The self abusive type

[Cazz]

Has anyone else run into the kind of player that seems to be losing on purpose as a form of self-abuse? I ran into one this weekend.

I know plenty of players that like to complain, but his guy took the cake. He complained about not making any hands, that he always lost money when this dealer or that was in the box, etc.

I finally decided that he liked getting beat so that he could grumble some more. Even if it wasn't on a conscious level, thats what he was thinking.

Some of the things he did:
1) He played waayyy too many hands. Any 2 suited or any face. He played all the classically dominated hands. Not suprisingly he lost most hands. Several times he experienced the classic "double suck-out".
You know what I mean. He has

K /images/graemlins/heart.gif 2 /images/graemlins/club.gif vs K /images/graemlins/spade.gif Q /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

Flop
K /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 7 /images/graemlins/club.gif 4 /images/graemlins/heart.gif

Turn
2 /images/graemlins/spade.gif

River
4 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

2) He ignored preflop raises and cold-called with the same junk. This is in a 2-5 spread limit, so the raise was usually to $7. He would call $7 into a $9 pot w/ 36s.
3) When he hit, he never raised and often never even bet. He would say, "Well, he would have just called anyways." The truth is I think he wanted to make sure that he would get beat on the river.

Of course, he complained about the LL Hold 'em game. He wanted to go to Cali so he could play his favorite game. Think quick. What's his favorite game?


Lowball Draw

Perfect.

[Al Schoonmaker]

Some authorities on pathological gambling believe that compulsive gamblers are driven by a desire to punish themselves. Others say that they have such a craving for action that the results are almost irrelevant. All they want is action, regardless of what it costs. The kick is the important element, not the cost. I don't know enough about pathological gambling to go any further. You can get more information from 1-800-GAMBLER.
Regards,
Al

[SevenStuda]

No problem, give'em what he wants...... A big loss.

[Warren Whitmore]

Read:
The Hustler & The color of money by Walter Trevis.

[pretender2k]

As a Blackjack dealer I see a lot of that type of behavior from people who I know have a problem. It is especialy recognizable since I dealt with my problem with alcohol. It is really no different.

The thirst for action is the worst because that will lead them to higher and higher limits. I have seen $5 dollar players progress to $25 players over time. It isn't like poker where you build a bankroll and progress to the higher limits. These people don't get the thrill any more so they NEED to bet more. I would imagine this is something like drinking. You need more and more until all heck breaks loose.

It is really quite sad but about the only thing you can do is be ready to help someone if you are there when life gives them that Wake Up Call.

I only thank God that there were people willing to take that responsibility when mine came.

[Roy Munson]

I, too, have witnessed this phenomenon. The most blatant case happened during my last trip to LV.

Over the course of 4 hours in a $1-4-4-8 hold em game at the Monte Carlo a woman at my table called every single hand preflop and dropped 1300 dollars down the hole during this time.

Her body language suggested a combination of despair and depression. She must have been a regular because all of the dealers and floor personnel new her by name and they even looked concerned as she continued to lose money at an alarming rate in such a small stakes game.

The longer one plays this game you come to realize that there are as many different motivations for playing poker as there are poker players. Many of them negative in nature.