Keeping Close Track of Your Poker Winnings

 

 Keeping Close Track of Your Poker Winnings

HONESTY!!!!!

No one truly cares about your bank role.  Really! I promise, unless you are buying people things they don't care.  So, if you are losing money DO NOT casually stop keeping records to forget about the loses.  You are only lying to yourself.  This functions as a great pick me up as a poker player, as far as seeing progression in your game and bank account.  A great way to help out with managing your roll is to keep records of your play.  Keep accurate up-to-date records and you can use these for personal analysis.  Accurate records not only help you keep track of how you’re doing, they also allow you to analyze your game and keep you honest with yourself. We all like to believe that we’re winning players, but everyday that may not be the exact case.
Here are a few key situations to keep track of every time you play:

• Overall bankroll (to pretty much keep you honest and not jump into higher stakes games)
• Time span at which you sat in on a game
• What was the buy in to the table, and how big a table
• How much you made (Maybe think of looking at this poker stat from an hourly point of view)

Keeping records of these Poker situations will really help putting your game into true perspective. I tend to have a minor temper issue ( easy example, road rage) so maybe tracking your attitude or manor might not be a bad idea, which in the end may lead to having more control of yourself.  How you feel when you play and what frame of mind you’re in are truly important to the final outcome of your "money making" experience. 
Keep track of things like when you get tired and how long into a session you are when you start to get tired. When you are not playing to par, note that and note also the mistakes you made, so you can go back and try to correct them the next time out. Whether you admit it or not, poker is a game of emotion; one bad swing can break you, so as a serious money maker it is very important to realize your emotions, and try to leave the truly emotional feelings off the table.

Keep these records on a daily basis
go back through them each month to analyze your play. Be honest with yourself about what you see (remember, you are the only one involved, the only one you are lying to is YOURSELF). You’re looking for patterns:  I lost again when I played for an hour too long or I won more than normal when I played a shorter session, or I was tired than and lost this much, keep track.
If you notice a pattern and see that you’re losing at one particular game or limit, ask yourself: “What am I doing wrong here?” The truth hurts sometimes, but honesty will prevail, don’t let your ego get in the way of becoming a winning poker player. If your records show that you’re not doing well, it’s time to eat your pride move down to a lower limit, and re-evaluate your game and start it over once again, but without losing confidence.

Having exposure to these records right in front of you allows you to be honest about yourself as a poker player. Your notes are not going to lie unless you make them, so be patient and honest and go get your hands on that cash.

Good luck Let me know your thoughts on this, do you take notes, how are your practices working out?