[pokervintage]

[ QUOTE ]
Winning should feel good, but this score makes me feel somewhat dirty, like I don't deserve it.

[/ QUOTE ]

We all deserve it! The issue is just what "it" is. Do I sound like a former president? Hmmm.... Why do you believe that winning should feel good? Why should losing feel bad? Why should either cause any feeling at all. They shouldn't but in fact for most if not all of us they do. One of "the tricks" to being a "professional" poker player and I stress professional is to some how leave your emotions out of poker. Well you can't really just toss your emotions aside, most of us, I mean, but you can mitigate the effect by thouroughly understanding the potential results of playing poker.

Read John Feeny "Inside the Poker Mind". Read Alan Schoonmaker, even Sklansky and you will gain a better understanding of what to expect from playing poker. If you don't like what you read. Don't play. Or just play for fun. If just playing isn't fun, then, really, don't play.

pokervintage