Marcus Bateman / Marcus Bateman / 24 February 2009 / 1 Comments

Most poker players do not have very long plans to improve their ability. They may reach a stake where they can make a comfortable living and decide to pay less attention, or simply lose interest in learning and improvement when they feel they have the game mastered.

Learning about yourself and your own weaknesses does not mean admitting failure, it just means that you have to adjust how, why, and when you play to what you know about yourself.

The actual reality of poker is that no player has ever learnt enough about poker - the game is nearly infinitely complex and as such can only be improved at no matter what level you are at.

Even players at the very highest levels have holes in their game. Although the weaknesses in how they actually play the cards in each game become very small, other problems start to define their playing ability. Tilt ridden losing sessions, drink or drugs, bad business investments or staking deals with losing players can all slowly destroy even the greatest poker player regardless of their actual ability on the felt.

Most players focus on improving their playing ability without considering how their actual lifestyle and own weaknesses will effect them if they reach very high levels of play. Learning about yourself and your own weaknesses does not mean admitting failure, it just means that you have to adjust how, why, and when you play to what you know about yourself. It is just as important that you can look at yourself and control your behavior when feeling down/drunk/stressed/tired and act accordingly as it is that you can look at someone else and measure their strengths and weaknesses.

This sort of advanced self control and self learning is not usually necessary at the low and mid stakes for two key reasons. Firstly, the general standard of play is so bad that you can have a few major lifestyle leaks in your game and still win money. Secondly, the stakes are such that most people do not feel as psychologically damaged by losing money, and as a result, many of these leaks do not expose themselves. A player who can happily lose $100 without flinching may well be a complete wreck when they first see that $5,000 pot slide away from them.

Learning about these types of concepts is critical to your long term future as a poker player. Mastering the game is only half the battle - you have to be able to learn to control and discipline yourself to a much higher degree as the stakes rise. Many players learn the advanced mechanics of poker but never the advanced nuances of their own strengths and weaknesses - don't become one of them if you truly want to maximize your potential.

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