“The object of poker is not to win money or pots. The object of poker is to make the correct decision each and every time.” -Mike Caro, poker author.

“Caring about poker results is like falling in love with a stripper.” -From a poker forum post.

Poker, like falling in love, is one of the few endeavors in life where a participant can make the right moves at every step of the way and still not achieve the desired result through no fault of his own. One of the biggest issues for poker players, regardless of experience level, is judging their accomplishments and skill level solely by their results. While money, titles and bracelets are the things that players strive to attain, these achievements are typically the results of good decisions – a crucial call, a daring raise, or a smart fold – made at pivotal times.

How can you tell the difference between “running bad” and just “playing bad”? Ask yourself these questions and give yourself honest, critical answers.

Are you putting your money in with the best hand? The late, great Johnny Moss, winner of the first two WSOP Main Events, once complained to his wife about his bad beats. “Why don’t you just bad-beat them back?” she asked him. “I can’t,” he replied, “I never put my money in when I have the worst of it!” If one of the greatest players of all time had his issues with bad beats and bad play, then you should take solace when you encounter the same issues. Remember, bad beats come when the other guy “gets lucky” on you. Ask anyone in the gambling business, and they’ll tell you that luck doesn’t last forever.

Are you making your decisions based on observation or emotion? If you’re attacking a weak player’s blinds with raises because you’ve seen him fold repeatedly in that situation, then you’ve based that tactic on observation. If you raise his blinds because that %$#@ sucked out on you on the river and cost you a huge pot, you’re probably acting more out of emotion. To paraphrase the old saying, playing well is the best revenge.

Why are you playing? This question is one even experienced tournament pros fear to answer. Most people who’ve taken up the game recently base their answers on money – they see the bundles of cash piled on the final table of a TV tourney and start drooling. If that’s the case, why do they play in the $3/$6 limit hold’em games at their local cardroom or the $20 tournaments at their friend’s house on Thursday nights? Is it the thrill of competition? Is it to show off a bluff they saw on TV? Is it a way to get out of the house? Is it for the camaraderie and companionship? Once you answer this question, then you can gear your poker approach toward fulfilling that objective, and the results will soon appear inconsequential.

In another instance, success at poker is much akin to falling in love – the harder you try to attract that desired result, the more often it escapes your efforts. Try working on yourself and your approach to the game in this new year and you may find the success you’ve been craving in other areas as well.