Winning is fun, but for long-term winning poker players, embracing losing sessions and understanding their importance to your overall objectives can help as well. In this particular instance, I am focusing on players who play in regular live games with the same group of people on a regular basis, but some of the ideas will hold true even for casino games and online play.

Obviously, anytime you sit down to play, your goal is to win, but a broader view of the game and the people you play against can help you deal with and appreciate your losing sessions. No matter how good you are, losing is part of poker and at some point you will have a losing session. Most winning players in most games will have losing sessions regularly and need to be able to handle them emotionally for their personal well-being and overall bottom line.

In the games I frequent, I see and compete with the same players on a regular basis. On any given day, I want to win all I can, but I also realize that for the group to keep playing and the game to continue, everyone has to win sometime. It’s not as much for the financial reason as it is just for the enjoyment of playing. Poker is a fun game and especially fun when you are winning. Players who play for part of their income should treat poker like a job and, as such, do everything they can to make the games they play in as good as they can be.

A big part of that is making players who make the game good (the players who consistently lose money) have a good time. There are plenty of players who are happy to play and lose. They enjoy the social aspect of the game and are more than willing to “pay” for the entertainment value. Those players are the key to the poker economy. Dealers, staff, winning players, and everyone else who takes money out of the game over time are dependent on them.

Therefore, if losing puts me in a bad mood and my actions change to where the game is less fun on the social side, I have defeated myself twice. Not only am I losing in the game, but I am also making the game less fun for someone who I need to really enjoy the game.

Many of the players who lose regularly and know that over time they will be net losing players are great losers. They can be getting killed in the game and still be laughing and joking and having a good time. If I expect to win over time, I should be doing everything I can when they are winning to make sure it is as enjoyable for them as it can possibly be. This doesn’t mean I have to enjoy losing, but I need to focus on them and be happy that they are winning while I try to play my best and do as well as I can.

There is more that goes into winning over time than just playing each hand optimally. Managing the games you play in to keep them viable and keeping the players who make the game good interested in playing are just as important, if not more so, than playing each hand optimally.

If I can play perfectly in a game against a bunch of players who don’t give much up, I can make a little, but I’d rather play pretty well against a group of players who are playing recreationally and can afford to lose a lot. I’m going to come out better in the long-run playing against players who can and will give up a bunch.

Playing your best is important in poker, but doing what you can to create good games is a big part of being a winning player too. You don’t have to be happy that you are losing, but if you can embrace your opponents when they are winning and help make the experience fun, they will be willing to lose four times out of five for the fun of winning that one time.

Court Harrington has worked on the business side of the poker industry in roles including tournament reporting for PocketFives, radio hosting for PokerRoad Radio, coaching for the WSOP Academy and privately, and a variety of behind-the-scenes responsibilities. He also plays in cash games and tournaments. Harrington is currently doing consulting work and exploring business opportunities outside of the poker industry. You can contact him at Court@CourtHarrington.com.