Control Your Emotion

Everyone has lost on the river and there are times when everytime you call the other person seems to bet your card by one and you decide that your odds have to change and so keep betting with marginal hands and soon you are no longer in the game. While it may sound difficult to avoid this there are simple ways to help lessen the effects.

#1 Attached To Starting Cards

Too many people get dealt pocket aces and become very attached to them. Crazy i know but it is true. If you have pocket aces but then the flop comes up, there is a straight and flush draw and another player raises big you should fold. Do not let your emotions get to you let the hand go. It is important to judge every hand on its merits.

#2 Forget The Last Hand

Unless you are trying to count the cards then forget the last hand. It does not do well to dwell on the past especially in poker. Too many players stay in when there is a big pre-flop bet just because they narrowly lost the last hand so want to win this one. Moreover, just because an Ace came up last time, if the deck is shuffled it has just as good a chance of coming up this time.

#3 Time

I have written a post related to this before but it really is important to take at least 15 seconds before you make any decision. If you do this it should calm you down and help you make the right decision. If you need more time then use it.

#4 Getting Over a Bad Hand

While i would say you should forget about it and move on this is almost impossible to do. Instead you should try and bet moderately for the next few hands or sat out a few so you do not anything stupid. Once you have recovered then resume playing the game normally rather than looking for a quick fix.

#5 Opposite Effect

Players who are consistently winning can also let their emotions effect their judgement. They make stupid decisions because they are on a role and think luck is with them. I have been there and lost all my money when i was chip leader. Again the only real advice i can give is to treat each hand as a new game and judge each hand on its merits.

Overall, it is almost impossible to stop your emotions effecting your play but if you take the simple steps outlined above you should be able to at list control your emotions in a better way and win your money back rather than losing more.

Be lucky!!

Chris