Emotions play a huge role in the game of life and the game of poker. When we get emotional, we may say things that are completely irrational. When you get defeated by an opponent, your natural reaction is to believe he got lucky or that he is a terrible player. Many times I am playing my opponent heads up and destroying him while he continues to berate my play. How can my opponent say that I suck when I clearly have an edge over him? Logically, it makes no sense to say that another player is bad when he beats you. I have to admit that I was once in the stage where I thought my opponents sucked. It was a stage of poker where I was getting frustrated and not really improving my game. I thought I knew everything there was to know about poker and my ego took over my brain. I was unable to see the big picture, unable to realize how much skill is involved in poker.

In order to be a great poker player, you have to stop thinking that your opponents are terrible. If your opponents are terrible, you should be able to defeat them. The only way you learn is to play people who are better than you. You can only learn by making mistakes and recognizing where you made a mistake. If you are always saying your opponents suck, you are missing out on an opportuity to improve your game. Think outside the box and don't always say your opponent got lucky. Realize there are better players than you and there is always something to learn at the poker table. Successful poker players are bred out of a rational mindset. If you can't think rationally when you lose a big pot, you will never improve. Challenge yourself to improve as a player and realize the good players always appear to be "lucky".

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