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#1
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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 |
#2
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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
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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. |
#4
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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. |
#5
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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. |
#6
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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 |
#7
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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. |
#8
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Re: Winning and losing sessions
Read The Poker Mindset. Solve problem. It says in this book that:
You are involved in a fanstasy that there is such a thing as more than one session. There is not. There is only one session. Sometimes it gets interrupted for sleep, or for other things. Then it continues. The players change, sometimes the venue, but it is all one long poker game. No magic makes your chips less at risk the very next hand if you are in a "new session." Every hand is a new hand of the lifelong session. Now, mess up the chips or cover up the part on the screen that has your chip count on it. There is no money, there's just this hand, this time, in one long game. |
#9
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Re: Winning and losing sessions
[ QUOTE ]
You are involved in a fanstasy that there is such a thing as more than one session. There is not. There is only one session. Sometimes it gets interrupted for sleep, or for other things. Then it continues. The players change, sometimes the venue, but it is all one long poker game. [/ QUOTE ] For many poker players, especially beginners but even experienced players, this may be the number two concept to grasp being right behind playing tighter. |
#10
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Re: Winning and losing sessions
it took me 2 years to realize this. Before I would check my br every ten minutes and get upset whenever im down 1 buyin. this in turn make me play bad/nitty/scared money etcetc. Nowadays, I just play poker and make sure i keep putting pressure on my opponents. I almost never play my card anymore. Then again I dont talk my self into calling when I get caught bluffing.
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] You are involved in a fanstasy that there is such a thing as more than one session. There is not. There is only one session. Sometimes it gets interrupted for sleep, or for other things. Then it continues. The players change, sometimes the venue, but it is all one long poker game. [/ QUOTE ] For many poker players, especially beginners but even experienced players, this may be the number two concept to grasp being right behind playing tighter. [/ QUOTE ] |
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