Let me help you weather the poker storm so you can escape those turbulent waters safely, and hopefully, a bit shinier than when you entered.

Watch this podcast #517 on YouTube:

Or, listen to the podcast as you follow along below:

What a Session!

Just this morning I had an incredible +3.2 buy-in session:

Figure 1: A crazy good session! If only they could all be this way…

I played for just under an hour and only 180 hands. Everything was going my way; I stacked two players and won a ton of pots. Easy-peezy and I was stoked by the end!

BUT, yesterday’s session, where I was only +.25 buy-ins at the end, was probably a better feeling. Sounds weird, eh?

But that’s because I weathered the storm in that session:

Figure 2: Surviving the storm.

I was down right at the start, and got hit by a huge wave ~150 hands in. But, I fought back and weathered the storm to come out shinier than when I entered it. What a GREAT feeling, and it was possibly better than yesterday’s +3.2 buy-in session!

The Poker Storm

In yesterday’s session (Figure 2 above), the storm started just 4 hands in when I got rocked a 30bb loss:

Figure 3: With 76, I flopped 2p and got it in vs TPWK… and he caught me on the river.

This loss was easy to weather and I stayed composed. But there have been times when getting it all-in like this on the flop, then losing, has started the capsizing of my ship in the storm.

I persevered and quickly won those losses back with some good play and even better hands:

Figure 4: Flopped a set with QQ and got flop/turn value. He folded the river, but this got me above water.

Figure 5: I open-raised with KQ and the BB calls. I turned TP and called his river bluff. Another nice pot and now I’m +30bb’s for the session.

At this point I’m treading water, not really worried about any poker storm… until a huge wave struck and I lost 125bb’s:

Figure 6: I called his 3bet with AK, flopped TPTK and got it in on the turn! Loving that until… that darn river Q.

7 Tips to Help You Weather the Storm

When a huge wave strikes, you need to fight through it to NOT allow it to capsize you:

1. Recognize you just entered the storm and it’s time to fight. Tell your self, “Let’s do this!” or “Ganbatte” or “It’s my time to shine!”
2. Take a breath, sit out for 1 round if necessary.
3. Smile! Smiling releases 3 hormones (dopamine, endorphins and serotonin) that signal to your body that you’re happy. This works even if you’re faking the smile. Try it out right now and see!
4. Make a commitment: “I will fight and weather this storm!”
5. Play calmly, play your game, don’t force it.
6. Make reads and make plays. Take their player type, bet sizes, positions, HUD stats and tendencies into account.
7. Strategy recommendations:
   • Play IP.
   • Don’t be scared of *smart* aggression.
   • Make deliberate bet sizes.
   • Think ahead to how you think they’ll respond to your action. I discussed strategically planning ahead in this podcast #516:

Episode #516, “Poker’s BIGGEST Secret Strategic Players Don’t Want You to Know”

The Hand That Saved My Ship

Just 13 hands after the wave struck, this hand came along and saved my ship:

Figure 7: What a win!

Action:

• Preflop: I opened to 3bb and Villain 131 called.
• Flop: Hit a fd + gs + 2 overcard draw. I cbet and he called.
• Turn: I barreled and he made a 3x raise. I didn’t believe he had anything great, and I still have tons of equity. So, I 3bet shoved my remaining 121.5bb and he called my all-in. When he turned over 5h3h, I was surprised. Sure, he had drawing equity (oesd + fd), but I thought my 3bet shove would get hands like that to fold. Guess I had less fold equity than I thought.
• River: He didn’t complete his straight draw nor hit a pair, and my Ace-high won!

What a great feeling! Going from -85bb to +30bb, while maintaining my cool and making reads and plays, is what weathering the storm is all about.

Avoid Davey Jones’ Locker

By keeping your cool and trying to weather the storm, you’re working to avoid bad days like these and winding up in Davey Jones’ locker:

Figure 8: Treading water for a bit, taking a huge wave to the face, then ending the session right afterwards.

Figure 9: One loss can lead to a poor mental game and more losses, taking you down to Davey Jones.

Take Action

Sticky Note: “I will fight and weather this storm! I’m not turning the ship around now.”

Use the 7 tips above the next time you’re in the storm (put ’em on the same or another sticky note).

Support the Show

My book, Post-flop Online Poker, contains 10 mindset moments spread throughout the book. These cool-as-a-cucumber poker peeps recently picked up this book in PDF or audiobook format: Francisco P, Jack A, Shankar P, Mark W, Tarvo S, Tammy C, Pierluigi D, Ming C, RG, Kennedy M, Susan B, Jordan Y, Daniel M, Michiel K, Swarnajit B, Benjamin B, John Hand Sági H.