How To Learn From Your Poker Mistakes

Recording lessons learned is why your poker journal is important. If you have a Eureka! moment while you are playing, you want to write it down and make sure you incorporate it into your game. For instance, if you limp into a multi-way pot, which is checked around post flop, do you bluff at the pot or not? Your experience may show that making a bluff at most pots with multiple limpers won't work. You'll be called 80% of the time. This is important to incorporate into your game. So you want to make a note to yourself in your journal. The key here is to reduce mistakes in your game, at your stakes where you play, and to increase your opportunities to win. The point is that you can't learn what you Don't Record. If you think you'll remember something just because it seems important now, you're wrong. You need to write it down. And you need to periodically review what you've written down to make sure you're using it. You need to look at your computer as a "work" station when you play poker. Make a place that puts you in a poker playing mindset. Have your starting hand charts nearby. Post important things to remember on your screen. On my screen I have, "PATIENCE" in black and "SLOW DOWN" in purple. Why? If I have one consistent issue it's that I know "too well" what I'm going to do next in all situations. So I'm constantly popping through hands and decisions like I get paid for making the fastest decision possible. That, of course, isn't true. I get paid for making the BEST decision possible. So, I remind myself of that. Constantly changing your environment with reminders, posts, key thoughts, etc. is very positive. Additionally you need some basic tools at your disposal. What are they? I have starting hand charts that I use for different situations. I have my poker journal. I have special sheets that I print up to record how hands or sessions went. I'll record notes during sessions. It all just depends on what is "bothering" me or what opportunities I think I see and want to document. This process is all a matter of focusing on what you're doing - which is PLAYING POKER FOR PROFITS. If you're trying to watch TV, have conversations, read email, make posts in forums, look up some celebrities digital skirt, or anything else then you're not focused. Everything you do to develop, maintain and reinforce focus is going to make you money long-term. While everything you do that distracts degrades and reduces focus turns you into a worse and worse long-term poker player. As you play remember to write down lessons learned. If you don't write them you won't remember them. Plus keep those lessons close at hand in charts, notes, your journal or sticky notes.

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