Getting My Poker Mind Right...Please give additional advice

I know Im a good poker player, but settling for any kind of game rules ( home games) playing with anyone ( some players who don't understand the real game) and now Im very determine to take my game to the next level. Please give me some of your advice for what some of you have done to take your game to the next level and to be a success at it.

One advice: stop thinking you're a good poker player.

1. Be honest and humble in regards to your analysis of your game
2. Study
3. Good BR management
4. Discipline (this can go in so many different directions but I"m specifically talking about hand selection when card dead and BR mgt again!)
5. Be patient (take your time and do it right...beat the small stakes before moving up and don't be to prideful not to go back down if you need a confidence boost or your BR says too)

All of these things I've had to learn the hard way. I wish I had Belgo's advice a few years ago when I just KNEW I was a good poker players...and then busto! a few hundred bucks down the drain. To that point, I think the biggest thing I've learned is to look internally before blaming the bad beats.

Example: I've had a recent stretch of bad runs in SNG's. The latest being my set of Kings getting beat by a runner runner straight. Bad beat; absolutely. However, I thought about my play in this SNG...and remembered calling off about 20% of my chips trying to knockout a player with 36 suited in the BB. Of course, I lost and that's the player that ultimately knocked me out. So, I'm also to blame for the bad beat because if I don't commit 20% of my chips with that crap hand, I still have chips to play with after my bad beat and could've made a comeback.

no matter how good you think you are at poker there will always be someone out there better than you, if it's possible in your home games, try to surround yourself with players that are just as skilled as you are, in my experience at the tables either live or online, it should make you a better player, learn from your mistakes and try to profit from them in the future, and you should be just fine.

playing with people who dont understand the game? where can i get in?

should I think Im terrible???

no you shouldn't thinkt your terrible but you have to know that your game isn't perfect and can always use some work. and you need to be able to put in the work to make your game better.

'take your time and do it right' as medeiros13 said,
is the best advice ever.
start small,if you win consistently
move up in stakes.
if you win consistently at a higher level,move up again.
if you lose consistently,move down in stakes.
use bankroll management.
you will soon find out how 'good'
you are when you hit the tables
remember poker is long term game,
relax and enjoy it,
good luck.

until proven otherwise, yes.

There are plenty of pros who take down huge tournaments shown on ESPN or play the sickest nosebleed games and go busto. I'm willing to bet all of them thought they were good players, too, but had serious flaws in their game/mental approach/bankroll management.

1. STOP playing home games with you buddies that are not serious about poker.

You can pick up some really bad habits that carry over to on line playing.

2. Analyze your hand history. See if you could have played it different

3. Maybe post a few hand histories and ask for advice

When I first began playing poker online I thought I was a good player. I even took a 2nd in a $1 1,000 player donkament my very first game (ez game!!). It wasn't until I put in a bit of time, both playing & studying that I realized I had known very little about the game.
NLHE is a game that can be learned in minutes but can take a lifetime to master. (< not sure who's quote that is... maybe Doyle himself?, anyways it says alot).
How to take your game to the next level.....
Read some books (not just any books (although that'll help), find the ones that will be suited to you & where you're at).
THen, > read some more.
Play a bunch, read some more, review your play, read some more, play some more, review some more... read some more (& repeat).
Try to hook up with some poker buddies who are as good as or preferably better (more experienced) than yourself. Discuss hands with them.

Read HH sections in poker forums.
Watch poker training videos.
Watch some of the better players playing online (rail some of the well-known online regs. ie. for myself I watch a handful of players whose videos I've watched, articles I've read, books I've read, etc.... not the 'red pros', I'm talking about the guys who are grinding out 10-30+ mtt's per day, or playing a session of 100 sngs).
Develop your own style of play on the tables. Maybe try watching a few of the players who's style of play is somewhat similiar to your own, & pick some stuff from each of them & try to adapt it to your game & your overall style of play.
Post HH's for discussion & try to keep an open-mind when sorting thru the comments (even if you disagree with some of them it'll still get you to thinking more deeply about the hand/situation).
Review your own play. Sometimes I like to use an auto-replayer and will go thru entire tournaments or sng's. Other times I will screenshot a hand (while on Fulltilt) so it's easier to find it when I go thru the HandHistory afterwards. (on Stars you can just copy/past the hand from the table).
Then....
play some more, read some more, review some more, watch other players, talk with poker buddies, etc. etc. etc.

One other bit of advice (ok.. two other bits)... I can't emphasize enoughthe importance of Bankroll Management. Another suggestion -> stick with one game until you're very familiar with it (ie. if it's SNG's... just stick with 9 player 'reg' speed and play a bunch of those before moving on to something else. Don't jump around from 9 plyr. to 27, then 180's, back to 18's, then over to Turbos, throw in some HeadsUp, etc. It's just far better to stick with one format until it's second nature).

Oh yah.. one last thing --> patience.

And lastly (lol) as far as others suggesting that maybe you're not quite as good as you might think you are. This is something to actually consider. This is normal for players to believe this. If you put in the time (serious time, with studying etc.) within a short period of time you'll be looking back & thinking, "wow.. & I thought I was good, LOL"

Doesn't matter what level or what your doing there is always room to fine tune. Professional players don't accidentally become good. Serious of failures, evaluation, and adjustments that extend themself to there craft. Profitable players arrive through the same methods.

Not going to get there taking short cuts, or without some failure. How you overcome those, and what you learn from that will determine your next level.

This is an excellent post with all of the "essential ingredients" to put you in best possible postion to succeed. What you get out of this, will determine on what you're willing to put in.

Patience is the key. I suck, but with patience, I have come back and won tourneys and cash games that I should have been out long ago.

Everyone when I say " I know Im a good poker player" I meant that by meaning I know the game well. I strongly know I m far from the best and can and will always need improvement. Thanks for the tips everyone!

I am kind of going through the same phase right now. Although I am learning a new game, Omaha, which has my Hold'Em habits messing me up. I kind of lost the desire to really play Hold'Em since learning Omaha but I may be switching again soon.

The last 2 months I have been eating and breathing poker(Omaha) and with every busto deposit, my ego gets hit a little. I've tried to think of the lost deposits as learning fees and try not to think of money as money but more like units of success.

No, but you should be analytical of your playing style. Thinking your the next ivey won't get you anywhere. Im not saying your that aloof, but I guess he was inferring it.