Re: I feel guilty being agressive and winning money
 

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If you really feel guilty then perhaps poker aint for you.


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ScottieK

Re: I feel guilty being agressive and winning money
 

Re: I feel guilty being agressive and winning money
 

Well would this mean that having a picture of your dog or kids would be +EV?

Hmmmmmmmm.

Re: I feel guilty being agressive and winning money
 

Hah! I know exactly what I'm using if I ever play on a site with avatars...

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d5...heartpuppy.jpg

Re: I feel guilty being agressive and winning money
 

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I feel guilty raising all the time and winning their money. They usually do a minimum buy-in for a table and end up broke in 5 minutes

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I used to be the opposite of this. Playing Party's .50/1 6-max tables I would frequently see someone sit down with an odd dollar amount that was a little smaller than was typical for the limit. Suspecting that this was their last few dollars on the site - and knowing they were about to lose it with their loose passive play - I would want to be the one who took their last dollar.

Eventually this urge wore off. I don't take anything at the poker table personally anymore. My opponents seem more like puzzles to solve than real people. I don't know if de-humanizing people on the other end of the internet connection is a good thing for me as a human being, but it sure is good for me as a poker player.

Re: I feel guilty being agressive and winning money
 

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I don't take anything at the poker table personally anymore. My opponents seem more like puzzles to solve than real people. I don't know if de-humanizing people on the other end of the internet connection is a good thing for me as a human being, but it sure is good for me as a poker player.

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Interesting point. I do this myself but never really thought about it before. In tournaments, I sometimes feel "guilty" for being too active and slow down, sometimes even backing off of marginal raise/call situations because i've been very active lately. Backing off in tournaments can be +EV when you need to maintain an optimum bluff/raise frequency, to avoid too much playback at you later on.

In cash games however... you need to stick to your optimal game, which includes pinpointing and exploiting emotionally weak competition.

It is sad to see someone caught up in the desperate fatalism of tilt, but Phil Gordon talks about this a little in his Green Book... if they are really a compulsive gambler and are THEMSELVES responsible for their loss (as opposed to only you being responsible through your fine play), then it doesn't matter who takes their money, you or the next guy... they're going to give it away today. Take what you can.

Phil says that after the game he will from time to time try to see if someone needs help, but he certainly waits until he is off the felt..

Mike Caro also talks about this somewhat, but my memory is a bit hazy on his exact reasoning for why you must be a ruthless cut-throat.

But suffice it to say you must be a ruthless cut-throat. Remind yourself of this when you feel your resolve faltering for sympathetic purposes.. KEEP ATTACKING.

I make sure I raise whenever I feel that slight pang of sympathy that says 'EASE OFF with this KQ and let the poor people see a flop'

Whenever that little man goes off in my head, I raise a little more for good measure.

Re: I feel guilty being agressive and winning money
 

Play hard or don't play at all. That goes for everything, including life.

Re: I feel guilty being agressive and winning money
 

this is silly...those people are there to try to take your money, the least you can do is put up a fight.

Re: I feel guilty being agressive and winning money
 

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i just always worry i'm playing against someone with a gambling problem

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I have no problem taking money from a Doctor that is playing with .001% of his net worth for fun.

a gambling addict that loses his money to me because he is tilting away his last $1000 makes me feel a bit guilty.

I wonder how many of the fish on partypoker are gambling addicts?

I guess the only way to reconsile this is that they would lose their money no matter what. the only thing you could do to prevent this would be outside of an internet pokerroom. (speaking at a Gamblers Annonymous meeting or something).

the only way to make playing poker a moral decision IMO is to say that you are going to do something better with the money than people who lose it to you. Otherwise its either amoral or immoral. (I beleive its amoral)

Re: I feel guilty being agressive and winning money
 

they are trying to take your money. [censored] em. sure, if you're playing ping-pong against your girlfriend you might go easy on her. but you're playing poker over the internet with strangers who are trying to take your money. fight back. treat them with respect outside of the game, in the chat, etc. but in the context of betting decisions, be relentless when attacking perceived weaknesses.