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you know its funny...
you start playing poker and think, "i can win at this. its not that hard."
your first couple months start off on a heater. higher than life. you find a forum and start giving all sorts of advice over how YOU would play it. people ask, you say, "i am a 22/100 over 1200 hands. i F-ing ROCK!!"
your first cooler comes in. you actually realize that great hands get sucked out on...frequently. you start to realize, "wow, maybe i dont know as much as i thought i did. you mean theres more than one book out there?"
you check your 10k stats in PT, and you find you are still a 11/100. you still think you can KILL the game.
another heater, another cooler. sprinkled in...a lot of posting and reading. but still.......not much THINKING.
you learn how to multi-table...and think you pwn that, too. but, you play 3-4 tables. not 8-12.
you practice your "reads," but realize you are only reading the "monsters under the bed," meaning you can spot the nuts only. but your are convinced you can outread negreanu.
(side bar) you realize you cant even spell negreanu.
anyway, your database builds. you win rate slows, but its still positive. you start to "open up your game."
and think to yourself, "holy crap!! this must be what they mean by variance. or, do i suck all of a sudden?"
more posting, more multi-tabling. maybe you mix in some other games trying to "broaden your horizons."
long story short, this is the evolution of a poker player. you know you arent great, but know you arent poor, either. you know you have a lot to learn, the arrogance has been virtually knocked out of you by now (but not all the way  ). you start to become a robot, playing unemotionally...grinding. trying to play only in the best situations, and trying to play more and more off reads. but, all the while still learning about the millions of nuances this game has to offer. I LOVE IT!!
but, we all go through the four phases, most of us only the first two. and, this applies to every new venture in life. for you younger bucks that are in college, remember these forever...if you read this far.
phase one. THE UNCONSCIOUS INCOMPETENT. (you dont know you suck.)
phase two. THE CONSCIOUS INCOMPETENT. (you now know you suck, and start trying to get better.)
phase three. THE CONSCIOUS COMPETENT. (you know you are good, but still keep working. you are better than most by now.)
phase four. THE UNCONSCIOUS COMPETENT. (you have reached truly elite status. dont know if it exists in poker. top 1% of 1%...Tiger Woods/Michael Jordan territory. YOU ARE SO GOOD YOU CANT LOSE IF YOU TRY.)
if you are wanting to enter any career, these are good "phases" to remember. they will help you keep your sanity when you get kicked and built back up again.
that was my Tip of the Month...meant for one or two people that actually read the whole post. 
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hard pill to swallow
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(2 players)
Originally Posted by 
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