OwnMySeat.com

One very important tool every poker player should work on is the ability to objectively critique his or her own play.

At the conclusion of every hand you should go over the hand you just played and decide whether or not you played it correctly. When analyzing in this fashion you should put little weight on the outcome of the hand.

For instance if you throw caution to the wind and play the hand incorrectly, due to bad judgement or impulsive action, but manage to beat the odds and rake a huge pot your perception of the hand may be skewed to the positive side based on the results.

Inversely if you play the hand in the proper way and end up on the losing end but put too much emphasis on the outcome you may be working against the idea that you did indeed play the hand properly.