I'm unable to stop playing when winning

RiverPlay · #1 06-23-2007, 02:05 AM

I think I have an addictive personality, and Im the kind of person that likes to keep on doing what it's pleasurable for me.
This is my best month ever since started with poker, in agoust 2006 I deposited 40 dollars, and played a lot of 2NL, moved up to 10NL, and Iwas pretty much a very bad player that thought he was good. In february I won 1K (fisrt) at a 5$ tourney and a couple of days latter I finished like 4th and got another 400$, I played some 100nl got quickly up to 2300$ and then started to have very swingy sessions, and felt frustrated because i thought I should beat the game, i hated poker, etc. One day I won 10 BI at 100NL (from 2AM 12pm), lost two to bad beats, tilted hard and lost another 10 BI (from 4pm to 24 am, very tired and confused). That was a crisis, i had only 900$ in my BR. Loosing like 1400$ was devastating (I live in Argentina so every dollar is worth 3X for me).
I decided I was bad and that i had to learn from 10NL from 200$ and build my BR again while keeping 700$ online but just as a saving) I did it from 10NL to 100NL from april, playing solid and disciplining myself, not chase any looses, stop playing when doing dumb stuff, being more focused, etc.

On thursday nigt my girlfriend calls me and tells me she is not coming because she has to take care of his mother, so I decided to play an all night session from 11PM, things went well, I was quickly up a couple of BI's etc... at 6AM i was up 6 buy in, making great calls folding big pairs, getting paid at the river etc... Why would I stop playing?? I made like 1.100 us$, which here is like saying 3.500$ (already won another 1000 us$ during june)I feel like I've been introduced to some kind of moneymaking machine, and that I should stick to it while its working nicely, like if waking away was a crime.

I kept on playing, at 11 AM i was 7.5 BI up, at 1PM 8 buy in up, and so on till 1PM, like 25 hours after i started playing, now 11 buy in up. I decided to quit in the middle of a big upswing with no signs of getting any worst, and i feel i shouldnt. I feel that maybe on monday I will run bad, or that maybe I'm facing softer competition because its a friday, I haven't sleep in 30 hours but I dont feel that tired and i know i play my best poker after being playong for at least 1khands, wich sometimes I'm not focused enough to achieve...

How should I think about this issue? How do you manage it?

I hope the text its not hard to read beacause english is not really my language. Thank you.

BritNewbie · #2 06-23-2007, 04:09 AM

Do you REALLY play your best poker after you've played a 1000 hands? Do you play even better after 10000 hands? Surely there comes a point for any player where sleep/rest is needed?

As for thinking that you'll run bad next time, the next time you sit down to play the cards will have no memory of how you did last time.

MaLiik · #3 06-23-2007, 06:08 AM

Keep playing as long as you are winning, you shoudn't keep playing if you get stuck in a negative tendancy for a few hundred hands though.

Rainclouds · #4 06-23-2007, 08:03 AM

I think not stopping when you win is great and I'm jealous. When I think of all the money I didn't make in the past because I quit my sessions because I was afraid to start losing... you do better and I think you should not change it.

JayKon · #5 06-23-2007, 11:09 AM

Continuing to play when wining is great, but what happens when you're not wining? Will you quit, or will you chase to get that win that feels soooooooo good?

I play according to a schedule, with only minor variations in time allowed, but then I play live for profit and online for fun.

RiverPlay · #6 06-23-2007, 06:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Do you REALLY play your best poker after you've played a 1000 hands? Do you play even better after 10000 hands? Surely there comes a point for any player where sleep/rest is needed?

As for thinking that you'll run bad next time, the next time you sit down to play the cards will have no memory of how you did last time.

[/ QUOTE ]

1K hands, not 10k. Yes, I feel I play crappy my first 500 hands of the day, and I really feel "in the zone" after playing 1500 hands 4 tabling, it's like time flows so different and I'm able to stay 1hr waiting for +EV spots compared to getting anxious every 10 minutes at the begining. Last time, the one I posted, after 11hs playing straight I would play 4 hs more and felt like I just played another 80 minutes... this had to be good, it means patience is increased, and I really feel like a shark at those times. This time was the longest session, 25hs and at 25:05 I felt tired and decided to quit, then posted, read the forums and watch a movie, so I stayed till 5AM :S

MAybe the cards are the same, but I'm worried about me not playing great and facing better players, or the same playing better.

RiverPlay · #7 06-23-2007, 08:15 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Continuing to play when wining is great, but what happens when you're not wining? Will you quit, or will you chase to get that win that feels soooooooo good?

I play according to a schedule, with only minor variations in time allowed, but then I play live for profit and online for fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't play to chase looses, and during tne last month I stopped playing as soon as I tilted.

RiverPlay · #8 06-23-2007, 08:22 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Keep playing as long as you are winning, you shoudn't keep playing if you get stuck in a negative tendancy for a few hundred hands though.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats what I did, and played like 10k hands fo 25 hours straight, but I kinda feel it's too much poker.

JayKon · #9 06-24-2007, 01:59 AM

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Keep playing as long as you are winning, you shoudn't keep playing if you get stuck in a negative tendancy for a few hundred hands though.

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Thats what I did, and played like 10k hands fo 25 hours straight, but I kinda feel it's too much poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK then, I vote that this thread should be moved to the " Beats, Brags, and Variance" forum.

RiverPlay · #10 06-24-2007, 02:47 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Keep playing as long as you are winning, you shoudn't keep playing if you get stuck in a negative tendancy for a few hundred hands though.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats what I did, and played like 10k hands fo 25 hours straight, but I kinda feel it's too much poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK then, I vote that this thread should be moved to the " Beats, Brags, and Variance" forum.

[/ QUOTE ]

I vote that BBV should be closed (??)

I'm serious here, and I'm posting here because I don't think only about profit, I'm concerned about other stuff like not doing bad stuff to myself as not having any sleep when I'm doing good and I dont seem to be able to have full control of it.
What I would like to hear is any real advice about what to do when doing very well, how to balance poker with life when poker feels like printing money.