Sometimes, when I might've made a mistake or I know I made one for sure and the pot size lost was significant, I enter into some kind of a brain fog. I start thinking about the hand and whether I made a mistake or not and if I did - what was it exactly, and sometimes a bunch of silly negativity.

As a result I stop following the action (which I was following like a hawk before) with the focus I should be; and even in the hands I'm in... my brain is foggy.

I'm sure this is pretty common but what I want to know is how to combat this? I know there's advice to just memorize the basic details of the hand and analyze AFTER the session, keep your mind on the game. In theory sounds good but kind of hard to do in practice. It's like I don't give a f anymore about observing action, I'm obsessed about my possible mistake and consumed by the negative emotions of losing. Now, don't take this the wrong way. I probably take losses better than 80% of players out there, especially ones where I know I played well. But if it's a loss and it's possible I misplayed - I start thinking about it - WHILE I'm still playing. Of course, not every time, but happens often enough to post and seek advice.

It's tough. It's a battle between emotion side of you and intellectual side. Emotionally there is all kinds of things going on. It is causing you to want to over analyze your mistake and doing it at the wrong time which is right in the middle of the session when you should be focusing on the next hand.

Your mind is distracted, even consumed, by trying to resolve a conflict. It's very similar to getting a song stuck in your head. (You can't remember all the lyrics, just the chorus - so your mind plays it over and over trying to remember the rest.) In poker, your mind needs to resolve the conflict before being able to refocus on the game at hand. Most times, you can let it go, but sometimes it just get's stuck.

Stand up. Step away from the table, go for a short walk or take a short break. Analyze the hand now, identify the mistake and what you would do in the future, etc. Alternatively, you could write the hand down or tap it into your phone, jotting down all the necessary details for later. Basically, you are letting your mind resolve the conflict so that it can get back to the task of paying attention. Once done, shake it off, and walking back to the table you'll have a clear head. It doesn't need to take longer than most bathroom breaks in most cases.

I did this just last night. A hand was really bugging me so I stood up, went outside for a few minutes. I realized that I folded when I should have called, and I knew what the mistake was and why I made it. In the process, I even realized a trend from that particular villain to look for in the future. I went back in and sat down with a clear head and renewed focus on capitalizing on villain's mistakes.

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