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#1
05-27-2007, 11:05 PM
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A note on Frustration, Anger, Emotions, and Poker...
This is an article I wrote almost a year ago on my blog (which can be found in my profile if you are wondering). I just thought some of you might enjoy it...
I'm sure you have all heard the following quote: [ QUOTE ] Don't bring your emotions to the poker table. [/ QUOTE ] I've heard it (or something along those lines), and I agree with it. However it was not until recently that I have really come to realize what this means. The slightest slip, the smallest error, could end up costing you quite a bit of money. There is no room for error, and if you make one you will certainly pay for it. Poker is really just a big complex life-long test of self-control, patience, and observation, that is disguised by cards. Once you reach an intermediate level of skill, the game transforms into a game of controling YOURSELF. The only thing you can control is poker is YOU, yourself. Your opponents, your cards, the board, the game conditions, are not in your realm of total control. The only thing that matters is the decision you are faced with right now. Everyone is expected to get dealt an even distribution of good, bad, and second-best hands. It's statistically inevitable (assuming you play enough hands). Money is won or lost based on how you played each individual hand. My math teacher once told me a very wise piece of information. He said, "Once you learn that there are some things that you simply cannot contol, everything will become much easier". Face it, some things you just can't control. But in almost all cases, and always in poker, you CAN control yourself. It's a constant struggle. The battle is always with yourself. I remember this one time on UB. I was playing $3/6 limit HE. Everyone at the table seemed to have my number, my cards wern't working for me, and every river card completed my opponents hand. I can remember when he rivered me for the 3rd time in a row. The first 2 times, I dismissed it, bit my tounge, and continued playing. But when it happened again, I was so frustrated I let out a yelp of anger and screamed into the moniter, "I HATE YOU!!@!". Wow. That statement is pure anger and frustration fused together into a single sentance. I let emotions into my game. I failed to control myself. I failed to realize that I could not control what had just happened - it was poker. And for that - I suffered. I continued to play, and I tilted more and more with each hand I played. That was not the last time I did it. There were numerous times in the last 2 months when anger and frustration crept into my game and affected my play. I have now realized that if I had just controlled myself, or exited the game, I'd be a little richer today. Sometimes the reality of Good Play = $ just doesn't seem real when you are losing. You feel like it is not fair, that you are the unluckiest person ever, and that this should not be happening. Who ever said poker was fair? Nothing's fair. It's the nature of the world we live in. The difference between a winner and a loser is that a winner can control himself at the table, and never lets emotions creep into his game. Once you learn, understand, and apply some of the things I have said in this article, your winrate will sky-rocket. If you want to grow your bankroll, all you have to do is make the right decision right now, on this very next hand. 
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#2
05-27-2007, 11:07 PM
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Re: A note on Frustration, Anger, Emotions, and Poker...
"I was so frustrated I let out a yelp of anger and screamed into the moniter, "I HATE YOU!!@!". "
lmao
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#4
05-28-2007, 12:53 AM
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Re: A note on Frustration, Anger, Emotions, and Poker...
[ QUOTE ]
"I was so frustrated I let out a yelp of anger and screamed into the moniter, "I HATE YOU!!@!". " lmao [/ QUOTE ] lol .. but really nice post though.
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#5
05-28-2007, 08:03 PM
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Re: A note on Frustration, Anger, Emotions, and Poker...
[ QUOTE ]
"I was so frustrated I let out a yelp of anger and screamed into the moniter, "I HATE YOU!!@!". " lmao [/ QUOTE ] this actually happened, and I am sure I'm not the only one who has screamed into the moniter at least once [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Also, this was at 4:00am when my family was sleeping. I felt like such a degenerate.
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#7
05-28-2007, 08:09 PM
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Re: A note on Frustration, Anger, Emotions, and Poker...
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] "I was so frustrated I let out a yelp of anger and screamed into the moniter, "I HATE YOU!!@!". " lmao [/ QUOTE ] this actually happened, and I am sure I'm not the only one who has screamed into the moniter at least once [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Also, this was at 4:00am when my family was sleeping. I felt like such a degenerate. [/ QUOTE ] lol no you're not the only one. I've been working on how I handle tilt and I've been getting a lot better about it. It's all in your head.
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#8
05-28-2007, 08:19 PM
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Re: A note on Frustration, Anger, Emotions, and Poker...
usually, my comments at the monitor goes something like, "[censored] it", followed by "ship it holla!" or "@#$@#$#@$@#$@#$!@$!@#$!@$!@$!@$#!@$#!@#$!@"
Crovax
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#10
05-28-2007, 08:32 PM
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Re: A note on Frustration, Anger, Emotions, and Poker...
I dont say much when I win pots in cash games. But if I win a key pot late in a MTT, I jump up and down and scream, sing whatever song is playing out loud, do pushups, get all giddy, etc.
But during cash games on a lonnnnnng losing streak I have been known to curse real loud. Reading this article should help calm the nerves a bit though.
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