Self Doubt
There is a fine line between having a winning poker session and a losing session. Winning poker players win just over fifty percent of the hands when they see a showdown. It is impossible to win every time you play poker. You will have streaks when you are running very well and can seemingly do no wrong.
At other times the game may feel like a struggle as your opponents keep hitting their draws while you feel like you couldn’t hit a draw to save your life. Over the long haul, winning players will end up winning more than they lose, but they will still have many losing sessions.
When losing sessions occur frequently, many poker players question their own ability. They wonder if they can actually beat the games they play. I’ve been asked by a number of people if I ever question my own abilities and these people know that I have won fairly consistently ever since I started playing online poker. A look of relief usually appears on their faces as I assure them that from time to time I do question my abilities during a long downswing.
By occasionally questioning my own abilities I end up going over my hand histories to ensure that I am playing good poker. Although I do find mistakes in my play, I can usually attribute a long downswing to bad luck.
I do analyze my mistakes and try to figure out why I made them and look at ways to avoid making similar mistakes in the future. The self doubt that I sometimes experience forces me to think about my abilities and ends up making me a stronger player in the long run. The human psyche is a fickle thing. Just analyzing my game does not give me the confidence that I should have as a winning poker player.
The outcome usually involves having a session which offers me some very favourable results. I end up making money playing poker, and somehow, magically, my confidence reappears. Don’t feel bad when you experience self doubt. Every poker player feels that way at some point. It is the nature of the game since you cannot win every hand.