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I have a big problem. With myself. I don’t know what it is, but it is so f***** frustrating. The thing is that i can’t play my game in a late stage of a turnament. I play good, perfectly even, in early stages, like making big bluffs and hero calls, and just generally put my opponents to the test in a lot of different situations, but when it comes to the real thing (like 100 or 50 left) i have a mental block. My game falls apart. I just can’t pull the trigger anymore , even if im 95% sure i have the best hand. Like when i have A high or something and i know my opponent has a piece of the flop but it is 90% chance he would fold to a river bet, but i still just check and he checks back to me, only to see what I already know. It is so frustrating.
The thing is that I understand the game very well, but I’m a result oriented, because i play poker recreationally due to my full time job. I like to win a turnament so bad that i just breake under pressure every time.
I know that this problem is in my head and no1 could really help me with this. I just like to know if anyone has/had the same problem and how to approach it.

1. Switch to cash games

and/or

2. Read The Mental Game of Poker and see if it helps.

Ellit Roe poker mindset MP3 Will help a.lot.

Maybe you can increase your modesty and look for leaks simultaneously. I've been studying this game for a long time and I still don't know the half of it. Sometimes I stick out my neck on these forums and I sometimes get **** for it, but I usually learn stuff in return. It's very important to come to the realization that one can only play poker, verbalize concepts, or understand this game up to that individuals current understanding. It takes a question from below, and an answer from above, in order for one to increase poker knowledge. This is exactly why I believe these forums are so valuable. If a bunch of beginners flooded the high stakes forums with questions, the answers would likely be misunderstood and misapplied. However, if a bunch of beginners flooded the beginners forum with questions, the answers would be easier to understand and apply. If you went to college and jumped into an advanced placement class with no prior knowledge of a subject, you'd probably fail miserably. Yet if you went to college and started in a 101 class? See where this is going? The advancement of one's understanding of poker theory is linear and as such, we gotta take it one step at a time.

Your problem is your trying to win the tournament. You have a fear of being knocked out so you don't make the right play and check behind rather than getting your chips in.

solution: Don't think ahead of winning the tourney.

Of course you do.

I'm sure you do.

We can probably agree on that.

the book is fine, i agree

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I simply meant that, i know how to play in late stages, (i have one 2nd place and two 3rd place finishes) (noted that i play only like 150 turnament per year) it is just my head that is preventing me to play the way I want to play. But i think i already made some improvements after reading some stuff online regarding that matter. So i played just 1 mtt on sunday (i play couple of turnaments on weekends and 4-5 on weekdays) and I finished 26/1135. i was so happy with the way I played. I knew exactly where i was In every spot and was not afraid to pull the trigger or value bet when i knew i had the best hand.

In the last hand i made I huge bluff on the river with 22 on 8c7c8Ac7 board when I defending from bb to a sb min raise, when he cbet the flop, bet the turn and then check the river. I felt that was a good spot to bluff shoved with 400k in the pot and i had like a pot size left in my stack. But after tanking a bit my opp calls and show pocket tens.

But anyway, this turney gave me a huge amount of confidence for my future turnaments and my pursuit for that first place finish that i so desperately wanted. So this week im going for that gold. I report how it goes.

not sure what your point is.
I just know im good and i know how to play to win a turney, and when i fix my problems in my head im gonna win one!

Point is that you're probably not as good as you believe you are and it is the obvious reason why it doesn't work out in the end. The hand in your example, with however little details, gives pretty good insight.

Is it, perhaps, a possibility that you tend to get credit for what you represent early in tournaments because people don't have many hands on you and won't get a decent sample until later in the tournament? Any chance at all that your plays are actually losing but work out until people adjust, at which point it backfires?

You probably do have a mental block, and that you refuse to accept there is a lot to learn. Nobody plays "perfectly", especially when you play a few tournaments in the week. What's holding you back is the lack of any progression due to your ego, which is a shame.

Your reaction is going to tell me if I'm right and/or if you are willing to make changes.

I admit, you’re making a lot of sense. I know how much there is to learn, but i was never a ‘math guy’, never really study much theory, I’m not very smart guy in general. I just have a good sense for the game I think. I probably credit myself to much, yes, but on the other hand, when i play my a-game i just feel that I could do this for a living one day, if i get my head straight. As far as my ego - i have it under control and it doesn’t effect my game, i never tilt or something, but yea, I should put it aside as far learning goes, and start to study the game.

unfortunately he is right you need to improve your game to win in the end game. thats when the better players tend to end up with you.

however if you freeze up no endeavor in life you try will work out until you can keep your head straight.

That's good, but like many things in life it helps to not put your expectations too high. You can have goals, but if you believe you should already be there before doing the actual work it only slows you down. You probably feel that you should have already been winning tournaments but that's just not realistic. First of all because poker is not an easy game to master and even if you do the best player in the world needs to get lucky to survive hundreds of players.

I bet that if you set expectations lower and have achievable goals like number of situations/hands you study you're going to do much better.

and it may not be your head at all. you said you werent very smart. dont do the math, and dont study theory. which means you are going into battle with seasoned warriors with a dull sword expecting to cut your way through the crowd.