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Old 08-19-2007, 09:47 PM
obiedman obiedman is offline
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Default Winning and losing sessions

This is my first venture into this forum, but I feel like this post is about one of the biggest problems with my game. It's in a similar vein as the "Poker lifestyle questions, managing your schedule" thread, but I think it's different enough that it merits it's own.

I have what I think is a pretty big pyschology problem, in that it inhibits me from making the most money I can. Basically, the problem is that I cannot have a long winning session.

Every time I get up more than like 3 or 4 buyins in a session, no matter how long or short, even if it's like 2 buyins in 20 minutes or something, I just stop playing. I think some, if not all of this, stems from some type of fear. It's not exactly the money that gets to me... it's more that I'm afraid to lose money won, if you get what I'm saying. There's something inside my head that makes me want to have a winning session so badly that I stop as soon as I achieve it.

The real problem with this is it prevents me from making the most money I can, obv, but it also makes me much more of a breakeven player than I should be (I think). Because I have no problems with playing until I'm unstuck, my losing sessions can be very long - this results in some sessions where I lose a ton of money. But because of my problem, I'll never have a session where I win a ton of money. Basically what this means is that (and this has happened before) I'll play for a week and make a bunch of money, having winning sessions every day. But then at the end of the week I'll have one losing session that completely wipes out all profit I had made in the entire week, setting me back to even.

I'd love to know how you guys are able to get around something like this, or if any of you have ever had, or still have, a similar kind of problem. Obviously I'm not a great poker player, but I could at least make a little more money if it weren't for problems like this. The psychology I think is the part of the game where I'm weakest, and that's an awful place to be weak, so please help me any way you can. Thanks guys

- Pat
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  #2  
Old 08-19-2007, 09:56 PM
Teh1337zor Teh1337zor is offline
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Default Re: Winning and losing sessions

I have the exact same problem, and I am sure others do to. Interested on how to correct this
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  #3  
Old 08-20-2007, 12:23 AM
foal foal is offline
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Default Re: Winning and losing sessions

I don't know that it's that much of a problem to quit when you're ahead. If you're scared of ruining your winning session then you might start playing sub-optimally. Obviously the best way to go is to play without thinking about whether you're "up" or "down". I've found that when I set goals for myself like "I'm going to see what winrate I can achieve over 10k hands" I start playing poker for poker and not for money. Playing sessions become less significant, because they're just a small part of that larger session.
Poker is a sick and brutal game if you care about your results in each and every playing session.
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  #4  
Old 08-20-2007, 10:19 AM
Shizzle12345 Shizzle12345 is offline
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Default Re: Winning and losing sessions

dont open up the ring game statistics menu in PT when playing. It really hurts your game. 'oh now im up 4bi, [censored] i just lost a pot, now its only 3.5'. Or you see ur up 7bi and you start playing scared cos your good session might be ruined or something.

Sometimes i have no idea how much im up and then suddenly im up 8-9 bi or whatever. If I had looked earlier in the session it would have affected my play.
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  #5  
Old 08-20-2007, 11:18 AM
Beanos Beanos is offline
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Default Re: Winning and losing sessions

Agree with above, pay as little attention to how much your up or down as you can. As for being "afraid to lose money won", don't try to force sessions to be longer so you can overcome this fear.

Forcing yourself to continue, will make the game less enjoyable and your play will suffer. Also, bad results will annoy you more because you will say to yourself "i knew i should have stopped".

Hopefully by ignoring your results, this will enable you to continue playing for as long as you feel comfortable in the game.

Quit when losing, people don't realise how hard it is to play their A game when trying to get "unstuck". There will be more winning sessions that cancel out that one bad session, you don't have to get the money back NOW.
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  #6  
Old 08-20-2007, 03:19 PM
obiedman obiedman is offline
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Default Re: Winning and losing sessions

[ QUOTE ]


Forcing yourself to continue, will make the game less enjoyable and your play will suffer. Also, bad results will annoy you more because you will say to yourself "i knew i should have stopped".

