Loss of Confidence and Ways to Reclaim It

Recently, I received a letter from a middle-limit hold'em player, in which he asked how to regain his confidence once he had lost it. He wrote, "I can't stand it. I am running so badly that it is making me crazy, and I have lost all confidence in my play. After running badly for hand after hand, play after play, I try to make some seat and/or table changes. This doesn't help! How can I 'regain' the confidence factor in my daily play? Instead of wishing for the board to pair when I flop a set, I expect the flush card to come on the turn or the river and kill my hand. I am looking for ways to lose, it would seem, rather than ways to win. What might be a good confidence builder?"

I can sympathize with this reader, as I too have been there. I think anyone who says he's never run badly either hasn't played the game long enough or is not playing seriously enough to care about or keep track of bad runs. I have had long periods in which I couldn't book a win, and began to doubt that I was indeed a better-than-average player. I have never professed to be an expert player, but I don't think you need to be an expert to win. You only need to be better than most of your opponents. So, what are some of the things you can do to turn things around when you are losing? This reader mentioned seat and/or table changes. While I heartily agree that there are reasons for seat and table changes, I have never succumbed to the belief that losing or "running bad" is one of them. I change seats only to get better position on my opponents, to get away from smoke or irritating people, or to get a better view of the TV if there is something on that I really want to watch. I never make these changes hoping they will change my luck. I have always believed that it is unlucky to be superstitious, and this is one silly superstition, in my book!

One thing you can try is changing games and/or limits. For a long period of time, I played seven-card stud almost exclusively. I was running badly and it continued for a long time, much longer than my bankroll or mental state could comfortably sustain. Finally, I went back to playing hold'em, the game I had previously played exclusively. Not only did I start to win again, I was surprised to recall how easy a game hold'em was for me to play compared to stud! I could play more hours, pay less attention to remembering cards and more attention to players and their tendencies, and play with better focus and concentration. I could do this because it was somewhat new to me, as I hadn't played the game very much in years. Also, I tried playing different limits. I never played higher limits when running badly, but I did play some lower limits to book some wins and get that "black ink" feeling under my belt again. Too much red ink can make you begin to feel like a loser, and when you feel like a loser, your body language communicates that image to your opponents. Playing lower limits and shorter sessions helped, as I was able to play my "A" game all the time, and didn't get into a tilt mode. It was much easier to play well for short periods of time than to try to maintain focus for a marathon session.

Another way to regain confidence in your play is to concentrate on playing each hand perfectly. Now, you could ask 10 experts how to play a specific hand and you could get 10 different answers, but the point is: Play the hand as you think it ought to be played. Don't second-guess yourself, don't play differently because you are running badly, don't play fast because you have dropped down in limits, and don't play with results as your only consideration. Play correctly to reinforce to yourself that you know how to play well. The results will follow. In short, don't tie your level of confidence to the amount or frequency of your wins. You can win three times in 10 sessions and still be an overall winner, while another player may win seven out of 10 sessions and be a loser!

While these are by no means the only things you can do to get your edge back, they have helped me over the years. The main thing to remember is this: Don't punish your bankroll when you are running badly, and avoid tilt, no matter what. If you can do that, you have a large part of the problem solved. Class dismissed.(

For information on Card Player Cruises, or if you have poker-related questions or comments, please e-mail me. I will answer each e-mail I receive.

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