Successful Players Eliminate Complaining

Successful Players Eliminate Complaining
By Al Spath

Do you have a reason, a cause or a motive to spur you on to play winning poker? Most players seem to like the enjoyment aspect of the contest and play game after game, tournament after tournament with no real goal in mind.

I want you to stop a second and think of why you are playing poker in the first place. If it's just for fun, if so, then why aren't you in the Free Games area of an internet site or still playing in a nickel and dime home game?

I would surmise a lot of players don't want to admit that they play to gain financial benefit because it then appears they might be considered moneygrubbers of some sort and that would take away from the fact they are very talented poker players (which they certainly are). You need to make a choice when purchasing a buy-in; am I here to socialize or am I here to play sound poker and validate my ability to play with the best and make most sessions winning ones!

A little story about a success I read about once and why people do what they do:

A very wealthy west Texas rancher had a daughter who was of marrying age, and he was set on giving her a coming out party. What this meant was he was going to invite all the most eligible bachelors from all over the local vicinity to his home so he could look them over. His reason was simple, to select the best available man for his daughter.

When all the eligible men arrived from as far away as 200 miles to his 300+ acre cattle ranch (not to mention the oil producing wells scattered throughout the range), he called them all out to his Olympic size pool which he had recently stocked with alligators and water snakes. He called out and got their attention and made the following statement: The first young suitor that jumped into the pool and swam the length of the pool would have his choice of three things. He could have one million dollars; ten acres of his best land with some cattle and an oil well or two; or, have the hand in marriage of his most beloved daughter. He did then mention his daughter was the sole heir to his entire fortune and that when he and his wife were gone, she would inherit it all.

About that time there was a large splash in the pool and few seconds later a dripping wet young man from Austin emerged from the pool. As all the other young men and the girl's father gathered around to congratulate this young man as the anticipation of his choice was mounting and everyone was venturing a guess what he might select. The father asked him: "Well son, the choice is entirely yours. Do you want the million right now?"

"No", responded the young man.

"Okay, how about the acre's of land, filled with cattle and oil producing wells?"

"No", the young more forcefully declined his offer.

"So then I guess you want the hand of daughter in marriage!"

To this the young man also replied, "NO SIR." Puzzled and confused the father asked him one last question: "Well son, what do you want?"

The young man stopped for second, looked around, and quickly exclaimed: " I want the name of the $#!!#&@! that pushed me into that swimming pool."

Now obviously he had a reason for what he was doing and it might not be what you expected, but it was a reason. So the question to you still is: Do you have a reason for playing real money poker? If you do, then do you have a plan of action to be successful?

If you do, then the next portion of this article is written just for you. I challenge you to write down your ten greatest fears, doubts and worries. Some might need more paper to write all theirs down, but I said TOP TEN. If you had the courage to write them down this is what you found. Seven or eight of them have already happened or can never happen. Out of the 2 or 3 remaining you have no control over one or two of them. And finally, you will find that you have control over 1, maybe 2 of these items.

So, does it make sense to spend energies over a list of things you cannot control instead of focusing your energies on one or two things you can handle effectively. Since the obvious answer is no, why do we continue focusing on unsolvable problems and worries? The answer is simple, we are creatures of habit, we like routine, and when our routine is changed, we get upset. And one the most destructive habits is griping, complaining and moaning. Some would rather complain than succeed. Think I'm wrong, then eliminate the complaining and see if you don't succeed more regularly. Eliminate the negative expectations, stop griping, set a plan of action and an attainable goal (whether at the poker table or just in life general), and see how easier it is to achieve success.

Many of you might have a four-letter word to describe your game, UGLY! So I purpose you start getting in a winning frame of mind by blocking out the distractions surrounding you, focus on the task at hand, expect to succeed, string small victories together (they add up fast), and let others do the complaining as you stack their chips or accept a promotion. You can only worry about you and most of what you think you need to worry about isn't worth the bother to worry. Once you figure that out and concentrate on the skills and experience you have, you will succeed at a higher pace, there's nothing stopping you but yourself, and now you know you can beat that opponent too.