OT: SNG Psychology help...

K so i sit down and plan on playing a good game and i do, i do two tables at the same time and remain focused. I finish ITM on both of them and make a nice profit finishing 1st and 2nd. Now all of the sudden i dont want to play anymore, even though i now have a lot of spare time to play more, i just dont want to play again and perhaps lose money or worse, break even for the day after playing for a few more hours. The only thing that hangs me up is i know i am a winning player at the level i play at, and that the more quality tournaments i get in, the more money i can make. yet i have this uneasy feeling about playing right away again just after a nice win. does anyone else have this problem or do i just need to grow some sack? what can be done?

[swiftrhett]

Force yourself to play a few thousand sngs, and you'll get over this.

Happens to me everytime I play. Once I win, I'm afraid. I think it just comes from not having a lot of tournaments in... plus we're scared of bad beats & variance. swift is right, we gotta play hundreds and hundreds more.

[citanul]

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Force yourself to play a few thousand sngs, and you'll get over this.

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meh.

op, i think you need to look at why you're playing. if it's predominantly for fun, there's really no reason for you to keep playing if you aren't going to have fun in the next set. so don't play any more. if you're playing for money, this is something you're going to need to get over. just remind yourself that the next games are the next games whenever you play them.

c

[GrekeHaus]

I used to be a bit like this too. Rather than worrying about how much you win or lose in a night, set goals for how many you're going to play and then play that many no matter what. Eventually, you won't even think about it anymore.

i think this one is the best reply so far, ill try that.

i wonder though, if say you are going to be in a hot streak for the next 200 games, then wouldnt playing less games per day prolong your good streak and thus allow you to 'make' more money during this stretch? i put make in quotes above because no matter what as soon youre streak is over and you keep playing, you wont do so well and some of them money you won when you were hot will go back to compensate for your good fortune...

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i think this one is the best reply so far, ill try that.

i wonder though, if say you are going to be in a hot streak for the next 200 games, then wouldnt playing less games per day prolong your good streak and thus allow you to 'make' more money during this stretch? i put make in quotes above because no matter what as soon youre streak is over and you keep playing, you wont do so well and some of them money you won when you were hot will go back to compensate for your good fortune...

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I'm afraid that I really don't follow your reasoning here.

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...i just dont want to play again and perhaps lose money or worse, break even....

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I think you need to sort out your priorities /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[ZeroPointMachine]

That's why I seem to prefer dumping my first set and then digging myself out of a nice little hole. Once I've done that the fear of losing has been conquered and I can continue to play undetered.

[microbet]

It's very natural to want to finish a winner. In SNGs it doesn't matter a lot, but in cash games quitting a winner and grinding it out when you are behind means in the long run you will spend the most time at the hardest tables. In SNGs it could possibly mean you will spend less time playing when you are at your best or less time during peak hours or something.

But, what citanul said is right too. If you are playing for fun, play when you feel like it.

thats okay i dont know either /images/graemlins/wink.gif

I personally set myself goals with my bankroll so that i can move up in limits. As long as i don't take a big downswing i feel like i am working towards my goal and want to play as many Sit n Go's as i can until i get there.

[xLukex]

Losing money sucks. We've all been there whether it was $100 or $10,000 (JBEEF?).

Anyways, you have to think about improving your game and not the financial implications. Once you get enough games in and climb up the bankroll ladder, you'll start caring less and less. Being overrolled for a level REALLY helps this move along. I was playing the $11s with $200 for a while 4-tabling. When you lose 4 in a row it is certainly going to affect you. But now that I'm 6-tabling the $22s with $1500-$2000 and putting 3-4 sets in a day, it becomes much easier to see how the whole making money thing works.

Just get more games in friend. /images/graemlins/smile.gif