Marcus Bateman / Marcus Bateman / 21 October 2009 / Leave a comment

One of the key mistakes weak players make (and a very easy one to spot at that, as players nearly always talk about hands in ways which clearly show this concept), is to be results orientated about a play they made.

The term 'results orientated' simply refers to thinking only about whether you won the hand or not, not how you played it or how you got your money in.

Players habits can be fundamentally altered by being results orientated. Losing a few flush draws in a row (despite getting the right price on each one) can often push players into playing a weak and conservative game when they flop flush draws, with the results of the previous few situations making them play future situations very differently. This is fundamentally wrong, and over the long run will very quickly turn into a substantial leak if it is not plugged.

Poker is a game where the individual results of any one hand are largely irrelevant. What you are constantly trying to do is put yourself in situations that give you the best possible result given the circumstances. This can involve trying to extract maximum value from a monster hand by setting a trap or betting strongly, winning a pot by bluffing with a hand that has no hope of winning at showdown, or by folding a big hand when sure your opponent has to have a bigger hand.

What the outcome of a given hand (or even multiple hands for that matter) on a particular day is basically meaningless. One of the best examples of this is looking at long shots. Players who are results orientated frequently play long shots badly, for reasons which illustrate the problems with results orientation well.

It is perfectly fine to take 5 to 1 shots if you are getting 6 to 1 or better on your hand - over the long run you will make a profit, despite the fact that most of the time you will lose the actual hand. Results orientated players tend to either over play long shots (having got lucky and hit a couple, but now consistently get it in with the wrong price); or under play them (having missed a lot, and are therefore loathe to ever go with these hands - no matter what the price). Both of these approaches are mathematically flawed, and both will lose over the long run.

Try not to think about the results of a given hand - the important thing is to focus on the best play in a given situation, and if you take care of that, everything else tends to take care of itself.

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