Qualities of a good, winning Poker player:

I believe and I'm sure there's a lot of evidence and research that can back it up, that they're many traits a Poker player must naturally possess to be a successful wining player. Alan Schoomaker have stated many in is psychology of Poker books. I feel all the experience and Poker study in the world may still leave you with shortcomings... At best you may only become break even or small winner in the long run.

Here's my list:

1. Must be educated and/or naturally gifted
- you must have a thinking brain. A brain that can analyze, put pieces of info together like a puzzle, good with numbers. Also enjoys to read, study, learn... A love for knowledge!

2. No chemical imbalances... Such as depression, ADHD, ADD, any mental disorder or addictions... Even if you're getting treatments, there's never a cure and its something you'll live with forever

3. Strong confidence, ego, self esteem, secure with self, strong relationships with family, friends, lovers, positive attitude, optimistic, love for life, active living, enjoy hobbies, physically and mentally fit.

4. Decisive... Make decisions with confidence and feel good about it... Any second guessing will hurt you more than help over long hall

5. Competitive... Loves to compete and must win... Gets high off the lure of the game, eye of the tiger, passion for game

6. Disciplined, control, knows when to stay/go, yes/no, patience, will power, inner strength, motivation, determination, intestinal fortitude, time management.

7. Life in order... satisfied knowing where you are, where you're going, little regret.

8. Total disregard of money or anything that has value

This is just what I think...

You pretty much have to naturally be super human. Most of us are not, that's why I believe only 1% of all Poker players are long term winners. Most possess most of these qualities... Obviously the stronger you are in some still make up for the ones you're lacking in.

I feel if you are lacking in most of these areas, you will continue to bleed $$.

Are there solutions to most of these? I'm sure there's many. Feel free to suggest. Add other weakness to.

So, what do we all do if we don't have these qualities? Give up on the game? Give up on life? No and no, but we must be aware of the truth, of who we are. Some things just can't be changed, but there is Hope. You just have to dig deep inside, find it, grasp it, never let it go!

We can only preform at our full potential and Hope for the best... Till then, we'll continue to give!

Yours truly

A Losing Playe

The eye of the tiger, dun, dun dun.......the eye of the tiger.....dun dun dun...

honestly im about half and half on your list as to what is true and untrue for me and I can go on about it all and much more that you need to be a winning player that isnt in any way naturally achieved but that would be very long and right now there just isnt much merit behind your post. there are truths in there but it doesn't mean you can't be a winning player.


Im a winning player and starting to succeed more than I ever have since I learned how to play poker 2 years ago, and I can confidently say that the #1 reason I'm moderately succeeding (im certainly on the right path and am definitely in the <5% of poker players that are winning players) is that I dedicated myself to it.

I dedicated myself to learning the game and every single aspect of it, I didnt back away from cash games as a tourny player, didnt back away from 6ma as a full ring player, I took on every aspect and I learned from very successful players (coaches that I found staking deals with to help me improve) and I worked day in and day out, 7 days a week, hours on end to get where I am right now

10K hands at 10NL -- 18bb/100:

[IMG]http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t464/StreetPharmacyPoker/10khandsFR.png[/IMG


This a very small sample of my play this week and how things have been going for me after training harder than ever the last 2 months with my new coach, who I lucked out to get but that was only part of it, the rest was me putting in the effort, because I want to be a successful poker player that badly,

bad enough that I disregarded the fact that Ive dealt with things like depression and OCD in the past, little confidence in myself and an over competitive ego that left me with very bad tilt issues.

But I've overcome all of that in the past year since I started really putting in effort, and I just thought id put in my opinion, because as ive grown as a poker player, ive grown as a person too, poker didnt make me confident, but I did, in many aspects of life, Im happier and I'm loving life and im confident in myself as a person lately and I think it has a lot to do with putting so much effort into something and eventually seeing the rewards of my hard work.

So if your just looking for some excuses to why your not winning instead of making it happen yourself, it may just mean you don't want it that badly, and thats fine, maybe poker should just be a passtime for you and not a serious thing, but if you are serious about being a winning poker player, then you need to be damn ready to commit and dedicate your existance to it, just like anything else, because thats what it takes to be successful in life.

that being said, If you have the above that I just wrote, then you can make up for, and even acquire 99% of the points you listed above.

graph:



my bad for typo lol

You got a talent, champ! Just don' stop.

So you've won a hundred bucks? Or am i reading that wrong?

Thanks Champ for the inspiring Post!! And yes, you are absolutely right, with hard work and dedication and TRUE passion for the game I can adapt and overcome what I have listed to be a successful player. And the post was somewhat of a "Steam" post of excuses for myself after a sick 2/5 NLH live cash game I played on Sunday. With over 10K+ on the table, I managed to be up $500 twice before going broke...Only losing my initial $500 buy-in and decided to leave a VERY VERY Good game because I was playing horribly. I could not wrap my arms around what just happen. I was literally brain fried and exhausted. I took notes on every hand I played and the mistakes I made, I just couldn't not make sense of, yet I was doing it roboticly and could not stop myself. I was stuck in this zone I'm way to familiar with and It's just a horrible spot.

So, more or less, this is a list of qualities I feel I'm lacking in or have issues with and my reasons for not being a winning player and keep making these obsurb mistakes... I just don't have any other explanation.

As for your post and the amount of hard work you have put in, I would really try to find a live cash game locally so you could see your hard work paid off quicker. Online is such a hard game now and moving up takes that much longer. Try to find a live cash game and I'm sure with all your study and training, You'll be able to reap 100x more than you could ever imagine!

Best of luck and Thanks! Keep up the good work!

Yes there is a 1/2 and 2/5 nl poker room close to me but between the 25 min drive and the enormous casino rake, it makes for a tough game to beat (rediculously soft of course) I played there last summer and def wasnt as good back then but things went my way over maybe 2-3k hands (I played one month, 2-3 times a week, 2-5 hour sessions) and finished about 3-4 buyins up. those first reaons + me being a broke college student is keeping me from going near there this summer. Also live cash is a little slow for me, i like live mtts but cash i like to play 8+ tables.

also one thing you should consider is moving down to 1/2 if one session like that is bothering yoiu that much, could mean your playing above your bankroll limitations, and you may find 1/2 is 10x easier to play simply because your less worried about your results and more worried about stacking the fish. Being comfortable at your level is very important