I want to think aloud about the reasons a person may be at their least successful. Including the best players in a slump or a beginner taking large, uncontrollable swings.

A lot of the situation will be the mindset which the person is in, and it would be ill advised to play in order to “escape” external problems, in my opinion. It may work, but it will cause stress on your unconscious mind to keep the thoughts repressed, and these may even surface as physical tells if you’re playing live, but I feel this is more important for online play in which people can play regardless of how they feel.

• Being too aggressive with the second best hand.
Raising or re-raising with TPTK at the wrong times, perhaps. Most people acknowledge the fragility of this situation and yet still manage to lose large pots with some misjudged aggression. You can’t teach a fish not to do something which they win with, but if somebody is hammering back at you then you have to know (or learn) when to drop your hand.

• Not trusting and embracing your initial read.
This comes with experience, but I believe that my biggest mistakes come from second guessing my instinct. Your best decisions are made within the first 2 seconds. I think this is a hole in my game; one which I need to improve. I don’t mean that special intuitive “I know my 86o will hit THIS time”, but to feel confident that I have a superior hand than my opponent although he just pushed all in on a river card which brought a flush possibility because it doesn’t add up.

• Trying to take control of pots which you shouldn’t.
The LAg inside. For the lower limit players of you, this shouldn’t be a position which you put yourself in, but I know how tempting it is to act on what is a perceived weakness only to be called down by a pair of threes. The calibre of opponents needs some improvement for this to be much use, but at the same time it is a skill which holds a lot of weight, but you just cannot outthink somebody who doesn’t think.

• Losing or lacking focus.
I think that discipline is one of the greatest traits a player needs for long term success. By deciding to play a single table so that you can do X, Y and Z, you take my focus away from the game and this is a very bad sign. I believe that a lack of physical activity due to either a long session or too much mental activity with no physical release is also a prime way to lose concentration in the task at hand.

• Giving opponents either too little credit.
This comes down to the fact of labelling an opponent as weak because of that 28s they played all the way down on that one time. Idiots can get big hands, too – and if people think they’re idiots, they become much easier hands to play. Being afraid of the nuts is a bad thing, being aware of it is much different.

• Giving too little consideration to implied odds.
A huge part of NL poker, and yet an aspect overlooked by many players. I believe that for low limits, connectors are a gold mine. People just don’t even look, and will call off their stack with top pair or bottom set every time.

• Playing too short sighted.
This session must go well, or else that’s bad, right? No. Long term results are key, and swings are inevitable. You MUST be able to accept bad results and you must not allow this to psychologically affect your wellbeing. Because you just lost a 400 dollar pot does not make you a bad person, it does not make your life any worse, and does not mean that you are a failure at the game.

• Having no routine.
I believe that a pre game-time ritual is a very beneficial thing which could be used by a lot of players. Something which mentally prepares you to sit and to play your best in the moment, without thinking about the past or future. For some, this may be as simple as playing a limit higher than normal, because that will force them to concentrate harder, and for others it may be playing a limit lower than normal to break themselves in. It may have nothing to do with poker, and perhaps you feel better sitting down and playing having known that you have done something productive for those around you, so do it. Clean the bedroom, walk the dog; whatever you find helps you feel refreshed and comfortable in sitting down and concentrating on the task at hand.

• Not playing with confidence.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you aren’t playing the best you have ever played, but I feel if there is no conviction in your bets then you could find they are called more often than not. If you don’t believe you have the best hand, then why should anybody else? Even for people which are so good that they just go through the motions, I think this is something which may cost them a few extra bets.