The first Rex55 Blog Contest has met its deadline. Thank you to everyone who submitted entries. It was not an easy task choosing just ONE blogger who I felt best answered the question :
"What holds you back from being a better poker player than you are today? What are your shortcomings and weaknesses?"
There were many insightful, honest and creative posts, but unfortunately, I can only choose one.
The winner is: Persius!!!
Congratulations Goncalo...you will receive 1 hr of free one on one coaching valued at $150, followed by a stake in a tournament.
I am looking forward to addressing the issues you expressed in your blog and helping you elevate your game to the next level!!
I have decided that I will be doing another blog contest soon with a new topic, and I encourage everyone to continue submitting entries. Please do not be discouraged if you did not win. After reading through all the responses, it was obvious that there was a transparent commonality between the sentiments expressed. I am sure many of the readers were able to relate and connect with the struggles and battles you all discussed in your blogs. That alone, should make your efforts worth it. This is why I love blogging so much. Whenever I write, I hope that someone, somewhere is able to connect with my thoughts... as they are a personal reflection surfacing from the depths within me. Thank you all for sharing yours....
Here are some of my favorite excerpts from the submitted entries:
*Has poor bankroll management put you behind the 8 ball, increasing the presssure you put on yourself, trying to win it all back with one tournament or ring game session? or do you lose your cool, moving up in limits in when you should be moving down after a bad run of losing hands?
So, in answer to this question, I would have to say my "expectations" are taking away my ability to focus on one hand at a time and making the best possible decision at that given moment. -Swa22
*The weakness that holds me back from being a better poker player, is my level of confidence. Often times I am too hard on myself over my failures, give myself no credit for my successes, and consciously place blame for my results on the wrong factors. My lack of confidence often causes me to second guess myself, and my decisions, in all aspects of life, not just at the poker table. It is particuarly detrimental to my poker game in the sense that I can't focus on just making correct decions, I am always worried about things I cannot control. -MinCashFTW
*My strongest weakness is experience. I started out playing poker a couple months ago and thought I was good, even won some tournaments. But I was still under the belief it had more to do with luck then with skill. I was able to get access to a poker training site that turned me around. There is so much skill involved with poker. You can win the pot from having the nuts, from using the board texture, from bluffing, from reading your opponent. A lot of the times you end up playing your opponent rather then your hand. Winning the hand by having the nuts is only one way. There are more ways to win it that rely on skill then by having the best hand, so I fell in love with poker. -Jamesjw007
*I know I may not be ready for the noise bleed tables, but I play a solid game of poker. Playing at the lower limits because of my bankroll, causes me to run into newer players and players that just don't mind losing $10 on a long shot. This online scene is a big struggle. I don't have a big head about my poker skills. I know I need improvement. I am willing to put in the work to become a better or the best poker player. Nothing wrong with dreaming, right? X -XPokerChic
*So the main problem with me is that I cannot choose one thing and do an do and dooo it till death. I mean I prefer tournaments but I still can't cope with variance and bad beats.
I will NOT give it up, I'm watching a lot of videos at pxf, and I'm reading a lot of articles, the only things I need are willingness, stamina, and patience. Oh, and patience.
I have to learn that nothing's easy. I just have to keep playing, learning, and avoid cash games, because it doesn't make me happy. When I'm winning, I'm taking it natural, but when I'm loosing, I'm feeling that I' never gonna win again...never again. That's why tournament's are better for me... -dodibacsi
*I do feel blessed though ....when I first started out in poker I would go through patches and say to myself, "I am not learning anything" but that is not a problem now. Now the problem is I feel like I have too much to work on. I just need more hours in the day.
Not since my old wrestling days have I been this "hungry" I still want to eat the old bolgna sandwich with a footprint on it that is sitting in the urinal -metaphorically speaking. -TeUnit
*As we humans have developed through time, our brains have developed better problem solving abilities, but our old brain is still present and active and information still gets there first. So knowing it is in our nature to react first and think second, we should always remember that although we may view ourselves as thinking creatures that have feelings, we are in fact biologically emotional creatures that think.
My biggest ongoing problem with poker I believe has been tilt. I have searched high and low and worked long and hard on this problem. In my search I have found there to be many reasons we go on tilt. -OlDusty
I would recommend everyone to read the following article posted on oldusty's blog regarding the neurological reasons for 'tilt' http://pokercurious.com/blogs/oldusty/this-is-your-brain-on-tilt-rex55/
Congrats again to Persius.
Gl @ the tables xox
