Well so often I write a post after I play. And most of the time when I play well I play all night and only on the days that I lose my buy in do I have time to write a post when I get back. So I am most likely not in a good mood, or there is nothing positive to say. So today I thought I would write a post about what I do before I go and play.
First I try to get there at a time where I know I wont have to wait a long time to get in a game. Nothing is worse for your game when you need to wait hours to get in and then don’t get a hand for hours. So if I have to get up earlier or what ever I need to do that’s when I want to get there. You will find that all the regulars usually show up at the same time. Now not always but they are usually better then the average person.
I set some goals before I leave my house. First I make a target for how much I want to win. Make it reasonable, I usually modify this while I play on how good or bad a game is. But most important I make a limit on how much I can lose. This I almost always stick to because I only bring that amount of money. Now I know for myself I play much worse when I am down, as do most people. So I always bring about 1-½ buy-ins to the game. I can always go back tomorrow, but if I lose more then I can win tomorrow it will effect my game tomorrow also.
Most important I only go and play if I think I am going to win. If I think I am going to lose before I get there, most likely I do. Now if you are in a big slump this can be really hard. Sometimes you will need to drop down in limits and play your best game possible, its good practice and will build your confidence with less risk.
Over confidence is almost as bad as negative thinking. If you think you can win every hand no matter what your hand is then you are going to play to many hands and most likely get involved in to many losing hands.
Each of these topics could go on for a while I just thought I would write a quick post before I left. But now I am running into getting there later then my target time so I got to go.