Dealing with Downswing (It is all in your mind)

Posted by RATUL STEVES on 2020-03-11 at 2:13 PM

Hello there. Hope everyone is washing their hands and keeping himself or herself protected from Coronavirus! Well, the past few months have been a test of my patience…my downswing is really bogging me down mentally. I have put in a number of hours for both Cash and Online, but the results remain the same. Variance kills my hand every single time.

Downswing outright sucks. It has sometimes left me questioning my strategy and abilities and more obviously, it has affected me mentally and financially too. Hence, I have decided to use this blog to lay down some key tips that have helped me keep a positive outlook despite the variance:

 

Study more

As part of the downswing comes this emotional baggage of “tilting” at all costs. Instead, I would recommend you increase your poker knowledge. Studying has proven to engage the logical parts of your brain and therefore keep you away from the emotions that come with tilting.

 

Don’t get nitty

In times of stress, our brain has a fight or flight response. Hence, as a way to reduce variance many a times players drastically change their playing style. I would suggest from personal experience to make rational decisions from a strategic point of view and not an emotional one.

 

Start fresh every single time

Do not, and I cannot stress this enough, do not go into your current session expecting it to be like the last one. If you walk into a session thinking since you are in a downswing, this session will be bad too; there is no point playing that session. It will be a rough experience and your state of mind will work against you.

Instead, go in with a fresh attitude confident of your strategies and leave the anxiety at home. I know, easier said than done. However, know this, your sessions have no memory of the last, and the past sessions only influence your future sessions if you allow them to.

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RATUL STEVES

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