You need to be patient when playing online, just as patient as you are when playing in a brick-and-mortar environment. Remember you’re going to catch long streaks of dead cards. You take your share of bad beats. Rough spots happen to every player, so the better you can ride through them, the higher you can rise above the other guy in the long run. Here are some things you can do to remain calm and learn from each online experience.
Taking a break from play
Many players find it just a little too easy to play like a demon online.
Win or lose a tournament? Doesn’t matter. Click, click, and you enter into a new one. Just lost your 50th hand in a row? You can shake it off. Keep playin’. Or don’t.
You should take stock of what happens as you play. Are you winning or losing? Do certain opponents always beat you? Can you find a consistency in the way you lose or win? Are you beginning to show repeatable, predictable behavior?
If you experience some bad luck in play, stop for a moment, take a deep breath, and answer the previous questions. What you find may give you deeper insight into your game.
Keeping a Poker journal
An excellent way to stay on top of your game and analyze the happenings in your Poker world is to keep a Poker journal. Obviously you want to add information that makes the most sense to you, but we suggest tracking the following:
The number of players in your session
Unusual plays you make that work and those that don’t
Mistakes you make, and how you can try to avoid them in the future The time of day you play
The stakes and game you play
Your wins and losses
You can set your journal up in any format you like. Microsoft Excel is good for laying out spreadsheet information, of course — and it’s free if you already have it on your computer. If you want something that’s more in-depth or has already been created for you, try www.Pokercharts.com or www.Pokertracker.com.
