Any Suggestions..

[sailorman]

I've played some middle limit NL $2-$4 through $10-$20 and limit holdem $3-$6 through $30-$60 and usually do quite well. I can NEVER control myself. I may win 70% of the time in these games but say I lose 1 buy in at $5-$10 NoLimit I can't just call it quits, and you can then find me at the biggest table I can find. I know there isn't much advice I can get. I can teach people easily and tell people how to manage a bankroll but I cannot. Any advice out there for me before I tilt away thousands and thousands.

[jb9]

Stop gambling.

[bkholdem]

Tutor me on the higher stakes and i tutor you on br mgmt issues.

[CerebralDamage]

I can teach people easily and tell people how to manage a bankroll but I cannot.

Yes you can. Either do it, or get medication to help your compulsions, or quit gambling, or lose.

[3 minute hero]

i have a suggestion - try writing your bankroll theory down and keep it in front of you. Two things will happen -
1) It will remind you about what you should be doing
2) You won't be able to see screen to play and lose more money

[_TKO_]

[ QUOTE ]
I may win 70% of the time in these games but say I lose 1 buy in at $5-$10 NoLimit I can't just call it quits.

[/ QUOTE ]

These two points have a lot to do with each other. If you are booking a win 70% of the time, you are probably playing too long when you are losing in an effort to break even. Keep in mind that while a 70% sessional winrate may seem impressive, it doesn't mean you are making any money. If you walk away from 7 sessions with $1 each, and lose $5 in each of 3 sessions, you do not have an overall win. It is also important to consider the number of hours you've played. If you played 3 hours in each of your losing sessions and 1 hour in each of your winning sessions, then you are losing money hourly. This is why keeping track of how many sessions you win is not a good measure of your ability to play winning poker.

If you are indeed winning 70% of your sessions over a long preiod of time, you are probably doing something wrong.

[Ocho]

[ QUOTE ]
I may win 70% of the time in these games

[/ QUOTE ]

TKO hit the nail on the head but I'd like to add a point:

I'd also be willing to bet you are over-estimating your win perecentage. This happens quite a bit unless you actually track your sessions.

[Jeffage]

This may seem like lame advice but...

Why do you want to see yourself fail? I used to do self destructive [censored] like this sometimes; it's degenerate behavior and a lot of it stems from poor self esteem. You don't think you deserve to be a success. Working on your own self image can be helpful; learn to love yourself and believe you deserve to be happy and successful.

Quitting gambling is good advice for many in your situation, but if you're determined you can overcome your weaknesses.

Disclaimer: If you are literally ruining your life gambling, take a long break and/or seek professional help.

Jeff

[sparkywowo]

I was guilty of trying to make every session a winning one, and if I planned to play for two hours, if I got signficantly ahead after an hour or so I would call it quits. If I was behind after 2 hours, I would keep playing to try and whittle down the deficit.

What I do now is use the stats page and stick firmly to a predetermined number of hands. Say I plan to play for a couple of hours. I will figure 150 hands. I have worked to reduce my overshoot to something reasonable. At first, I might be down after 150, and give myself 10 more hands, and then 10 more, and then 10 more, and then say cripes, just call it off already. So, I didn't try to be perfect right away, but tried to be aware and improve.

Importantly, this is called "exposure and response prevention" roughly. You expose yourself to the situation and then DO NOT LET YOURSELF peform your usual response. It makes you uncomfortable. But, after time, the discomfort disipates. Then, by repeating, the discomfort disipates more quickly.

You can try the following. Sit down online, and say "I am going to play exactly 10 hands and then leave, win or lose, and I will not come back for at least 1 hour". That is a start. If this makes you very uncomfortable, you should ask yourself if you are either more nervous, or more obsessed with gambling. If its gambling, then you should find someone who specializes in gambling disorders to help you. If it is nervousness/anxiety you may have some other anxiety related disorder that happens to coincide with the gambling issues. And, you should also seek someone competent to help you but not just someone who treat problem gamblers but has good insight into pshychiatry (a psychiatrist who can evaluate the anxiety problem without jumping to the conclusion that it is strictly a gambling problem).

[sparkywowo]

My guess is that the difference between the problem if it is due to Compulsive Gambling or an Anxiety Disorder (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is:

If it is Compulsive Gambling, you enjoy gambling, you don't really have anxiety issues, and you refuse to accept that you have lost when you have in fact lost.

If it is Obsessive Compulsive behavior you think about your bankroll. If it is down, this makes you nervous, and you want to try to run it up to relieve the anxiety. You try run it up and when you succeed the anxiety goes away. Then, the next time you are down, you know that successfully running it back up works to relieve your anxiety, so you do it again, and again, and again... devoting more and more time to trying to leave a winner, and by impatiently escalating your bets you are mismanaging your bankroll.