Making unreasonable goals, and dealign with bad beats....

[Redhot_man]

I ahve a problem of setting the bar too high, and then becoming dissapointed and depressed when I am unable to reach these goals. I also focus too much on the short term, and get caught up in the numbers game. I try to play for long amounts of times, and when I lose I end up unhappy and when I win it is never as good as it seems. When I win $100, I no longer am satisifed and I just want to win $200. When I lose $100, I become depressed.
The wining isnt that pleasant, and the losing is very unpleasant.

I also have trouble dealing with bad beats, which plays into watching the short term too carefully. For instacne, I just finsihed a 5 hour session, I played very well but in the last 5 minutes, lost too very big hands, which turned my excellent session into a losing session.

Overall I seem to win money, but I often cant stop focusing on the short term and always want to set the bar higher than I can reach.

How can I change my ways?

[Al Schoonmaker]

Please forgive me for appearing too harsh, but it sounds as though poker is the wrong game for you. Everybody loses regularly. Everybody gets bad beats. If you can't handle losses and bad beats, there is only one sensible course of action: Don't play.

The way you have described yourself, you don't enjoy the game even when you win, and losing makes you miserable. In my Card Player article, "I'm quitting this $#%^$ game," I described some of the reasons you and others feel this way. I urge you to read it at cardplayer.com.

Life is far too short and precious to make yourself miserable.

Regards,

Al

[Redhot_man]

[ QUOTE ]
Please forgive me for appearing too harsh, but it sounds as though poker is the wrong game for you. Everybody loses regularly. Everybody gets bad beats. If you can't handle losses and bad beats, there is only one sensible course of action: Don't play.

The way you have described yourself, you don't enjoy the game even when you win, and losing makes you miserable. In my Card Player article, "I'm quitting this $#%^$ game," I described some of the reasons you and others feel this way. I urge you to read it at cardplayer.com.

Life is far too short and precious to make yourself miserable.

Regards,

Al

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you for your input.
I read the article and I think my biggest problem is that I am too dependant on the money i make playing poker. It has become too much of a job, and no longer a hobby.

[Al Schoonmaker]

Perhaps the most influential article I have ever written was "Don't quit your day job." Several people told me that it dissuaded them from turning pro. It was in Poker Digest and is an appendix to my book.
Of course, recent events have made it somewhat obsolete. Becase of TV, etc, the money has become immeasurably greater for the top players, and even middle limit pros are doing very well. But the long term picture remains bleak. The overwhelming majority of poker professionals end up broke. They also have the same mood swings, etc. that you described, although perhaps not as severely.
You should go to pokerpages.com and read an article by Nolan Dalla. The title is approximately "Wanna be a tournament pro? Forget about it." Nolan knows those people quite well, and the picture he draws is not at all pretty.
As the saying goes, playing poker is a tough way to make an easy living. I urge you to think of a more rewarding career. Poker is a great game, my favorite, but it is only a game, not a path to wealth or a long term future.
Regards,
Al