{"id":1185477,"date":"2019-12-01T16:21:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T16:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.pokercoaching.com\/?p=1185477"},"modified":"2025-12-29T14:42:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T14:42:31","slug":"start-winning-at-poker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/start-winning-at-poker\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Start Thinking of Winning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The biggest problem with most poker players is that they don\u2019t actually want to learn <a href=\"http:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/how-to-play-poker\/\" title=\"How to Play Poker: Winning Strategy for Beginners\">how to win in poker<\/a>, or to win, for that matter. They think they want to win, but what they truly want is to play perfectly. They never want to fold and be shown a bluff. They never want to bluff and be caught. They want to feel good about themselves, and they\u2019d feel terrible if any of those things ever happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They want to sit there, see flops for cheap, and hopefully hit some of them. And they never want to be criticized. They don\u2019t want to be given the side-eye if they do something out of line. They want to fit in. They want to feel like a card player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is horseshit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of you have to remember this is No-Limit Hold\u2019em. There is a reason why many pros refuse to play this game. There is a reason why so many guys have lost their minds playing this game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mastering the Fundamentals: Preflop Strategy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_9eDNDASQpo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">No-Limit Hold\u2019em is the fist-fighting of poker. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you walk into a fistfight, you can expect to get hit in the face. That is exactly what happens every time you play Texas Hold\u2019em. You need to learn how to love living in the abyss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most guys are just trying to play <a href=\"http:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/what-is-gto-poker\/\" title=\"What Is GTO Poker &amp; Why You Should Learn Game Theory Optimal Play\">GTO<\/a> perfectly all the time. They\u2019re not focusing on how to make money. They\u2019re focusing on how not to look stupid. There\u2019s an adage in racing. Where do your eyes go? That\u2019s where your car will go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think about all the mistakes you could make, you will make a mistake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did you ever read the book &#8216;Think and Grow Rich&#8217;? I honestly think the reason that book is so famous is that it engages your subconscious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of us are constantly thinking about how to pay our next round of bills. So, that\u2019s all our minds focus on. Think and Grow Rich has likely been a best-seller among the business elite for close to a century because it tells you what to focus on, providing a service or product others don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your subconscious is a real thing that is always working. They can track your subconscious activity using brainwave technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The best example I\u2019ve ever heard of how the subconscious works is this: Have you ever heard a tune that reminds you of a song you heard years ago? You can\u2019t quite place what song it is, but you know you heard it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, you will be doing the dishes six hours later, not thinking of anything, and you\u2019ll exclaim, \u201cOh yeah, it was that song!\u201d How did your mind find the name of that song? You weren\u2019t thinking about it at that moment. It was because your subconscious was working on the problem for those six hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, when you play poker, you need to consider how you\u2019ll take all of your opponent\u2019s chips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you look at a big stack at your table and go, \u201cOh God, I hope he doesn\u2019t take advantage of me,\u201d that is exactly what is going to happen. Your subconscious will start working on a way that exact event could take place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you look at the big stack and think, \u201cHow am I going to take all of this guy\u2019s chips?\u201d guess what your mind is going to start working on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You have to remember this is a damn game. Nothing bad is going to happen if you lose, but wow is it&#8217;s fun taking someone\u2019s chips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You have to love the fight.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The game of <a href=\"http:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/how-to-play-poker\/texas-holdem-rules\/\" title=\"How To Play Texas Hold\u2019em \u2013 Poker Rules &amp; Basics\">Texas Hold\u2019em<\/a> always makes me think of wrestling in middle school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One day in gym class, a wrestling coach recruited me for the school team. I had no idea what I was doing, and I wasn\u2019t very good at the sport, but I had a blast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I couldn\u2019t believe this was a school-sanctioned sport. They were literally letting me pick guys up and slam their heads on the mat and then belly flop on them. When I\u2019d go for a head and arm takedown, I\u2019d always \u201caccidentally\u201d bash the guy\u2019s head with my forearm. I didn\u2019t think anything of it because that was how my friends on the football team and I always goofed around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, one day, the wrestling coach justifiably told me to tone it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He paused for a couple of seconds, then turned to the rest of the class. \u201cWhy is Alex the only one I have to tell to tone it down out there? You guys do realize this is a fight, right?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No-Limit Hold\u2019em is another form of fight. You\u2019re trying to take every chip off of another person using cunning. Have fun with this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a civilized game. There are tournament directors and dealers there to protect you. The stakes are defined from the outset. There are rules designed to make the game fair for others. Hell, they won\u2019t even let me talk to you deep in a pot anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have fun with this. Start daydreaming about ways to bluff people off their chips. Start coming up with ways to trap people in big pots. <a href=\"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/fear-at-the-poker-table\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"http:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/mindset-lifestyle\/fear-at-the-poker-table\/\">Don\u2019t worry about making a mistake! We all make them.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The biggest problem with most poker players is that they don\u2019t actually want to learn how to win in poker, or to win, for that matter. They think they want to win, but what they [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":169,"featured_media":2515930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default|default","site-content-layout":"default|default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default|default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,877,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1185477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mindset-lifestyle","category-poker-basics","category-poker-strategy"],"acf":{"peak_live_date":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ThinkofWinning.jpg",1200,628,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ThinkofWinning-373x210.jpg",373,210,true],"medium":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ThinkofWinning-746x390.jpg",746,390,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ThinkofWinning-768x402.jpg",768,402,true],"large":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ThinkofWinning-1024x536.jpg",1024,536,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ThinkofWinning.jpg",1200,628,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ThinkofWinning.jpg",1200,628,false],"author_image":["https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ThinkofWinning.jpg",100,52,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Alex Fitzgerald","author_link":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/author\/alex_fitzgerald\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The biggest problem with most poker players is that they don\u2019t actually want to learn how to win in poker, or to win, for that matter. They think they want to win, but what they [&hellip;]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1185477"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2545130,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185477\/revisions\/2545130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2515930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1185477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1185477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1185477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}