When we hear this concept of winning players, most of us immediately think about winning money. When we talk about poker, money is really an important aspect and in the short term even the weakest player can become a winning player in front of a professional player. But in the long term the balance will reverse and the professional player will take the face of the recreational player, this is almost a certainty.
On the other hand, leaving the money aside for a bit, I can still categorize a player as a winner when he wants and shows that he wants to progress to learn new things, strategy, and other concepts about the game. This player, even if in the short term he can lose money, in my opinion he is already a “winner” precisely because of the fact and the accumulated knowledge and the desire to progress.
Welcome to the Forum @gabryyyel31 and Very well said, I would add that winning player must have the knowledge & wisdom he/she has learned to know when to leave with the winnings and live to play another day to learn more.
This is where players really go wrong in their games, especially inexperienced players. They have a great day or two, or longer, and think that it’s who they are as players. Then comes the reality of Holdem is a long term thing.
When I sit down at the poker table, I always try to keep a simple truth in my head - it is impossible to always win. Jared Tendler also taught me that it is impossible to always lose (provided, of course, that you approach your game responsibly and wisely). It is very important to always remain calm even in the worst poker days and believe that you will definitely win, maybe not today - but tomorrow and many times more, because you love this game, you live it. My wonderful wife helps me in this, who will always support and console me, sharing with me the bitterness of defeat and the joy of victory.
Poker is one of those games that you can play everything exactly right, and still lose the hand. It is also a game where you can play absolutely terribly and still find just enough luck to land you at a final table. The winners are the ones who consistently play solid and learn from those players who out played or even out drew them in a hand, and adjust. I have never played a MTT where I led wire to wire, there was always a roller coaster ride up and down the leaderboard. The winners never panic and don’t let a bad beat get them off their game. And over the long haul, the winners tend to come out on top.
Just like anything in life, and still come up short. That’s the beauty in the game for me. It shows no one is perfect or that nothing always goes your way. When that time comes and it will, how will you respond?
“In the short run poker is 90% luck and 10% skill. In the long run poker is 90% skill and 10% luck”.
This is why the best players in the world, whether we are talking about cash players or MTT grinders, win the games over and over again. Think about Phil Hellmuth or Negreanu or Ivey, they constantly find themselves winning major tourneys or playing at the highest cash game stakes. But it takes really hard work, perseverance and patience. Especially an online grinder needs to put lots and lots of hours working with solvers if they want to succeed at today’s games. Patience is very important too. Patience is a virtue, and this also applies to poker.
A winning player in my eyes is the one that pre game wishes all good luck . compliments others on good hands they won even if they dont get one word out of them ,every chip a good player loses is a chip that can be used against themselves .
and regardless if good players get knocked out they are always gracious when they leave the table , my game improves even a small percentage even game i play , i listen to any tips or advice im given wether its true or not .
Yeah . I agree . It is important not to focus on the short term but on the long term , play many games to see if you are a winning player or not , you can analyse the stats and results of all these games , see your leaks , see where you are better
On the other hand if I play a big buy on tourney I would like that one to be the lucky one and win first place , maybe the Sunday Million or sth like that , I know that a dream , it’s only one tourney , but with expensive buy in games if your bankroll is limited you cannot play many games of this stake , to test your capabilities or skill or luck .
To be – and continue to be – a winning player, you constantly have to study the game and adjust to new trends and strategies that players are using. With all the study material out there now, players have become much better than they used to be, especially online, which means it’s also important to know your opponents. That being said, as long as you play a solid game, the rest comes down to numbers. As KrazyKoo says, your win rate will depend on field size in MTTs if you play enough of them. The same is true in cash games, which is why most players multi-table. It’s about volume. “Winning” players only win about 1% of the time, so you have to also have realistic expectations about what being a winning player means.
(provided, of course, that you approach your game responsibly and wisely). It is very important to always remain calm even in the worst poker days and believe that you will definitely win, maybe not today - but tomorrow and many times more, because you love this game, you live it. My wonderful wife helps me in this, who will always support and console me, sharing with me the bitterness of defeat and the joy of victory.