Afraid of playing

[The Eureka Kid]

As time goes by, you grow accustomed to new stakes, as your bankroll grows you begin to feel really comfortable. Don't be afraid to take as long as you need at a certain level before moving up. Even if you have the bankroll to move up, hold off until you can lose x (whatever is a large swing in the game you play) amount of buy-ins in a session and be at one with it.

[WO3Z]

Moonrocket,

this is hard to discuss on the net. It's much better face to face, but let me take a stab at it. You say you are afraid of losing. What you are not saying is, you are afriad of winning.In order to lose you must be ahead. You must rid yourself of emotion, and dont be fearful of winning, that way you wont fear losing. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[W3rdy303]

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Hello.

I recently started to play Heads up sit and go's, and so far I've been quite succesfull. What is in between me and moving up to higher buy in's and building a bankroll (I'm yet to play anywhere higher than 10$), is obviously becoming a better player, but more importantly playing the game. Despite of the small amount of money at stake and a suitable roll, I find myself to be totally scared money. Or to be more precise, I'm scared of loosing.

I know this might sound a bit ridicilous, but when I play heads up, I feel that everything at the table is personal, and a single lost game can put me on mega tilt, especially if I put my moneys in at the wrong spot. This must be common, but I'm taking it so far I find it hard to make an iniative for starting a session, or get all red and sweaty (yes you heard me right, I'd be horrible in live games) as a result of a tense game. So whom else is as scared of loosing here as I am, and what do you do to counter this..(Taking therapy is not an option! [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img])

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I had this problem..And sometimes the syptoms still arise once in awhile, especially when Im up big the day before..

Fear of losing is inherent in a lot of high-risk activities...Take approaching a girl for example..You know you can smoothtalk once you get into the situation, but starting up the conversation is often the toughest part...

In my opinion, just tell yourself "F**K it." If you're playing the stakes you are rolled for and you have had good results, you know you're a solid player. Make the right decisions, and force yourself to start a session when you know you're in the right mode to play..

Once you get into the game, it should be smooth sailing from there..

Mega-tilt is an entirely different issue, but in this case, focusing on simply making the best decisions and putting yourself in the game sounds like a rather simple and effective solution.

[ReMMy]

heh, you're going to find the poker road a long tough journey. If you insist on playing your biggest obstacle will always be managing your emotions and tilt. If poker is just a form of entertainment for you then perhaps it will work out.



My suggestions are:

Play full ring games.

Try limit games.

Make it a ritual to leave the game immediately following any hand where you take even a moderate bad beat.

Don't multi table.


Good luck,