The mindset of a Poker Player

Recommending someone to start playing poker to make some extra bucks is a double edged sword. There are plenty of people making a good living with poker, but after all, most players are suckers. They can not help spending money in the casino and are therefor rewarded with deposit bonus and rakeback offers. The only way to beat the game is to play consitent, learn to live with the upswings and downswings, and most important, to know when to quit. Having a healthy live, eating good food and exercising helps as well. It's impossible to keep a bankroll intact if you can not control your lizard brain and tend to gamble your money away on thin calls or pushes. Playing to many tables is another mistake players make. They read that you should play at least 2 tables online, which will increase your hourly rate. Which is complete bullshit if you can jerk off on two tables and tilt your money away. FOCUS! Close all the other programs. Turn off the TV. Maybe even turn off the music. And think about your actions! Think before you bluff a calling station. Think before you call down someone who bets only with a solid hand. Think about how many tables your opponents play. THINK about what costs you the most money. Which are your sucker moves? What can you do better? It's hard to focus on a single table, and to be honest, I can't play a single tournament, it has to be at least 4 tables or I will start playing dumb. But a shorthanded cash table has so much action to learn from that most players could use the time and perfect their focus. All those gambler with attention deficit might be effictive for some time, yet they are the minority. If you are a beginner or an average player who knows his way around, don't hesitate to cut back on tables. If you are losing at the poker tables, rethink your game. And if you can't take losing, well, then poker is nothing for you. Succeeding at the tables is hard if you don't have a good life. A life that gives you a peaceful mind and let's you deal with all those bad beats and riverrats. A mind that will not give you trouble when you lose 5 stacks. A mind that can say: That guy is a better player, maybe I should go to another table. Maybe I played bad. Maybe I could have lost less. Maybe I could have won more. Poker is about percentages. And playing only a single table might be trouble if you want to play a lot of hands. It's not about that. It's about paying attention. Focusing on your opponents and your cards, and trying to make the perfect play. Call, fold, bet, rais, at the right time, not because you want to bluff, raise a fucker who called your bets or do some other stupid things that will make your short term lizard brain happy, but will fuck your long term success up.