A unique "fear" of playing

[AMT]

I've been playing poker for 6 or so years now, only 2 or so very seriously, and now that I've spent weeks in Las Vegas for WSOP and what not, this problem/mentality has become more apparent than ever.

I am almost afraid to play. I always try to find reasons not to go to the strip to play live, though I took the vast majority of my roll offline to do so. Even online, its like I have an innate fear of losing. To be honest, this hasn't stopped me from making money in poker; quite the contrary, I NEVER play scared money no matter if I'm playing overrolled or taking a big shot. I always play my best and if anything am sure to always try and make the very best of decisions once I do decide to sit down.

I just can't figure out why I feel this way. Once I sit im fine, and I play fine, but before this point I just skirt around the idea of playing. WHAT THE [censored] IS WRONG WITH ME?

Does anyone else ever experience this feeling with anything? This happens with things outside of poker as well...its like I innately dread doing it, but once I do it I'm happy and fine.

I love poker and love it being my primary source of income. I believe I have every quality in approach to the technical aspects of the game and mentality in terms of my emotions at the table, online etc.... but I just can't figure out why I always experience the feeling of skirting around playing until I force myself to sit down.

What say you, psych forum?

[Brad1970]

Is it just butterflies or is it adrenaline? If it's live play you're worried about, don't be. Nobody plays perfect so don't be afraid of looking like an idiot. Even some of the big name pros admit getting antsy before a big tourney.

[stew77]

it happens a lot in sport, some porfessional players admit they hate the gameday and preparing for a game ... but

you have to remember that once you take your seat or put your name on the list... that you are trained for this, you work ahrd on your game and the only thing you should be worried about is if there will be enough racks in the poker room for you to get your chips to the cage....
i know it sounds a bit far fetched, but when youre preparing or thinking of a session, and you start getting this 'fear'.. then just take a breath and tell yourself that you have an edge in your games that you play and the reason you play.. isnt because you 'hope' to win.. it's because you are prepared in every situation and you have a massive advantage.

also.. maybe a pump up song of some sort. linkin park i like to listen to ...

anyway gl, hope this helped in some way

[kekedarius]

I feel the exact same thing and contribute it to a subconscious fear of failure.

[bones]

Alex,

This was basically me last year. Eventually I figured out that deep down, the pain of losing was greater than the joy of winning. I expected to win everytime I played (I miss you, Party. Come back), so it was a pretty big letdown when I didn't, even though logically I understood the concept of variance. I had a personal attachment to losing, like a bad session was a failure.

1- Stop caring about money. You don't need that much, and you have some. Whatever happens on that single day won't make a difference in your life and will likely be forgotten within a week.

2- Realize that everytime you play, you're there to make decisions, not make money. It's not enough to just say "okay, yeah I understand ev, don't be results oriented, blah blah..." You actually have to convince yourself 100%.

3-

4- Profit!

[tuckercat]

i would recommend making a play list of music that amps you up. listen before playing. it will help get over the gitters and get you excited about playing.

[dwf76]

[ QUOTE ]
I feel the exact same thing and contribute it to a subconscious fear of failure.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank god for this thread and responses I know exactly how you feel.

Good luck to everyone trying to overcome this fear.

[AMT]

thanks all, I think a lot of the suggestions here are good ones. I don't use music that much at the table for fear of losing focus but I think I should, at least at the beggining of sessions more often.

I'm going to make a conscious effort next time to vocally walk myself through what it is I'm feeling and suggestions such as bones' on making sure I don't focus on the money. Though I do feel I always try to make the best decisions, the money is inevitably an underlying factor that I should just get out of my head. Thanks for the replies, if anyone has anything else feel free to chime in, I could use all the help I can get [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Hince]

I get the same way when I am winning. Typically it helps me play better. But if I am on a hot streak I get scared of the cards breaking the other way.

Usually once I start playing, things get very natural and I have fun.

Fear use to really bother me, but then I changed my perspective of it. Now I view it as a sign of readiness.

When I was in college, I use to get nervous before a big test. However, if I knew I wasn't ready for a test I was totally calm because I already knew the outcome.

Usually when I don't feel that nervousness it is because I am tired, depressed, or tilty and shouldn't be playing.

[ski]

I made almost this exact post a few days ago in the psych forum.