can't turn off the poker

[gedanken]

This is getting pretty bad for me. I sit down at 8 to play shortstacked at 1 table while I eat. "I'll quit the table when dinner's over" so I can get something else done. I'm down a little, so I buy in full and try to grind back my losses, but the table turns tight so I open another, suffer a bad beat so I'm going to grind back those losses. Then I do, but the table has become so soft I can't imagine leaving it...

Next thing I know it's 3:00 in the morning.

Vowing not to do that again, I'll just play for an hour while I eat dinner...

I heard somewhere that there is this goofy brain chemistry trap: If you give a person a tough, but solvable, puzzle and they fail at it, they'll be frustrated, but want to try again. If they succeed, they feel good and want to try a similar puzzle. Is that what's happening? I'm constantly thinking "just a few more hands".

[Pokerpun]

What sites do you play at? I feel that some sites (Full tilt especially) are more addictive than others, they probably have more psychologists working on their site to keep its "one more hand" appeal up, maybe you can find some of the less slickly designed sites (Prima?) easier to break away from?

[holdme]

you try 12 tabling?

[gedanken]

12? I get panicky when 2 are open. I guess multitabling would generate an exhaustion factor that would be good for encouraging me to stop playing, but I think winning money is a good thing, too.

I play at stars, where I've got the UI dialed back to a grey minimalist state, relatively pleasant. Maybe I'll make myself a deal to turn on chat at 11, avatars at 11:30, the default skin at 11:45...

At midnight I'll open a browser without adblocker. That ought to do it!

thanks.

[Rek]

Are you old enough to remember the Rubik Cube coming out? Nobody could put it down. You just had to find a way of doing it. Most never did but we kept on trying. Same principle I think

[e_phemeral]

I have the same problem with ending a session, both live and online. It is easier to end the session when I am up, harder to end it when I am down, and sometimes, by failing to stop when I am up, I end up down. This can lead to disastrous results.

For example, the last live session I played, I generally didn't play great plus got coolered and sucked out and found myself down 3 and 1/2 buyins after about 7 hours of play. Then I had a great run of cards and things worked out for me and I found myself up almost 1 buyin after 8 and 1/2 hours (which is about the limit of how long I can play live and still play my A-game). So I left, right?

No, of course not. I stayed and tried to make my small win a little bigger. 5 hours later I left with an almost 5 buyin loss. So stupid.

The basic answer is that you're supposed to play so many hours or hands without regard for whether you are up or down. The results should have nothing to do with when you stop playing. I am getting better at doing this online. Before playing a session, I will tell myself roughly how long I want to play, like..I will play until 11pm. Now 11pm rolls around, regardless of whether I am up or down, I will set a limit and say, Ok, I will play 2 more buttons and then quit. After my 2nd button, I turn off the "automatically post blinds" button and when the blinds come up again, I just sit out.

I have found that being incredibly unemotional and dispassionate about online poker is good for me. I will surf the net and do other things while playing so that the game I am playing is not the only thing upon which I am focused. If I focus too much on the game, then I end up trying to win more pots than I am due and force things, which is bad for me. I think that same lack of passion and emotion is necessary to just quit at or around a certain time regardless of whether you are up or down. Good luck.

[orig!naL]

[ QUOTE ]
12? I get panicky when 2 are open.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL that made me laugh.. donno why

[deluz35]

Make rules for yourself. If necessary, use an alarm clock. Set appropriate limits. This artificial discipline is the first step to self-control. Eventually through practice it will become natural and you will become the person you choose to be rather than an impulsive wanderer.

But be warned, the path of discipline is painful and may not be suitable for all ages

[Pokerpun]

Another thing is it is easier to quit a stud game than a hold em game as with HE once you pay your bb you feel you have to play a full round, while you can leave stud at any time.

[gedanken]

awesome, orig!nal! Thanks for laughing at my joke -- that doesn't happen to me very often.

And a big thanks for taking my whining seriously. It does seem like a straightforward solution -- stop playing. But after just a few hands last night, I did manage to quit at 1:30am. Everyone else left the table.

I think the emotional distance suggestion sounds the most sound. I actually do start doing other stuff sometimes, once I've got good reads on all the opponents. Moving around my apartment offers some better perspective on this little micro-stakes game I'm in...

[ QUOTE ]
the path of discipline is painful and may not be suitable for all ages

[/ QUOTE ]

sounds very sage. I'm 38, is it suitable for that age?

cheers folks.