> Possibly nitpicking, but a good poker player is unconcerned with whether or not they won the hand (from a strategic standpoint). Well, even a decent player w

> Possibly nitpicking, but a good poker player is unconcerned with whether or not they won the hand (from a strategic standpoint). Well, even a decent player will cringe when they realise they got the money in with bad odds. When this happens a couple of times in a row, they may start to question their own ability. It's easy to shrug off a couple of bad beats as "running against the top of opponent's range". Hit a string of these hands and suddenly you're beginning to question your reads. Has the tone of the table changed and you missed it? Do you need to adapt quickly and if so, how? And perhaps most important of all, have you already done that without realising it? In the long run the game is an infinite series of calculated risks. There is no trick to winning, other than having a strong enough bankroll, and to be better than majority of the field. In this context, bankroll also includes mental capacity to deal with the blows. As long you're doing everything, or even most things right, probabilities will catch up. It doesn't make the game any easier, though.