[/ QUOTE ]

this is one of the biggest contributors to the problem i have. i'm afraid to ruin a winning session because i'll be angry with myself.

anyway, thanks for the advice so far, and i'd appreciate more if anybody else has something to add
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  #7  
Old 08-20-2007, 08:31 PM
Stealthy Stealthy is offline
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Default Re: Winning and losing sessions

I struggle with this too but I have helped this a bit by setting a minimum time limit on my play. If I start playing in an evening at 6pm and intend playing a 2 1/2 hour session I tell myself before hand that I have to play at least till 8pm no matter what. The only time I am allowed to break this is if I am playing bad, but am not allowed to quit early through a good start and fear of losing it.

I also have some sick long sessions when I run bad but tend to be reasoably OK at recovering losses. Does mean I still play longer when running bad than running good. Hopefully one day I will be able to switch this and put in some real baller sessions when running well.

One thing I still can never seem to do is play more than one session in a day if the first one was a winning one. If I play 3 hours and am suck a couple of buyins it is always, quick break bath/shower then back for another 3 hours. If I won that first session by any amount I NEVER play a 2nd one.
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  #8  
Old 08-20-2007, 08:45 PM
bizzym00 bizzym00 is offline
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Default Re: Winning and losing sessions

[ QUOTE ]
I struggle with this too but I have helped this a bit by setting a minimum time limit on my play. If I start playing in an evening at 6pm and intend playing a 2 1/2 hour session I tell myself before hand that I have to play at least till 8pm no matter what. The only time I am allowed to break this is if I am playing bad, but am not allowed to quit early through a good start and fear of losing it.

I also have some sick long sessions when I run bad but tend to be reasoably OK at recovering losses. Does mean I still play longer when running bad than running good. Hopefully one day I will be able to switch this and put in some real baller sessions when running well.

One thing I still can never seem to do is play more than one session in a day if the first one was a winning one. If I play 3 hours and am suck a couple of buyins it is always, quick break bath/shower then back for another 3 hours. If I won that first session by any amount I NEVER play a 2nd one.

[/ QUOTE ]

i do this last part too. i had a winning session earlier today and am currently avoiding signing back onto my account because I don't want to ruin my positive day or whatever.

- obiedman
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  #9  
Old 08-21-2007, 01:00 AM
Tofu_boy Tofu_boy is offline
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Default Re: Winning and losing sessions

Seemlike alot of us got this problem. Myself I alway set the lost limit for the day is 4BIs when I lost more than 4 BIs in 1 day I'll stop for the day. Which help alot; However, whenever I start with a good day then I'll play scare afraid of losing it all back and keep telling myself tighten it up and if I lose 1 big pot I'll stopp for the day. As a result everytime I'm up more than 5 BIs I'll stay around there sometimes lose 1 BI back then quit but most of the time I'll hang there for another 30mins play so tight and lose $ through blinds which is not a great way to keep playing. The past 4 month I play more than 200k hand but only 1day I won more than 9BIs. Very sad for the amount of hand I play. I've seen people up 11-15BIs so often I wish I can do the same. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
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  #10  
Old 08-21-2007, 10:16 PM
PantsOnFire PantsOnFire is offline
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Default Re: Winning and losing sessions

Here is a radical approach.

When you are having a losing seesion because you are card dead or you are getting bad beats, welcome it. It means you are playing good poker. Work on minimizing your losses. Remain tight and in control.

When you have a winning session because the deck is hitting you in the face, analyze it to see if you are getting the maximum value you can. See if you are winning because you are getting lucky or because you are making good decisions.

Remember also that a "session" is simply a small slice of a very long game. If you own any stocks do you check them every day and get depressed if they are down? No you don't because if you picked a good blue chip stock they will have ups and downs but will rise over the long run.

Concentrate on your decisions, your state of mind and the profitability of the game you are in. Play for a set amount of time. Play within your bankroll. Have fun and forget about the money. If you play good poker, the money will take care of itself.
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