[UncleSalty]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't really consider myself a winning player yet, and I don't think any number of hands will convince me of it. The only thing that will convince me I'm a truly winning player is a when I'm consistently beating 3/6 and above. While I don't think I'm a horrible player, I'm no where near where I want to be. In reality, I'm probably not doing too badly considering I've only been playing a few months, but I'm a perfectionist and I absolutely despise losing. I just don't have the confidence to shrug off losing sessions, because I don't know how much is bad play and how much is just getting sucked out on.

I also think reading the "bragging" posts is detrimental. When I read of players who have upswings lasting thousands of hands, or tens of thousands of hands I get irritated because I've never had something like that. I'll hit a nice upswing that lasts a day or two, then it's back to really having to grind out my gains. Even when I'm running well, I'm not really running well. Then, seeing people taking the .50/1.00 tables for 4, 5, 6+ BB/100 delivers another blow. I only took the stars .25/.50 for about 2.50-2.75BB/100 and I start to wonder whether I'm just kidding myself.

It's a long road to success, but I've come far enough to know the fruits will be worth the effort, so I continue to grind it out, think hands through, and hope that everyday I play, I become a little better.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is well put, and a great thread over-all. For me it comes at an ideal point in my development where I feel that I've corrected several big holes in my game, but feel like it's just exposed a bunch more.

No strategic content here, but I would consider adding it to the FAQ just as a reassurance to n00bs who are hitting a downswing and want to know if it's normal.

BUMP

-Salty