Poker"DEMOCRACY": The good news is that at least you are aware of losing and you want to improve. There are a lot of players who are delusional about their results and refuse to admit that they are consistently losing.
Each of us plays online poker for our own reasons, and winning money is not necessarily the top priority. Poker is a fun game and if you love this entertainment while losing money that you can afford to lose, it is fine.
But if you are reading this article, you probably want to know how to stop losing at online poker.
Do you want to stop losing at online poker?
Poker"DEMOCRACY" Simple. You must change! The only way to solve this problem is to change. There is a so-called "formula for change" which summarizes this well.
You need to have D x V x F > R, where D measures your dissatisfaction, V measures your vision of where you want to be, F represents the first steps leading to the vision, and R is your resistance level.
Let us clarify this formula. There are four components. D is dissatisfaction. If you are not dissatisfied enough, nothing will happen. V is vision. You must have a clear vision of where you want to be in online poker within a given horizon.
Where do you want to be 6 months from now? You can define this vision with respect to your monetary results. One easy goal is to become a breakeven poker player within 3 or 6 months.
F stands for the first steps leading to change and we discuss this later in the article. But before that, there is a hurdle to leap over, called R in the formula. How much resistance do you have to change? Do you have old habits deeply ingrained in your psyche or do you have a flexible personality? This makes changing easier or harder.
First step to reduce online poker losses
The first steps necessary to change from where you are now to where you want to be in 6 months depend on your personal circumstances. What are the most common reasons for losing at Online Poker? Here is a list of the usual suspects:
Alcohol: you play under the influence
Distraction: you play while doing other things
Action: you play mostly for fun & excitement
Emotional: you let your emotions control you
Discipline: you do not follow the plan
Wealth: you do not care about losing the money
All of the items in the list can be corrected except item 6. If you are very wealthy, it is extremely hard to become a profitable poker player because losing money at the virtual table does not really hurt you. The billionaire Guy Laliberte depicted on top of the page is rumored to have lost 18 million dollars in 2008, but this is not going to affect his lifestyle, is it?
Item 1 & 2 relate to your setup when you play. If you fall into these categories, be aware that playing either with alcohol in your blood or with distractions around you such as television will always hinder your results.
Generally speaking, items 3, 4 & 5 are the most common factors plaguing online poker players. If you want to make money at online poker, you must have a plan and you must follow the plan without deviation.
So for most people reading this article, the pivotal question is F, the first steps of the plan. The first step on the road to profitable poker is the so-called ABC style of poker. Play mostly in a straightforward manner avoiding fancy play. You can find plenty of relevant articles in our strategy and leak sections, as they teach such a solid poker methodology.
Poker"DEMOCRACY"
