Written Poker Records

You should keep accurate records of your wins, losses, and amounts. Use an Excel spreadsheet, Poker Tracker, or even a hand written ledger. That way there is no mistaking how you’re doing, you can just look down and there is a true account of how you are performing. Here’s the reason for a written record: personal recall is usually positively biased. What that means is when you think back about something that you personally did, you usually remember that you did better than you actually did. You don’t do it on purpose and usually can’t help it or even realize that you did it. It is an unconscious defense mechanism for your self-esteem, which helps keep you viewing yourself in a positive light. This helps alleviate depression and neuroticism. This is a good thing in general but can be misleading at times. Often addicts can’t realize how bad things are getting because they unwittingly lie to themselves. Sometimes things aren’t what they seem. Anyways, this is just something to think about. And ultimately this is why you should keep records of how you’re doing at poker or any goals in general and not just mentally keep tally.