Hello learning poker players.

Today I'm gonna talk about a recent changing I've made in my mind wich allows me to win a lot more.

I used to be the guy who thought that the hand was established preflop and, if had AA or KK or QQ, it would be mine no matter what happened post flop.

And I believed so hard on it that the All-in command was always set. It was just pull the trigger if needed.

It was like if I thought, before press the All-in button, "**** it, I got this!"

I think I don't have to tell you how many times I hit the wall and left the table. It was many.

So, in this my new learning journey I decided to change this mentality.

The first change was to understand that the game is beautiful and an almost magic game and everything can happen. And our AA in the button can lose if the BB was donkey enough to pay our raise but lucky enough to hit two low pairs or a straight.

The second change was that I change my mind from the skeptikal to the believer. Wich means, basically, when someone bets: "Ok, I believe you" and, if I don't have any shit, I fold.

The third and most important change was to trade the "**** it" before the All-in to a more serious analysis. And, when I'm not sure if I have the nuts but I'm also hardly doubt that the other guy has I think: "Ok, if you have better, I'll accept it. Anyway, I'll take the risk".

Just to conclude, a real example.

I was playing a single table tournament. 9 players, 0,50 buy-in. I won a great hand before and already was the big stack on the table. Another round came, I was in the middle and cards were KK. I got excited. The UTG made a small raise, 2BB, and the others before me called. I raised to something about 10 BB. Every one but the dealer folded. The dealer called. The SB folded and the BB called. Came the flop. Q A 7. I don't remember the suits but no flush was possible yet. The BB checked. I betted about 1/3 of the pot wich was significantly. The button called, and then, the BB came ALL-IN. "Shit!", I thought.

I could go All-in easily in the old days but I decided to change. So I thought hardly. And I realised that the they could have AA, AK, QQ, AQ, 77, A7, Q7 and all that hands would beat me. So I folded. The dealer went All-in as well. Showdown: Q10 and JJ. The turn hit another queen so I'd lose even with a better pair in the flop.

I keep that hard state of mind and I won that table. Way in the end, I got another KK, and I won.

So this is my message:

Don't try to win every hand you play. You have to play right. And sometimes, the right play is to give up.

Hope you guys like.

I like this sentiment. Taking the time to carefully think over your options is important both in life and in poker. Just make sure you don't get trapped by overthinking it. Some risks are worth taking even if you don't necessarily win.

Good post. I think it is hard to switch from the **** it mentality when playing too many freerolls, where the playing is very loose & most players treat them as a lottery.

I like this post. When i started here at CC the best advice I took away was patience. You dont win a tourney/sitngo in one hand. I started to have much better results consistently. I find myself falling back into the fak it all in mode from time to time and having poor results. Over valuing the kk, qq post flop when a higher card hits is something im very guilty of.

Originally Posted by Iceman0805

Hello learning poker players.

Today I'm gonna talk about a recent changing I've made in my mind wich allows me to win a lot more.

I used to be the guy who thought that the hand was established preflop and, if had AA or KK or QQ, it would be mine no matter what happened post flop.

And I believed so hard on it that the All-in command was always set. It was just pull the trigger if needed.

It was like if I thought, before press the All-in button, "**** it, I got this!"

I think I don't have to tell you how many times I hit the wall and left the table. It was many.

So, in this my new learning journey I decided to change this mentality.

The first change was to understand that the game is beautiful and an almost magic game and everything can happen. And our AA in the button can lose if the BB was donkey enough to pay our raise but lucky enough to hit two low pairs or a straight.

The second change was that I change my mind from the skeptikal to the believer. Wich means, basically, when someone bets: "Ok, I believe you" and, if I don't have any shit, I fold.

The third and most important change was to trade the "**** it" before the All-in to a more serious analysis. And, when I'm not sure if I have the nuts but I'm also hardly doubt that the other guy has I think: "Ok, if you have better, I'll accept it. Anyway, I'll take the risk".

Just to conclude, a real example.

I was playing a single table tournament. 9 players, 0,50 buy-in. I won a great hand before and already was the big stack on the table. Another round came, I was in the middle and cards were KK. I got excited. The UTG made a small raise, 2BB, and the others before me called. I raised to something about 10 BB. Every one but the dealer folded. The dealer called. The SB folded and the BB called. Came the flop. Q A 7. I don't remember the suits but no flush was possible yet. The BB checked. I betted about 1/3 of the pot wich was significantly. The button called, and then, the BB came ALL-IN. "Shit!", I thought.

I could go All-in easily in the old days but I decided to change. So I thought hardly. And I realised that the they could have AA, AK, QQ, AQ, 77, A7, Q7 and all that hands would beat me. So I folded. The dealer went All-in as well. Showdown: Q10 and JJ. The turn hit another queen so I'd lose even with a better pair in the flop.

