Losing In Order To Win
As much as all poker players would like to win every single game that they play, that is obviously not possible. Just as in all games, there has to be a winner and a loser. The funny thing is that even though most players encounter losing situations far more than winning ones, we all tend to as a whole deal with winning far better than we do losing…well, maybe that is not so funny! In any case, there are actually a lot of valuable lessons to be learned from losing any sport or game, poker included.
It is unfortunate that most players don’t see it that way and indeed, almost entirely neglect the aspects of poker that don’t have anything to do with winning. The overwhelming focus is on winning the big prize to the neglect of the factors that come into play that prevent that very goal from happening. And more often than not, most players think that the way to achieve this goal is by winning the money from the other players around the table, when the fact of the matter is that virtually all of the money that can potentially be won in a game of is a result of the various actions that go on during the course of an entire game. Placing money into the pot, one player winning some and another losing some more…all of this contribute in some small way to the big prize. In a sense, the money that you can potentially win in poker is the cumulative result of all of these various and sometimes seemingly trivial occurrences.
One thing that would be valuable for any poker player to realize is that to a certain extent, you have to be able to lose in order for you to win. There is virtually no way to ensure that any one player–you included–will win 100% of the time. In fact, you will probably end up losing more of the hands that you are dealt than winning them. Of course this realization isn’t always receive so warmly by the majority of poker players who on the whole absolutely hate to lose. What may make this realization a bit easier to swallow however is the fact that losing with grace actually plays an important role in winning.
How is this so? An obvious example is when you are faced with a particularly brutal run of bad luck, you may find it more beneficial to simply cut your losses and walk away. Far too many times, a poker player who attempts to reverse this run of bad luck by going on playing will end up sinking deeper into a financial hole. Obviously self-control comes into play here, which is one of the most important qualities for any poker player to develop.
The fact of the matter is that you simply have to accept that even big winners have lost more pots than they have won. Keeping things in perspective and knowing when to quit when you are ahead will better prepare you for the future and hopefully an eventual win.
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