When did you first *know* you could play winning poker?

[baggins]

And I don't mean - first time you played, or some cocky answer... seriously, when was the first time you analyzed your game and knew that you had what it takes to win (at whatever level...)?

For me, it was about 3 years ago. I was playing 5-10 (i know it's not a hard game to beat, but considering the $5 rake + $1 jackpot drop, it takes skill...) at Harrah's in Indiana. I had really only been a mediocre flounder at best for the first couple years I played. I really only started seriously learning and playing holdem when I lived in L.A. briefly. anybody who's played out there in the LL games knows that it doesn't take much to win at those games. the average opponent would do better to spend half their bankroll on the lottery and just give you the other half as opposed to playing poker.

but when I moved back to Chicago, the games here are waaaay tighter, even at the LL level. I had to relearn what I had worked on in LA. I had to learn to play tighter, push harder, and read better. my biggest weakness was playing too many starting hands (as is common for a new player). I was so used to being able to play weaker hands like offsuit connectors and sooted cards like 9 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]3 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] because if I had a strong draw on the flop, there'd still be plenty of players to pay me off on to the river.

anyway, I remember a losing session I had about 6 months after moving back here. I was playing 5-10 and had been getting better with the stuff i needed to work on. my play was tighter, I was more aggressive, and I was paying more attention to my opponents and getting better reads on them. I went through 2 $200 buy-ins before I hit the felt, and decided it wasn't my night. but I also analyzed my play, and realized that I mostly got blinded to death, as I threw away garbage hand after garbage hand. I watched every hand I threw away, and saw that, even if I HAD played, I would not have won the hand. and the few hands I invested in and lost, I folded at the right time or simply got outdrawn and usually knew it. I think I won 2 small pots that entire session.

I left, feeling a little down about my loss, but really happy that I played a good game and played tight for as long as it took, no matter what. I was confident that I had what it took as far as discipline to play a good solid game and not play trash when i get bored of folding. I was also confident in my increased accuracy in reading my opponents. and, thirdly, I was confident because the few pots I did enter I raised every time, and pushed with adequate agression when I was involved.

I walked to my car, and I had a huge smile on my face because it just... clicked... in my head that I knew I could play this game right.

any other moments of epiphany in your poker careers?

[Losing all]

This probably belongs in the general forum, but whatever, I'm not wrong forum guy.

I was a decent player when I moved to vegas, but I didn't have any experience so the bad beats turned me into the definition of weak tight.

After a year away from the game I went to AC last summer for a four day weekend. day 1, -60 or so BB's (some of it was rust, but c'mon, brutal) The next 3 days I made a slow steady comeback to even for the trip. Now 30-40 hours of break even 4-8 play isn't much to write home about, but I felt pretty fuggin good on my ride home.

[Softrock]

Hope this isn't one of those cocky answers but for me it was at age 10. I realized that most everyone else just wanted the thrill of gambling and didn't even think about odds etc. We used to play Blackjack with a ten cent betting limit (this is 1960 and we were kids). We played that dealer took all pushes and there was no bonus for a blackjack - ie. you just won your bet. I volunteered to be the dealer/banker and the other kids thought I was the fool for putting so much at risk since I couldn't "control" how much was bet. I made alot of spending money in college playing poker and made a killing while in the military. I actually wasn't that great but I knew I was a whole lot better than the competition - I was at least trying to think and analyze my play - most of the others were just gambling. Here's the key, however, I KNEW MY LIMITATIONS. Basically, I knew that all I had to do was make sure I played with people who were worse than me and I could win consistently.

I had a Great Uncle who was sort of the Blacksheep of the family because he was a pool hustler. He was actually the Pacific Coast Billiards Champion 3 years running in the 1930's (three cushion billiards - this guy had all sort of charts and really studied the game - that was an eye-opener itself). As a young teenager I asked him how good you had to be to make money playing pool and his answer was something to the effect of: "You don't actually have to be very good at all. You just have to make sure you are better than your comepetition". That lesson crystallized in my mind what I had known intuitively from the prior Blackjack game.

And it's still true. I still want to learn so I push the envelope. However, I know at what level I could play and win consistently if that was my only goal. (Did I mention that keeping your ego out of it really helps?).

[whiskeytown]

about 2 yrs ago, I was down to about 200 bucks in my life...my contracting job was slow on checks - and I was gonna have to hit the credit card to pay the bills

and I decided to play a 100 buck limit tourney at Canterbury - if I lost...no big deal, but if I placed...I'm stellar..

I placed 3 times in 6 weeks, and covered my rent for 3 months as a result of that lucky streak..

at that point I knew I was good enough to beat SOME games...LOL

RB

[PuppetMaster]

It was actually a particular hand. I was playing NL 100 on Party and had a situation come up where I an opponent bet 120 into me on the river. I start thinking real hard and then go through the hand. Then all of a sudden in flash I can feel his thoughts and actions through each moment in the hand, and I knew he was holding AQ. I called that bet with my AK, took down the pot and never looked back.

edit: a close second is when you write out a five figure check to the IRS. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[LetsRock]

I always had an instinct for the game, but after I read my first book (a "how to" 7 stud book 15 years ago) and learned "the basics for correct play" I knew right away how easy the game basically is. It truly is amazing how bad some people play when you know how simple it really is. (I'm not talking about big $ games - I know that's a different world.)

In the last half year I've devoted most of my spare time to reading almost every hold'em book and really wrapping my head around the game while slowly turning $100 into $1900. Not big dollars yet, but it's been a pretty steady upwards climb and most of it has been at $1/2 (some 2/4 and 3/6).

Even though I believe (and the records back me up) that I'm a solid player, there's still much to learn and absorb about this crazy game. I'm hoping that I can build the BR big enough to play some of the bigger games pretty soon so I can start collecting some "income" from my hobby (all profits from my on-line gaming are still devoted to BR build towards the bigger game goal).

[Sloth]

First time I "knew" I could play winning poker was about 2 years before I did play winning poker. im short on organization, and played for many years without much bookkeeping.

With online play, I have started using Poker Tracker, and only 5600 hands recorded at 15/30 am averaging 1.5 BB/100 hands. I know I need more hands, but this seems about right from results before record keeping.

B&M, Im sure I am still negative. I played for a lot of years without knowing crap, and even a few years after reading THFAP was a losing player.

[cold_cash]

I'm still waiting to find out.