Question Regarding Tourney Mentality

naruto_miu

naruto_miu

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So your in a tourney, and your all psyched up for this tourney (You dream of the payday coming your way, if you can outlast a-couple of thousand players)...You think to yourself, why haven't you won (A big tourney), you ask yourself what your doing wrong, (Am I playing too tight, too lose, am I not stealing enough)..You look for opportunities to make things happen (But at-last it wasn't meant to be), you lose, your not even ITM....Now you repeat same tourney again, and again, and again, (Yet same result, absolutely nothing)...You become depressed, confused, bewildered. You wonder what is it about you, that you can't seem to win (This damn tourney)...Next tourney (Same one again), your in the start of this tourney, and right away this same thought crosses your mind (I'm gonna win this damn tourney), yet followed right after this thought comes this one (You've lost them all due to this or that and your just gonna lose like the rest of the tourneys before), Now I ain't a genius but this negative thought must (I would think), be a bad thing for you correct? I mean if your thinking negatively about things then the worst possible outcome will happen, (Yet you can't think positive also correct)?

I bring this up because lately I've been playing the 60k GTD tourneys on Stars, and while I haven't cashed since being back online in them, I know it's my thought process that's got to be killing me in it also (I mean, usually what happens to me is that, I'll lose 1 big hand, and then it's just all these negative, nagging thoughts flood my mind all at once, and from there on it's just a down hill spiral)...After I'm out, I'll be like it wasn't meant to be (Yet, if I follow this thought process of "it's not meant to be", then that's like/similar to believing that only lucky players win poker and/or I just suck and thus am never gonna win, so there-fore there's no point in me reading/studying/practising...I realize that one needs to get lucky from time to time to win a big tourney, Yet at the same time there's just no way I can continually be so unlucky, am I mistaken in stating this? I'm not even talking middle play near the bubble, I'm talking in terms of early stages, and just getting so unlucky early on, and I mean these negative thoughts then just hit me like a brick wall...

What I'm trying to figure out is what approach/thought process should I just take into the game with me, because my thought process for the games hasn't been positive, and I really don't know if that's because I've just suffered so many unrealistic beats that it's really getting under my skin, or if it's just me being negative, and trying to blame it on someone other then myself (For being shitty), or if it's W/E the **** it maybe...

PLZ help

thx



pokerstars No-Limit Hold'em, 1.1 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (9 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com



MP1 (t23700)
MP2 (t5890)
MP3 (t5850)
CO (t5820)
Button (t5910)
SB (t3210)
BB (t7120)
Hero (UTG) (t3370)
UTG+1 (t8130)

Hero's M: 28.08

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K
spade.gif
, A
club.gif

Hero calls t80, UTG+1 bets t8130 (All-In), 7 folds, Hero calls t3290 (All-In)

Flop: (t6860) J
diamond.gif
, 3
heart.gif
, 10
heart.gif
(2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t6860) K
heart.gif
(2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t6860) Q
heart.gif
(2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t6860

Results:
Hero had K
spade.gif
, A
club.gif
(straight, Ace high).
UTG+1 had A
heart.gif
, A
diamond.gif
(flush, Ace high).
Outcome: UTG+1 won t6860



This is just 1 example But I have many similar ones, and the worst part about this ordeal is that, when I fold certain B.S hands, they end up winning, and when I'm forced to call, I end up losing, so how do you forget this thought process and move onto another positive out look? The tourney btw is a rebuy, and yes I could rebuy and do it again, yet I'd still have that negative nagging thought in the back of my mind
 
Poker Orifice

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not sure what the posted hand has anything to do with anything???

Mindset... big part of the game.

Tournament poker can suck big time!!
 
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WiZZiM

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A negative mindset will never get you anywhere.

Perhaps try some 180 mans, get a few wins under your belt and then try the MTT again. Even the best players go months without big wins and they probably play like 20-50 a day.
 
naruto_miu

naruto_miu

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not sure what the posted hand has anything to do with anything???

Mindset... big part of the game.

Tournament poker can suck big time!!


The posted hand, was an example of constantly thinking, I'm gonna lose and thus when I do lose thinking I knew I was gonna lose, but why the **** does it happen to me:), type of thinking yet I didn't know how to get it across...So your right hand has nothing to do with anything (Sry, lol)
 
naruto_miu

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A negative mindset will never get you anywhere.

Perhaps try some 180 mans, get a few wins under your belt and then try the MTT again. Even the best players go months without big wins and they probably play like 20-50 a day.


Yeah, I can go that route also, thx for that tip, and your both right, tournaments are a killer on the mindset for sure
 
Ducky7

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You have got to be constantly changing your mindset when playing in tournament poker. When starting out in the tournament you should be thinking this is going to be a long grind so ill start slowly and figure my table out etc rather than trying to win it in the first hour despite ow big the tourney and how psyched up you might be. If you lose a big pot and it cripples you midway through the tourney, you should be saying to yourself, this happens, back to the drawing board (IE grinding a 20BB stack rather than the 100BB you just had). Rather than for f***'s sake i lost again and donking off your remaining 20BB stack. Tournament poker is high variance and to win these fields of 1000 players + you do need to run very well, as well as playing well. Thats something else you need to remember (in all forms of poker) playing perfect doesn't always mean you will win
 
Arjonius

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Big field tournaments can be difficult mentally / emotionally even without a particularly poor or negative mindset. No one likes the idea of playing for hours only to fall short, but that's exactly what happens quite a bit of the time.

