FULL TILT POKER BLOG

Illusions in the Desert: In Search of your Oasis

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A phone rings. ‘What up?’ ‘Hey, what’re you doin?’ ‘I’m just playin’ some poker on Full Tilt.’ ‘Again? Sheesh, you always play. Do you make money doin’ it or what?’ ‘I don’t know, I’m probably about even, but it’s fun.’ Insert the sound of brakes screeching to a halt after driving 110 miles per hour up Interstate 15 from California to Las Vegas, here.

Being “even” in poker isn’t necessarily a bad thing; however, “even” is often times a synonym of “negative” in poker. When someone tells me they’re even, I know what that could mean. It may very well be that they don’t keep track of their play, nor do they hold themselves accountable to it. This fact can present a variety of concerns. One, the player is losing money. That in itself can be problematic for an individual, his or her loved ones and most importantly, it can put stress on a family. Two, it makes becoming a better player very difficult or even impossible. Three, it lends to tilt and the notion of bad luck. If these elements are combined, losing is usually the result which subsequently means losing money.

The Full Tilt Poker Forum and the poker world in general is littered with people who tell the classic woe is me story. Online poker is rigged, everyone sucks out, I never win, the river always misses me, etc. Yet when talking to these individuals they’ll tell you they’re “about even”. Making this statement in this situation causes you to be dishonest to yourself and prevents you from being the winning player that you could be. However disheartening as this may sound, getting on the right path isn’t so difficult.

For starters, you don’t have to buy expensive software to track your play. Simply writing down what you spend in entry fees and what you buy-in with at a cash table is a start. The cost for this is a pencil and a piece of paper, both of which you can probably get for free. If you have access to a program like Microsoft Excel, there are plenty of people who have designed, and would be happy to share what they have created with you. You can even create a tracking program yourself. The key is to create something and be honest about it. Don’t “forget” to put in an entry because it was a bad session or a bad string of tournament play. Become your own poker accountant and be honest with yourself. Simple math gets the job done and accountability is one of the first steps in becoming a winning player. Couple this with proper bankroll management (not risking more than 5% of your roll at a time) and you’ll be well on your way. Good luck at the tables!

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