What to Do When You Lose Confidence in Poker

It’s not exclusive to poker, of course, every sportsman at some point in their career hitting that low point where every move or play seems to fall flat on its face, and every attempt to correct it only makes things worse. This week’s You Tube vlog by Alec Torelli, however, has some answers for when that crisis in confidence hits…

Developing a system, the Californian high-stakes pro says, to separate the intuitive from the logical, is a good first step. Knowing when the ‘feeling’ that things are not going to go well is worth following, and skipping an event for example, or if the logical approach is superior, poker is what you do, so go player poker!

Torelli as always gives interesting insights from the top levels of the game, discussing how it’s easy for TV viewers to criticise plays from the comfort of their armchair with a beer in hand, but it’s the pro who is facing the cost of a $250,000bluff if it fails.

His point, and it’s a good one, is make sure you do your thinking away from the table - which will allow you to follow your reads and show your edge when at the table – basically the confidence to follow through on the combination of logic and intuition.

Torelli’s YouTube channel now has almost 23,000 viewers, one of them, Michael Meekins, posting:

Q;As an amateur, I often question my knowledge and skill, and I have often wondered how players at higher levels deal with this sort of stress. Your insight on how inner dialogue and intuition should play into decisions on whether to play (or not) is valuable.”;

Check it out for yourself – it’s a great remember that improving your poker isn’t only about how to do things like play AK offsuit in seat 1!