Grace Under Fire or The Downswing

Any serious or semiserious poker player knows about the downswing.

That sinking cyclone enveloping him. He tries to spin in reverse, to slow its descent, to rally against the stream, but he is no salmon.

In many ways, I think how someone handles a downswing determines their ability to succeed in poker (and perhaps, in life).

In poker, a downswing is a long pattern of ordered badness in a random collection of variables. There is no rhyme or reason to why or when it happens. The only sure thing is, if you play long enough, it will happen to you, no matter how good you may be.

Poker is not like other games; you can play perfectly and still lose. As I stated in a previous blog, some things are out of even the best's control (namely -- the cards, but more than even that). This type of statistical turn, then, can foster a cynicism that can ultimately be self-destructive. When you can feel that bad card coming it usually seems to but that is no reason to give credence to that feeling.

All anyone can do is remember that each individual event is an individual event with an outcome correlating over the long term with probabilities. The rest is grace, patience, and strength.

The most difficult thing for me to do has been to control my emotions and remain in a good mental state. I become negative, frustrated, unnecessarily combative. I am out of the flow. This is where the grace is struggling to emerge. I am impulsive by nature and this characteristic leads me to make many calls I simply should not make. This is where patience is struggling to emerge. Sometimes the sequences are simply overwhelming and I get worn down and lose my aggressiveness. This is where strength is struggling to emerge.

Anyone can play well when the cards are running good and the situations are positive.

It is a masterful skill, however, to play your strong game during the worst of times. That is my goal. I can only hope that these downswings foster at least that - in my game, and hopefully, in my life.

-Rob