You may have seen my post claiming that it’s not possible for everyone to have an enjoyable experience on Replay. After all, poker is a zero sum game; for every winner there has to be a loser, and nobody enjoys losing. From one perspective, this is true, but there are other perspectives. One way to maximize your enjoyment is to simply change your point of view.
The idea that you will either win or lose looks at the game from what I call a “results” perspective. This way of looking at things will maximize frustration and almost guarantees disappointment. This is bad, m’kay?
You will enjoy the game far more if you take a “process” oriented approach to the game. There are things you can control, like your starting hand selection, bet sizing, and so on, and parts of the game you can’t control, such as the fall of the cards. This was summed up beautifully in what’s known as The Serenity Prayer…
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,: Courage to change the things I can,: And wisdom to know the difference.
To get yourself into the process mindset, first realize that you are in every hand. Those hands you fold preflop are opportunities to get inside the heads of your opponents. How many hands do they play? What can you learn about their range? How do they bet? When do they call? When do they fold? When do they bluff? This is fun to do, and is like the game within the game.
The process of poker is all about analyzing these tendencies and developing effective strategies to exploit any weaknesses you find.
Nobody likes it when someone sucks out on them. You have to realize, however, that suckouts are part of the game, and are a result. As long as you play correctly, you want people to call when they are far behind, and you just have to accept that this can sometimes lead to a bad result. If your process was sound, you won’t let this bother you.
When I lose a tournament, the 10 seconds of frustration on that final hand pales in comparison to the many minutes of enjoyment I got from playing well during the rest of the tournament.
Moreover, concentrating on your process will make you a better player and eventually you will see better results too! If you make it more about the journey and less about the destination, you will find far less frustration and far more enjoyment.
So yes, it really is possible for everyone to have a fun and enjoyable time here on Replay… it’s just a matter of perspective.