The variance of NL and thoughts on my poker mindset

After a modest down-session this morning (2 buyins), I got to thinking more about the swings I have had this year. This year has been a very profitable year. In fact, after doing my tax returns, this year is close to 2005 for my most profitable year (I played limit poker and tourneys that year, and had some big scores). Given the supposed drying up of games after the ULIGA, I am very happy with my results.

During this year, however, I have had several HUGE downswings, at least in monetary terms. I bet I have had 15+ drops of $500, with many of those being close to $1000 or more. About half-way through the year, however, those drops stopped phasing me. They just happen and are inevitable. What I can control are my next decisions vs. my opponents. One trick I do sometimes is think about how I would think about my results if I were betting on myself to lose. Franky, I would be depressed. Despite a small "victory", I am only erasing the games from the previous day, or few days (or in rare cases, perhaps a week or more). Then, what often happens is in the next few days that "win" is completely erased and then some.

It is a pretty silly mental trick, but it works for me. For those who have not already, I would highly recommend The Poker Mindset by Taylor and Hilger. I recall what Chip Reese used to claim - he was not necessarily the best against another players "A" game, but his "B", "C", and "D" game were about the same as his "A" game, while other players games dropped off more dramatically. In a time when it is pretty easy to have a reasonable knowledge of the game, so much of my profits come from capitalizing on others not having a good poker mindset. Much of how I keep the money is keeping an appropriate mindset myself.