I'm not just talking about bubbling, but also about getting fairly deep. For example, most tournaments pay about 10% of the field. So let's consider when you're still in with only 1/4 of the field left. You've been playing for at least a few hours and outlasted a substantial majority, so it's hard not to feel you deserve to win something. But numerically, you'll still fail to cash 60% of these times.

I don't have a magic pill to improve one's attitude. If I did, I'd use it myself. The best I've been able to come up with so far is to enter big field tournaments only when I'm in a good frame of mind / emotional state to do so.
 
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Hey i've been having this mentally as well after recently getting back it poker. I agree with he post above about how Mtts are a marathon and therefore you cannot expect to win in he first hour. So you can take a hit to you stack and still be okay.

The problem i am having at the moment is that when running deep, i always seem to zone out and lose focus, unable to get reads on my opponents as well as i am use to in the first few hours of play.
 
naruto_miu

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Big field tournaments can be difficult mentally / emotionally even without a particularly poor or negative mindset. No one likes the idea of playing for hours only to fall short, but that's exactly what happens quite a bit of the time.

I'm not just talking about bubbling, but also about getting fairly deep. For example, most tournaments pay about 10% of the field. So let's consider when you're still in with only 1/4 of the field left. You've been playing for at least a few hours and outlasted a substantial majority, so it's hard not to feel you deserve to win something. But numerically, you'll still fail to cash 60% of these times.

I don't have a magic pill to improve one's attitude. If I did, I'd use it myself. The best I've been able to come up with so far is to enter big field tournaments only when I'm in a good frame of mind / emotional state to do so.


I understand what you mean and for this tip (I truly thank you for it:) )...My Issue is this that you mentioned about the "state of mind", but also the fact of when I play, I see poor plays get rewarded so frequently (I understand luck is a factor, but damn, how much luck can one get), (Think it's more of being envious of those players that luck out, at the start)...Then also being card dead, and just thinking like WTF, how can I play with these cards, or something down the lines of how do you expect me to make things happen, when I'm not getting anything to make anything happen with (Type of mentality), I see that this thinking is in-healthy for ones state of mind, so I want to eradicate this type of thinking, I seem to have during tourneys (Is that too much to ask)? I'm tired of constantly having to struggle with myself (as is), then on top of that having to struggle with a long ass tourney with no cards, does take a toll on ones mind...I hope I'm making sense:eek: ...

So I thank everyone for there input thus far, and plz keep it coming...
 
naruto_miu

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You have got to be constantly changing your mindset when playing in tournament poker. When starting out in the tournament you should be thinking this is going to be a long grind so ill start slowly and figure my table out etc rather than trying to win it in the first hour despite ow big the tourney and how psyched up you might be. If you lose a big pot and it cripples you midway through the tourney, you should be saying to yourself, this happens, back to the drawing board (IE grinding a 20BB stack rather than the 100BB you just had). Rather than for f***'s sake i lost again and donking off your remaining 20BB stack. Tournament poker is high variance and to win these fields of 1000 players + you do need to run very well, as well as playing well. Thats something else you need to remember (in all forms of poker) playing perfect doesn't always mean you will win


It's funny what you mentioned here, "The grinder" Michael Mizarocky (Sry I don't know how to spell that last name of his:eek: ), stated same thing to me, cuz I asked advise from him also and those were his pointers also....It's just so hard to think of it in this manner, but I mean it's something I have to force myself to (Yet when you do take a bad beat, it's sooooooooooo difficult to remain calm, and composed at the same time also (At-least for me:eek: )
 
Ducky7

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It's funny what you mentioned here, "The grinder" Michael Mizarocky (Sry I don't know how to spell that last name of his:eek: ), stated same thing to me, cuz I asked advise from him also and those were his pointers also....It's just so hard to think of it in this manner, but I mean it's something I have to force myself to (Yet when you do take a bad beat, it's sooooooooooo difficult to remain calm, and composed at the same time also (At-least for me:eek: )

Love the fact im giving the same advise as Michael Mizrachi ha. And ye i tilt as bad as anyone from bad beats, one technique i use and that is the nly thing that keeps me sane, especially later on is "think of the money" if you are deep in a tourney and someone sucks out, and you are still in, look at 1st prize and then tell yourself "Am i going to let this hardwork and effort slip due to a bad beat, Hell no, i did not come this far to throw it away." Try get yourself pumped up by doing that and that should help you get yourself re-motivated and hopefully off tilt, it you then get bad beated again and bust then feel free to blow the house up coz thats all i got and thats what i do haha :D when i find a cure to that, let you know
 
cardriverx

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why did you call UTG with AK -- and with the shove over that's an easy fold for me
 
JamesDaBear

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First step... tell yourself to enjoy tournament poker, or, better yet, actually enjoy tournament poker. If you don't enjoy tournament poker, don't play it. Poker is fantastic for its myriad options available to you to get your fix. It's not necessary to be a tournament player. Embrace tournament poker for what it is, not what you want it to be. If you don't have the right mindset before you even start playing, you're mostly wasting your time and significant cash you could be using at the plentiful ring games.
 
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