Even though I am a professional poker player and poker coach, I continue to learn every time I sit down at a poker table. That is my intention… to become a better poker player with every outing. However, yesterday, I was reminded once again just how subtle poker lessons can be.
High Heels Poker Tour sponsored a women's poker tournament at The Silks Poker Room at Tampa Bay Downs in Florida, and I drove the two hours to play. Well, that is not exactly how I think of it… I actually drove the two hours to win.
The jaded people out there may say that I am too much of a Polly Anna for the poker world. However, there can only be one first place in any poker tournament. In order to win at poker in the long run, you have to embrace your losses. You must learn the lessons your losses bring, and, then, move on to the next hand and the next game.
How did I bust out? It doesn't matter. I lost the last hand I played, pure and simple.
Does it matter that within the span of 90 minutes, I got pocket Kings cracked twice and busted out with pocket Aces? No… not unless I played them incorrectly, or not unless it put me on tilt.
What does matter is that I made the correct decisions throughout the entire tournament. When I took a beat, I took a moment to reflect and evaluate, and then moved on to the next hand.
So what was that subtle lesson? It was that I still need my personal poker coach to debrief effectively, and I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.
Until next time,
Remember…
If you can't raise, don't call.