Top 3 Reasons You Fail at Poker That Have Nothing To Do With Strategy

When a losing player tries to pinpoint a problem with their game they often start and end at strategic concepts: Am I too tight? Am I too loose? Do I overplay hands post-flop? Do I fold too easily on the river? And sometimes the answer to their problem can be found in one of those questions. However, there is another set of problems, an entirely non-strategic set of problems that plague poker players.

#1 Self-Doubt

Self-doubt is bad in just about any endeavor; in an endeavor like poker, where you have to rely on only yourself and trust your decisions, it can be downright destructive to your bottom-line results.

Self-doubt usually starts creeping in after a bad run of cards, and grows with each successive bad-beat or cold run of cards. It starts off as a small voice in the back of your head: “are you really cut out for this?” and keeps growing until it the only thing you can hear: “You can’t win!” “You’re going to go broke!”

The only recourse for dealing with self-doubt is to always remind yourself the long-term aspects of poker; and to keep in mind that every poker player has gone through what you are currently experiencing. Many poker players have quit the game because of it, the best players are able to make it through and come out better players in the end.

#2 trying to keep up with the Joneses

“I play 12 tables at a time, and earn 4bb/100.” Usually upon hearing this people will go from multi-tabling four tables to eight, and quickly to 12: After all, if so-and-so can do it, so can I! And that’s where the problems begin.

Poker is about you and your results, not about duplicating someone else’s accomplishments. The moment you start trying to keep up with the Joneses is usually closely followed by the moment you need to recoup your loses from your failed attempt to copy-cat someone else.

You always have to do what works best for you, and sometimes that means playing lower-stakes, playing fewer tables, or even sticking to live poker. Someone else’s path to success can easily be your road to ruin.

#3 forgetting to leave yourself outs

This term was coined in Rounders after Mike lost his entire roll in a single hand. Despite the recognition of this line, many players fall victim to this error; whether it’s risking too much, or simply an unwillingness to do what needs to be done to win -such as playing a lower limit or different game.

The true measure of a champion isn’t always his skill or his heart, sometimes it’s his pragmatism. Poker requires you to check your ego at the door: If you make more money playing $10/$20 than $20/$40, play $10/$20 - you shouldn’t sit in the $20/$40 game just to say, “I can beat the $20/$40.” Don’t stick ½ your bankroll on the table because someone called you out for a heads-up match - and in fact don’t accept heads-up matches unless you are a good heads-up player!

So, while many players make strategic mistakes, and every player has small leaks in their game, it is mistakes like the above three that often keep poker players in the red, and continually scratching their heads trying to figure out what on earth they are doing wrong.