Tips please

[veganmav]

Let's say I start the day with X dollars in my account.

I win a lot, and am now at X + Y in my account.

I don't wanna play more, cus I wanna stay a winner for the day.

I know it's dumb, but that's just how it is sometimes.

Or if I go on a hot streak and win Z dollars over 4 days.. I wanna take a few days break and enjoy the fact that I won Z dollars in only 4 days!...

This thinking is stupid right?
And -EV

Does anyone have any tips for me?

sorry I know I have been playing for so many years, but this still gets me sometimes.

[veganmav]

I think one thing I can start with, is enjoy winning less.

Look at cashier less.

Don't get excited if I win. be like "meh"

[Heisenb3rg]

This is my biggset problem too...

The problem isnt with "yay I won monies celerbate"
its the overall problem with the way you think about poker.

You are results oriented. It's human nature.
It's how our brain works. We want to protect our winnings. We want to get back what we lost.

Focus on the game, not the results.

youve heard it 100000x before... People will tell you the same thing... If you really want to push yourself to the level of computer poker bot, you need to overcome your psychology.

it all really comes down to self discipline...

I suggest either talking to a therapist for techniques, or taking yoga and practising it before every session, as well as frequent "meditation breaks" to overcome your psychology.

It sounds redonculus because it is... The answer to the problem is easy. Implementing it is extremly difficult, but its certaintly possible. There's no quick fix, but im sure the reward is well worth it all.

Good luck

[2handed]

Not looking at the cashier window would be a big improvement for me. I am in school now so veganmav's 'time off' condition translates for me into more studying and other activities so it really isnt hurting me now. If however I plan to integrate more poker into my life I need to find away to separate myself from my daily or weekly results.

Taking time off is an important part of keeping your winning psychology intact, but the strong attachment of moods to results can be unhealthy.
That said, taking the money seriously helps us improve our play since we are forced to find the leaks in our game when things are consistently not going our way somewhere. Also, without some pain associated with losing we often become to complacent in our decisions as well as in our discipline.

[YanMTL]

i don't see the point here to do that. If you're winning 1BB/100 hands, the more you play, the more you win. Winning a lot is just variance, the good one but variance never the less. SO just keep playing good poker and enjoy the ride...

[StrictlyStrategy]

I'm like the complete opposite.

If I'm winning I keep playing. If I'm stuck a lot of the times I'll sign off for a day or two and not even bother.

We're both dumb I guess.

[yellowjack]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm like the complete opposite.

If I'm winning I keep playing. If I'm stuck a lot of the times I'll sign off for a day or two and not even bother.

We're both dumb I guess.

[/ QUOTE ]

ive thought about this because i do it also. i believe its less dumb since you're more likely to be playing badly when you're losing, and vice versa.

[Flintoff]

I do this a lot OP. One way I've been trying o get ound it is to try and beat my previous best score.

[Trix]

I feel the same way sometimes, I take breaks. I dont play to make the most money possible, think I´d get bored and quit too fast if I did.

[Tryptamean]

There is a very good article that touches on this in this month's 2p2 magazine. "The Science of Tilt" talks about prospect theory. I was not familiar with this before reading the article, but I found it to be very interesting.

Yes, Veganmav, you are succumbing to basic human nature. We tend to become more risk-averse after "perceived gains"; i.e. you short-term wins. Conversely, we tend to become more risk-seeking after perceived losses.

I think this is very enlightening to be aware of this, but it isn't necessarily -ev if it doesn't affect your play. Stopping your play after a win is not -ev as long as you still make your goal of putting in x hours/week/month/etc.