I keep that hard state of mind and I won that table. Way in the end, I got another KK, and I won.

So this is my message:

Don't try to win every hand you play. You have to play right. And sometimes, the right play is to give up.

Hope you guys like.

L.O.V.E IT!

Thank you so much for sharing Iceman, this is great advice!

I heard that Alex Foxen went thru something similar and as soon as he shifted from feeling the need to win every pot he became the GPI player of the year... back to back years!!!

Thanks for pointing us in the right direction!

Originally Posted by Uncloggie

Good post. I think it is hard to switch from the **** it mentality when playing too many freerolls, where the playing is very loose & most players treat them as a lottery.

I agree. But now I force myself to keep that state of mind in every kind of game, even with playmoney.

It's funny how I've noticed that my win rate goes down when I got lose, so I come back to the serious and thoughtful playstyle.

Originally Posted by Evan Jarvis

L.O.V.E IT!

Thank you so much for sharing Iceman, this is great advice!

I heard that Alex Foxen went thru something similar and as soon as he shifted from feeling the need to win every pot he became the GPI player of the year... back to back years!!!

Thanks for pointing us in the right direction!

That is good advice,i too like to win every pot simply because they say i cant haha.
Thought i would attempt my own form of study by simply seeing what a successful player like yourself is posting,lazy study lol,glad i checked it out,thanks to you and Iceman for this post ,gl 2u both this year,lets get stackin !

Originally Posted by Iceman0805

Hello learning poker players.

Today I'm gonna talk about a recent changing I've made in my mind wich allows me to win a lot more.

I used to be the guy who thought that the hand was established preflop and, if had AA or KK or QQ, it would be mine no matter what happened post flop.

And I believed so hard on it that the All-in command was always set. It was just pull the trigger if needed.

It was like if I thought, before press the All-in button, "**** it, I got this!"

I think I don't have to tell you how many times I hit the wall and left the table. It was many.

So, in this my new learning journey I decided to change this mentality.

The first change was to understand that the game is beautiful and an almost magic game and everything can happen. And our AA in the button can lose if the BB was donkey enough to pay our raise but lucky enough to hit two low pairs or a straight.

The second change was that I change my mind from the skeptikal to the believer. Wich means, basically, when someone bets: "Ok, I believe you" and, if I don't have any shit, I fold.

The third and most important change was to trade the "**** it" before the All-in to a more serious analysis. And, when I'm not sure if I have the nuts but I'm also hardly doubt that the other guy has I think: "Ok, if you have better, I'll accept it. Anyway, I'll take the risk".

Just to conclude, a real example.

I was playing a single table tournament. 9 players, 0,50 buy-in. I won a great hand before and already was the big stack on the table. Another round came, I was in the middle and cards were KK. I got excited. The UTG made a small raise, 2BB, and the others before me called. I raised to something about 10 BB. Every one but the dealer folded. The dealer called. The SB folded and the BB called. Came the flop. Q A 7. I don't remember the suits but no flush was possible yet. The BB checked. I betted about 1/3 of the pot wich was significantly. The button called, and then, the BB came ALL-IN. "Shit!", I thought.

I could go All-in easily in the old days but I decided to change. So I thought hardly. And I realised that the they could have AA, AK, QQ, AQ, 77, A7, Q7 and all that hands would beat me. So I folded. The dealer went All-in as well. Showdown: Q10 and JJ. The turn hit another queen so I'd lose even with a better pair in the flop.

I keep that hard state of mind and I won that table. Way in the end, I got another KK, and I won.

So this is my message:

Don't try to win every hand you play. You have to play right. And sometimes, the right play is to give up.

Hope you guys like.

Very well said.It took me years to break the all-in mindset we love so much when starting out,and to accept that its better to fold and never know than to convince myself the bettor has a weaker hand.I still love trying to win every hand but indeed we need to draw a line somewhere and look at the real big picture.Another way i look at that situation is that in tournament poker one players gain is every players loss so every chip we give away a little recklessly really does count in the long run.Ive got to add though when i try to stay serious consistently online i seem to get plagued with discons and beats and that in itself is a huge mindset killer,cheers for this excellent post,gl this year.

Originally Posted by Evan Jarvis

L.O.V.E IT!

Thank you so much for sharing Iceman, this is great advice!

I heard that Alex Foxen went thru something similar and as soon as he shifted from feeling the need to win every pot he became the GPI player of the year... back to back years!!!

Thanks for pointing us in the right direction!

Thank you very much for your answer. It was a great surprise when I saw that I had already watched one of your youtube videos: The triple threat.

It is very pleasant to us, newbies, have one of the Pro's reading what we dare to write.

So, thanks again.