Crying Calls and STT vs. RG

[LetYouDown]

Two part question:

1.) I tend to make a hell of a lot more crying calls than I should. TPTK, unimproved by river comes to mind. I know I'm making a -EV call, but I do it anyway. I find I do this a LOT more in Hold 'Em than I do in Stud 8 or better (which is why I've been playing more of that). When I tighten up and start thinking on more than the ABC level, my winrate skyrockets. Anyone have any generic suggestions for calming down and starting to think before clicking call, just because it's the easiest way to see what the other person has? Don't get me wrong, I'm no fish...but I make my share of bad calls, or overly aggressive bluffs, and that's where the majority of my losses come from.

2.) I fall into the LA-A category in PokerTracker, as far as my STT and MTT tournaments go. In ring games, I'm TA-A. Is this fairly standard, or should it be a cause for concern? I play low limit, Party STTs more than anything. Aggression is my mantra, due to their blind structure. I am considerably ahead of the game, but I'm curious if I should be backing off more in late position with mediocre hands and sizeable blinds.

[MarkL444]

get a better grasp of gambling theory. youll begin to derive more satisfaction from making the right play than you would winning the pot.

[LetYouDown]

That tends to be my problem. Half the time in cheap ring games I'll make a crying call, just so I can say something like "You were a 4-to-1 dog going into that river, and you knew it...what were you thinking?". I realize this is contrary to everything I should believe in/strive for. I almost feel like it's worth it to call, knowing I've lost. It makes very little sense, I realize. It's somewhat like a disease.

[swolfe]

gamblers love to feel a "rush". a lot of times it's the rush of victory, but losing produces a rush too. some people like the feeling of being the sympathetic loser and will look to reproduce that feeling.

don't be trapped by emotions into giving your money away, play smart poker.

[PinkSteel]

Read "Psychology of Poker" by Schoonmaker. Read it, read it, read it.

You're not thinking right when you make those crying calls; as the book would say, you're not verbalizing your thinking.

Best book I've read that will get you thinking right at that moment when you have to make that call/fold decision. It doesn't crunch numbers, it brings you around to that mindset that leads to winning plays rather than losing ones.

(Caveat: I am still a donkey.)

[LetYouDown]

Just when I think that I might not get a useful response...you come through again. Thanks much. It absolutely sucks to know the game, know the math, know the right move...and feel compelled to do the opposite.

The same line of thinking gets me in trouble when I play online, because I constantly fail to believe that bad players get good cards too.

I find that this is much more prevelant for me online, as opposed to brick & mortar or home game. The other night at a B&M game, I made 3 terrible moves in the first 15 minutes and lost about a 1/3 of my stack. Then I calmed down, started playing my "A" game and ended up doubling my original buy-in in an hour or two. I also find it's a lot easier to just click "call" than it is to put actual chips in a pot...which is why I end up playing a lot more TAG for B&M and LAG online. That drives me nuts.

Thanks for the book recommendations, I'll check them out...and the "not verbalizing my thinking" is like a completely correct slap in the face. Couldn't have put it better if I tried.