Some time ago, a poster on the PilipinasPoker forums started a thread bewailing the futility of seeking help on large poker forums:
"How am I supposed to improve my game if when I post a hand, I get mostly very brief general answers with no explanations??
How is "Lol call. poker easy" supposed to help me?
Last time I checked, poker was a very complex game that requires detailed analysis of multiple variables, so where do I go to talk to someone that actually realizes this, or am I just screwed and on my own?
Furthermore, ANYONE can post on 2p2, and a lot of them THINK they know what they are talking about but absolutely do not, or they like to just joke around and screw with you. How am I supposed to know the difference? It just seems like there's a bunch of idiots and a-holes on 2p2 with very few nice intelligent genuinely helpful people here.
Maybe I am just asking for too much to get any real help on this site?
The replies that followed were then so progressively unproductive that it crossed the line from slightly annoying to downright laugh-my-head-off ludicrous. After three pages, the thread had turned into a juvenile bickering between two posters discussing an issue so completely irrelevant to the original poster's topic that they in effect gave him the answer he was NOT looking for!
Ah, you have to read it to believe it! The thread escalates to a beautiful punchline from one of the forum's more balanced minds:
"what a way to show the original poster that we are very helpful in this forum. Way to go guys."
And now my reply to the original issue:
I loved this thread you started. Unfortunately, the reality of public forums where anyone can post is that threads get hijacked by awful and irrelevant digressions. Part of your job as a seeker of information is to sort through a lot of the BS to get the answers that ring true for you and your style of play.
This forum is expected to behave a lot like any other forum, BUT the great advantage is that this is a smaller forum so you will find it easier to sort through the trash replies - in effect, it will still be very helpful.
What you can do is be proactive, and make sure you get the info you want:
1. make sure the thread title is specific to what you want to discuss.
2. make sure the thread is in the proper sub-forum.
3. when your thread is being hijacked, please please please report it to the moderators, because some of us are reading your thread for your topic!
I hope you don't give up on public forums, and that you still post some hands here, because we all need to learn from each other.
and yes, poker is EZ, zomgnutlaserspowpowpow!
when all is lost, you can always PM the ones you want to hear from.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Loss of confidence?
"I've hit a rough patch the previous week and in a financial bind (thats why I pulled out of some tournaments). This has happened quite a few times in the past but I've really never lost confidence in myself.
I'm starting to question a lot of my moves and strategies that has worked in the past and the tough part is that I sometimes looked towards quitting the game...
I dont want to do this but if I dont get my mojo back I'll be leaking very precious pesos if I continue to push the issue...
"
What it sounds like is that you have lost your rhythm. Think of yourself as a runner in a marathon - you are in great position, breathing well and your strides are long and natural. Sometimes you get complacent - or just get hit by shit-awful luck - and you step on a sharp rock.
Some rocks you can shake off without losing stride, some you have to stop and pull out of the soles of your shoes.
Whatever it is you are dealing with, one thing is (or should be) for certain in your heart: you are not dropping out of the marathon unless someone comes over and cuts both your legs off and issues a legal document that bans you from purchasing a wheelchair. (Even then, you might get a friend to buy one for you.)
These feelings of doubt ("am i just a lucky fish whose luck has run out?") with regards to your competence are part of the life-game you are playing. Yes, even after five years (which experience-wise is much shorter if you haven't pounded your psyche to bits on the online circuit).
In many shapes and forms, i still get these feelings every other week, and even some of my higher-rolling peers, coaches, and students have come running to cry on any shoulder available when they get these "whole world is beating down on me" episodes.
I believe that anyone who claims to be completely untiltable is lying in some way - that, or he has given up on his humanity. Either way, he is unbalanced, and that can prove to be unhealthy and -EV in life.
It's good for you to be feeling this, as it will ground you and allow you to open yourself up to learning more. If anything, i hope it will make you pay more attention both to your poker game, and to what is going on inside of you.
So what do you have to do?
Take many deep breaths. Look at your spreadsheet (i hope you have kept one?) and study your undeniable consistent winning results over your last five years. Look at it with complete self-honesty (no false modesty or bravado) and be objective. Are you really just a lucky fish or a good player off-balance? Answer the question and BELIEVE.
Evaluate where your BANKROLL is at: Is it still playable at your limit? If you need a bankroll infusion, do you trust yourself to invest? Do not invest until you trust yourself completely.
Read a few of the basic books on theory and strategy if you need to remind yourself that you already know all this. You will discover a new found confidence that you have what it takes. Now go for it.
Pull that rock out of your shoe and get your rhythm back. Start again by walking briskly, then slowly break back into your run. If you have to move down stakes or revert to SSS, then do it. But do it with your complete passion and attention - with no thought of revenge, the past, or "making your money back"
Name the source of this quote: "fall down seven, get up eight."
I'm starting to question a lot of my moves and strategies that has worked in the past and the tough part is that I sometimes looked towards quitting the game...
I dont want to do this but if I dont get my mojo back I'll be leaking very precious pesos if I continue to push the issue...
"What it sounds like is that you have lost your rhythm. Think of yourself as a runner in a marathon - you are in great position, breathing well and your strides are long and natural. Sometimes you get complacent - or just get hit by shit-awful luck - and you step on a sharp rock.
Some rocks you can shake off without losing stride, some you have to stop and pull out of the soles of your shoes.
Whatever it is you are dealing with, one thing is (or should be) for certain in your heart: you are not dropping out of the marathon unless someone comes over and cuts both your legs off and issues a legal document that bans you from purchasing a wheelchair. (Even then, you might get a friend to buy one for you.)
These feelings of doubt ("am i just a lucky fish whose luck has run out?") with regards to your competence are part of the life-game you are playing. Yes, even after five years (which experience-wise is much shorter if you haven't pounded your psyche to bits on the online circuit).
In many shapes and forms, i still get these feelings every other week, and even some of my higher-rolling peers, coaches, and students have come running to cry on any shoulder available when they get these "whole world is beating down on me" episodes.
I believe that anyone who claims to be completely untiltable is lying in some way - that, or he has given up on his humanity. Either way, he is unbalanced, and that can prove to be unhealthy and -EV in life.
It's good for you to be feeling this, as it will ground you and allow you to open yourself up to learning more. If anything, i hope it will make you pay more attention both to your poker game, and to what is going on inside of you.
So what do you have to do?
Take many deep breaths. Look at your spreadsheet (i hope you have kept one?) and study your undeniable consistent winning results over your last five years. Look at it with complete self-honesty (no false modesty or bravado) and be objective. Are you really just a lucky fish or a good player off-balance? Answer the question and BELIEVE.
Evaluate where your BANKROLL is at: Is it still playable at your limit? If you need a bankroll infusion, do you trust yourself to invest? Do not invest until you trust yourself completely.
Read a few of the basic books on theory and strategy if you need to remind yourself that you already know all this. You will discover a new found confidence that you have what it takes. Now go for it.
Pull that rock out of your shoe and get your rhythm back. Start again by walking briskly, then slowly break back into your run. If you have to move down stakes or revert to SSS, then do it. But do it with your complete passion and attention - with no thought of revenge, the past, or "making your money back"
Name the source of this quote: "fall down seven, get up eight."
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