Taking Hero Vs. Villain too far?

[ThePost]

I know it's just me being competitive but I sometimes hate the other players. I'll get mad and just think that I have to beat that "mofo fish", etc.

I'm a long term winning player in the 10s-ish SNG's, but I think this anger is a major leak of mine.
I find myself making bad calls, and after the fact the only reasoning I have for the call is cause I "HAD" to beat that guy.

Very wrong attitude to have, I know. Possible solutions?

My only idea is that I need to take more time per decision.

[ThePost]

Anyone have a routine that they use to get their mind focused on poker & +EV? Any tips?

[RiverDood]

PokerTracker helped me a lot on this one.

I split between limit and SNGs. There were a couple aggressive goofballs in limit that I started targeting, determined to punish them for their bad play. But after a couple overall profitable weeks, I looked at PokerTracker vs. opponents and realized I was actually in the red vs. those two -- even though lots of anonymous loose passive types were paying me a bundle. I'd been going to war against the maniacs with borderline hands and not always winning.

Seeing it in green and red made me realize: "Let go of it."

It's like chasing after a bad driver on the highway so you can cut him off and teach him a lesson. Don't do it. Just play your game and don't feel obliged to personally punish every idiot. Things usually work out fine in the end if you don't go crazy.

[dano]

Yeah, I find myself in the same spot sometimes. I think a lot of people tilt like this and feel like they have to beat that guy. I'm sure that sometimes you've had others tilt on you and get aggro or fancy with you because they want to beat you so bad. It's a quick way to lose a lot of money.

Try telling yourself mentally "STOP" when you find yourself going down this road. It's suprising how powerful mentally sounding out "STOP" can be.

[NEVER_SCURRED]

Sometimes I play with too much ego and get a little angry when someone reraises me, so I might make a foolish call in order to maintain my image. I don't do this often, but it is something that leaks a few chips away.