mean yeah, all this positive thinking is gonna make u win theory is all good and well, and sounds great, but does this mean that u have to ignore the factual mathematical facts that actually the vast vast majority of sessions of mtt that u play the truth is is that you are not going to encounter success??

its all ok thinking "positively" but in reality what will this achieve? all u can do is stay confident and play your best, think positively but at the end of the day 99% of time time your going to meet some degree of "failure" playing mtts

oh and OP, actually think this post would carry a lot more weight and credibility if posted on the back of substantial downswing rather than on the back of some nice results/heater

Mully_85 i think u are missing the point. OP isn't saying that if you think positively you'll win at poker. He's just saying it's one of the keys that is overlooked, imo. What will this achieve? how about some peace in your life and definately a lot greater chance of living a healthier life.

holy fuck, why are u up so early?

 

Originally Posted by finewhine

OP, don't let this remark spoil the intent of your post. Mental attitude is very important, and you've nicely elaborated on how the proper mindset can be of great benefit.

 

Edited By: MakeMeMaster 2 Hours Ago at 06:27 AM
Reason: j/k

^^

Good post. Positive attitude > defeatist attitude. In poker or anything.

Best way to avoid poker affecting your non-poker life is to be positive. for those lucky enough to do this for a living, you are living everyones dream. good thread cracker

i was playing blackjack at the palms with one of the top players in the world sitting there at the table just us two we had a good chat and one of the things he kept saying was, "positive cards come to positive people." i try and implement that when i get into a bad funk and am not running good. if you just make the best of the situation and play each hand the best you can you will over come the beats. stay up yall!

Yea I've definitely found that positivity is one of the most under rated aspects of poker. Lately I've been trying to do other things to make it easier to be positive, such as eating well and getting exercise. When it comes down to it, when you feel good and think positive, you will have better results.

good post cracker

good points cracker!

I had been on a pretty bad downswing live, a ton of bad beats in key spots, and was overall feeling pretty shitty about my game even though I had been putting in a lot of work at improving. I luckily have a good group of friends that try and stay positive for me. The 2 times I binked something recently I was very positive, feeling confident, and just knew that a win was coming. I loaded a ton of screens so even if I took a beat in one I couldn't dwell on it and something positive would likely happen in another tournament. On Sunday when I hit a small win I started the day telling my other poker friends "It's going to be a good Sunday, let's go win something". 8 Hours later I'm showing a good profit for the day with 4 deep runs and 1 FT. I was confident, happy and knew that something good was going to happen soon. Now the trick is to remember that the next time I sit down for a session and recreate that same vibe.

To those saying that it's easy for cracker to say this now, that's obvious, but that doesn't change the point. He's noticing this because he's running well. He never said it would be easy, and most the time it is not, but it's good to reflect both when you win and lose to see what helps/hinders you in your play.

Keep at it cracker.